ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 433 



neater way, and one generally preferred, 

 is to use stretchers of thin wood. As 

 these have to be carried by the trapper, 

 they are made of light wood and very 

 thin. They are three-sixteenths of an 

 inch thick, 20 inches long, 6 inches wide 

 at the larger end, and slightly tapering. 

 They are rounded to a blunt point at the 

 lower end, and the edges chamfered. 

 The skin is drawn over the board, and 

 secured with tacks. Skins stretched by 

 these methods should not be dried in the 

 sun nor by a fire, but in a cool place 

 where they will be sheltered from the 

 rain. No salt or other preservative is 

 used upon skins intended for the market. 



OX- YOKE, How to Make.— To make 

 this yoke it is necessary to have a stick 

 of light and strong timber, such as but- 

 ternut, walnut, sycamore, basswood, soft 

 maple, or wild cherry, each of which is 

 excellent material. The size of the stick 

 necessary is ten by sixteen inches, and 

 five feet long. This should be sawed 

 in two, cutting out two inches of the 

 heart, making two pieces ten by seven. 

 One side and edge of the piece should 

 be dressed square ; the center found, the 

 first bow-hole is then bored twelve inches 

 from this center; the second bow- 

 hole twelve inches from the first. To 

 make the holes accurate, they should 

 be marked, and bored from each side, 

 meeting in the center. The auger 

 should be two inches diameter. Af- 

 ter the holes are bored, they should 

 be burned with a hot iron and made 

 smooth. The yoke is then laid out three 

 and a half inches thick in the center be- 

 tween the bow-holes, and six and a half 

 inches thick in the center between the 

 two bows, where the ring is placed ; the 

 ends are beveled off, and lines of proper 

 curvature laid out between the points 

 marked. The yoke may be fashioned 

 either with a jig or band saw or foot adz, 

 and should then be finished up square 

 and true from the face-side with a draw- 

 ing-knife. It should then be laid upon 

 its back and four and one-half inches 

 marked off at the center for the width, 

 cutting off about one and one-fourth inch 

 on each side. The ends are then tapered 

 off, and where previously beveled, are now 

 rounded. 



The bottom or inside of the yoke is 

 now to be rounded, by first taking off a 



28 



broad chamfer, and then rounding up 

 smooth, the top to be left flat and square, 

 except a broad chamfer around the edge 

 of the yoke. The bows are twenty-eight 

 to thirty inches in length and two inches 

 in diameter. No staple is to be used, 

 but a board strap, which goes round the 

 yoke, having screws cut on the end, and 

 a plate held down by nuts screwed over 

 it, to clasp the yoke and strengthen it. 

 In the bottom of the strap is placed two 

 pieces of cast-iron, which have a flange 

 upon the edge and four slight projections 

 upon the top, for which small holes are- 

 bored in the yoke. The two pieces are 

 so formed that when they are placed to- 

 gether they have a hole in the middle - 

 in which the ring is inserted ; the strap is 

 placed around them and put upon the 

 yoke, and the nuts upon the top screwed 

 tight. Such a yoke is much stronger and 

 better than when a staple passes through 

 it. 



BTJCKSKTffS, To Tan.— Take a skin r 

 either green or well soaked, and flesh it 

 with a dull knife; spread the skin on a 

 smooth log and grain it by scraping with 

 a sharp instrument ; rub nearly dry over 

 the oval end of a board held upright. 

 Take the brains of a deer or a calf, dry 

 by the fire gently, put them into a cloth 

 and boil until soft, cool off the liquid 

 until blood-warm, with water sufficient to 

 soak the skin in, and soak until quite soft 

 and pliable, and then wring out as dry as 

 possible; wash in strong soap-suds and 

 rub dry, and smoke well with wood' 

 smoke. Instead of brains, oil or lard 

 may be used, and the skin soaked therein, 

 six hours. This is called Indian tad. 



FXJE SKEINS, Any Kind, to Tan. — 

 After you have cut off the useless parts,, 

 and softened the skins by soaking in 

 warm water, take away the fatty part 

 from the inside, after which, soak the- 

 skins in tepid water for two hours. Next,, 

 mix equal parts of borax, saltpetre, and 

 glauber salts (sulphate of soda), in the 

 proportion of about one-third ounce of 

 each for each skin, with sufficient water , 

 to make a thin paste ; spread this with a 

 brush over the inside of the skin, applying 

 more on the thicker parts than the thin- 

 ner; double the skin together, flesh side 

 inwards, and place it in a cool place. 

 After standing twenty-four hours, wash 

 the skin clean, and apply in the same. 



