CHAPTER XVIII 

 SHEEP-SKINS 



Preparing for market Buying Care of the pelt Skin-buying in the 



country. 



IN taking the skin off the sheep, care should be taken not to cut 

 the pelt in any way, as this will lessen the value of the skin. One 

 of the worst faults I have noticed in sheep-skins forwarded to 

 town by farmers is that they have not been properly or sufficiently 

 dried. Some sheep-skins have a hard and shrivelled-up pelt, 

 caused by drying in the hot sun, or too long an exposure to the 

 weather, while others have gone green and mouldy in places, 

 through the edges of the skin not being properly stretched out 

 when it has been hung up to dry. 



To dry a skin properly the trotters should be cut off and 

 the skin then thrown over a stick or other support running 

 down the centre of the back of the skin from neck to britch, 

 the woolly side being underneath. Sheep-skins should be dried 

 in the shade or under cover, as they are apt to dry too quickly 

 in the sun, which causes the pelt to shrivel and become 

 hard. 



Dry skins are sold at so much per lb., therefore it is advis- 

 able to take every portion of the skin off. In the skin stores they 

 have artificial means of drying the skins, though a green skin 

 must be dried for a short time by exposure to the air till it 

 gets a slight crust on it, before artificial drying is attempted. 



The skins are then placed in an oven which is heated by 



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