TANNING ON THE PLANTATION. 



same treatment, except in the wash- 

 ing process. Those tlmt are sailed 

 and dry (and no hide should he dried 

 with less than from two to lour quarts 

 of salt being rubbed on the liesli side : 

 dried without salt, it is extremely 

 difficult to soften them) require to 

 be steeped, beaten, and rubbed sev- 

 eral limes alternately to bring them 

 to a condition sufficiently soft for 

 tanning. 



" Green or fresh hides must be 

 soaked in pure water from twelve to 

 twenty-four hours, to extract all the 

 blood, &:c., and soften the extrane- 

 ous fleshy matter, which must then 

 be removed hy throwing one hide at 

 a time on the fleshing-beam, g^ram of 

 hair side down, and scraping or sha- 

 ving it off with the flesliing-knife, 

 which must be somewliat dull, or the 

 skin is apt to be cut. They are then 

 put in tlie Itmivg vat, which is sup- 

 plied with 'Strong lime-water, by fill- 

 ing the vat a little over half full of 

 water, and adding thereto four bush- 

 els of unslacked (or of air-slacked) 

 lime, or at the rate of two thirds of 

 a bushel of lime to the barrel of wa- 

 ter. This will suffice for fifteen 

 hides ; each time that they are re- 

 moved and a fresh lot of hides put 

 in. add another bushel of lime, which 

 will keep up the strength for a twelve- 

 month. Before using, stir the lime 

 well up, and while it is thus mixed 

 with the water put in the hides even- 

 ly, so that the lime will settle on ev- 

 ery part of them. They are to re- 

 main here from ten to fifteen days, 

 or for three or four days after the 

 hair will rub off with the finger com- 

 pletely and v^ith ease. "While in the 

 liming vat, they must be moved up 

 and down every other morning, to 

 expose them to the air, and to the 

 equal action of the lime. Being now 

 ready for unhainng, cut each hide in 

 two, by slitting them along the cen- 

 tre of the back wj^th a knife, forming 

 them into sides. Tbrow ten or twelve 

 of these sides on the fleshing-beam, 

 and strip the hair off with the knife ; 

 and as they are unhaired, throw 

 each one into ttie vat of fresh water 

 to bait or soak. When the sides 

 778 



and skins in hand have been all un- 

 haired and thoroughly washed, throw 

 them again, and at once, on the fie&h- 

 ing-beam, with the gram or hair side 

 up, and work them cic<:r(rub and press 

 them) with the knife until all the 

 mucus or mucilaginous matter is 

 worked out. This should be repeat- 

 ed two or three limes during ten or 

 twelve days, being each time baited 

 anew in fresh water. And this irork- 

 ing over must only be done when the 

 sides feel soft and smooth to the 

 touch : as th( y will, at times, from 

 some unexplained cause, feel rough, 

 at which time they must not be work- 

 ed over. "While they are thus baiting, 

 they must not he neglected, or they 

 will soon spoil. Tanners are in the 

 practice of adding a 1000th part of 

 sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) to the 

 last //ail, which has the effect of 

 swelling the pores and distending the 

 fibres, and thus rendering the skins 

 more susceptible to the action of thn 

 ooze : forty-eight hours generally suf- 

 fice for this last baiting. 



" In the mean time, some good 

 strong ooze should be prepared for the 

 first tanning process, called colouring. 

 Fill a vat a little more than half full 

 of water, and add bark, in the pro- 

 portion of one bushel and a half of 

 ground, or two bushels of pounded 

 bark, to the barrel of water, which 

 will bring tlie vat up to about two 

 thirds full. When the bark has soaked 

 from four tofive days, the sides are put 

 in, and allowed to remain fifteen days ; 

 during which they must be once well 

 and CdrefuUy fleshed and worked over, 

 and must be drawn up and down ev- 

 ery morning, for the first week at 

 least, and the bark well plunged or stir- 

 red up, to have them colour evenly. 



" After this, the vat being now two 

 thirds full of this same ooze, after 

 drawing out the hides, lay a good 

 coating of fresh bark, of say an inch 

 thick, on top of the water, on which 

 it will float ; lay on this a side, spread 

 out evenly ; and if it has to be lapped 

 over in any part, lay on more bark 

 until it is all well coated, taking care 

 to place those hides at the bottom of 

 the vat now that were at the top last 



