BROWN LEATHER. 361 



t 



substance, and rub the leather with it. In the case of white 

 or yellow soap, he may rub the damp sponge or damp 

 flannel rag on a piece of soap, so as to raise a lather, and 

 then proceed as already described. After the leather has 

 received a light coating of soap, it should be allowed to dry, 

 which it will do in a quarter of an hour or so, according 

 to the state of the atmosphere. The leather should then 

 be rubbed briskly over with a soft rubber, to cause the oily 

 matter which has dried on the surface to penetrate into 

 it, and to give it more or less of a polish, the amount of which 

 will vary according to the nature of the soap employed, and the 

 amount of " elbow grease " applied. 



For saddles and riding bridles, especially if they are new, 

 I prefer yellow soap to soft soap or saddle soap ; because 

 it does not darken leather like soft soap (p. 49), and does 

 not make it sticky and dirty to handle like saddle soap. 

 Soft soap is superior to ordinary hard soap for softening 

 leather, on account of the presence of glycerine (p. 49). We 

 may, however, equalise matters, when using hard soap, by 

 supplementing it with a little glycerine, neat's-foot oil, or vase- 

 line, or by employing glycerine soap. For the cleansing of 

 a good new saddle, the owner ought not to grudge the 

 slight extra cost of a soap which contains practically 

 no free alkali. Grooms as a rule prefer soft soap to 

 yellow soap ; because it is easier to apply, and if it 

 eventually spoils the appearance of the leather, the cost of 

 replacement will fall upon the master, not on them. They 

 naturally favour the use of saddle soap, because it produces 

 a brilliant polish with but little trouble, owing to the bees- 

 wax in it. We should here bear in mind that if a saddle 

 is really clean, it will show its stitches clearly ; will not soil 

 a clean white pocket-handkerchief that is rubbed on its 

 leather work ; and will leave no trace behind, if a ringer tip 

 be drawn across its surface. When I was a subaltern in 



