252 FUR FACTS 



keg and allowing the body to lay flat, and then scraping off the 

 meat and skin with the edge of a file, or similar blunt edge tool, that 

 will not cut into the hide itself, but simply pull off the stringy out- 

 side skin. In this way the inner layer of skin is removed and the 

 pelts are nearly white in color. After this is done see that the skins 

 are thoroughly stretched, rubbed, and twisted until dry. If parts 

 of the skin are still hard and stiff, soap, dry, and stretch them 

 again, until the entire skin is soft. Some dressers recommend the 

 rubbing of fresh butter or other animal fat into the skin and then 

 working it out again in dry hardwood sawdust; or the grease may be 

 quickly extracted by a hasty bath in gasoline. The rubbing of butter 

 or other grease into the skin, then extracting the grease by the 

 sawdust or gasoline process adds very much to its softness. This 

 method will apply to the pelts of most of the small furbearers. While 

 the method described is alright for home use, if you have fine furs 

 to dress it is advisable to send them to one of the old reliable fur 

 houses that you are in the habit of shipping your furs to, and ask 

 them to have them dressed for you by a regular dresser and dyer. 

 The cost of this work is comparatively little. 



It should be remembered in dressing furs that the idea is to retain 

 the natural color of the fur and render the pelt as supple as possible. 

 Therefore, the leathering of the fur pelt is entirely different from 

 that of the leathering process required for cow hides, goat skins, etc. 



Jhe Indian Method of Tanning Buckskins 



The North American Indians have for ages dressed deer-skins 

 into leather and the leather made by them is renowned for its tough- 

 ness and durability. 



The method used by them is as follows: The skin is fleshed and 

 every bit of the flesh and membrane is removed. It is then soaked 

 in water to swell it and free it from blood, when it is ready for grain- 

 ing, which is done with a sharp flint, a case-knife, or a butcher's 

 knife on a beam, having a diameter of six or eight inches. This way 

 of removing the hair and the grain makes the Indian dressed buck- 

 skin of the highest class. 



Another way of preparing the skin for graining, after the skin 

 has been fleshed and soaked is to handle it in a weak lye for two or 

 three days, and then to grain it. But this does not yield a product 

 equal in toughness to that by the former method. The skin being 

 grained, it is ready for the tanning or tawing process, which is done 

 with the brains of the deer or those of cattle, horses, hogs, etc. 



