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seat must be cut out around the back 

 legs. 



Clean it up and apply the same finish 

 that was used on the desk table. 



The seat is covered with leather, pad- 

 ded over curled hair, as the detail shows. 

 First the hair is carefully picked apart, 

 and placed. Then a piece of cloth 

 slightly smaller than the leather is tacked 

 tight "over the hair, and finally the 

 leather is placed. It runs under the 

 front and back edges, where common 

 tacks are used, and along the edges on 

 the top it is fastened with gimp tacks. 

 These edges may be turned under, or a 

 piece of gimp braid used under the 

 tacks to cover the cut edges of the 

 leather. 



As this is the first project of this se- 

 ries that has required the use of leather, 

 a few words on this very interesting 

 subject will not come amiss. 



Leather is the skin of any animal that 

 has been tanned and cured. Cloth 

 covered with any substance, and finished 

 in any way is not leather. Thus we 

 differentiate between genuine leather 

 and its imitations. 



There is no imitation that is better 

 than genuine grain steer or cow hide 

 leather, but there are a number of imita- 

 tions that are better than some split 

 leathers. A question that has been asked 

 in printed matter circulated throughout 

 the country is, "How many hides has a 

 cow?" This question, written by a 

 manufacturer of a leather substitute, 

 was concocted to start the public think- 

 ing upon the subject of split leather. In 

 itself, the question is certainly foolish, 

 but it has undoubtedly accomplished its 

 purpose. If the one hide of a cow were 

 to be tanned and curried, it would be 

 too thick to use for tufting loose cush- 

 ions — in fact, any branch of furniture 

 upholstering. Therefore it is necessary 

 that the leather be split. As to "how 

 many" times it can be split, there is some 

 doubt. One leather manufacturer claims 

 that he is able to split one steer hide 

 into fifty whole parts, each about as 

 thick as a sheet of tissue paper. Of 

 course, such sheets of leather have no 

 commercial value, whatever, but a per- 

 formance such as this would serve to 

 answer the foregoing question. 



The usual method of splitting a hide. 



Popular Science Monthly 



is as follows: First, the "top grain" — 

 the best part of the leather, is removed; 

 second, "special deep bufif" — not as ser- 

 viceable as top grain; third, "extra split" 

 — used for very cheap leather furniture; 

 and fourth, a "slab" that is left, of un- 

 even thickness — used for inner soles of 

 shoes, etc. This, the usual procedure, 

 varies exceedingly in practice with the 

 different manufacturers and the differ- 

 ent kinds of hides. Comparing these 

 with substitute leathers, we are very 

 much of the opinion that no imitation 

 win ever approach "top grain" in points 

 of beauty, utility, and service. "Special 

 deep buff," properly grained and 

 enamelled, is, no doubt, much better 

 than any imitation now on the market, 

 but this is a debatable question, and we 

 will leave it with the manufacturers to 

 settle. An expensive imitation surpasses 

 "extra split," especially for furniture 

 purposes, but the cheaper, thin grades, 

 are not to be recommended for any pur- 

 pose. Of course, the "slab" is of no 

 account for furniture work, and hence 

 we will not consider it. 



The making of good furniture leather 

 is an interesting process. The green 

 hides come to the leather manufacturer 

 from slaughter houses in a wet salted 

 condition. First the eye holes, nose, lips, 

 ears and leg shanks are trimmed — these 

 trimmings being later sold to manufac- 

 turers of soap greases and glue. The 

 hides are next washed in clear water to 

 remove the salt and dirt, and soften the 

 texture. The fat is now removed from 

 the meat side, and shipped to manufac- 

 turers of neat's-foot oil. Following this 

 the hides are limed ; that is, worked in a 

 lime bath for a number of days in order 

 to dissolve the fatty hair roots which 

 will permit the hair to be easily re- 

 moved. This by-product goes to makers 

 of cushion fillings, etc. Next, the fleshy 

 material remaining on the meat side is 

 scraped off — this being sold for glue 

 stock — and the hides are thoroughly 

 cleansed of all lime and bacteria. 



Now the hides are ready to be tanned. 

 They are placed upon pivoted frames 

 which are constantly agitated in a weak 

 solution of tan liquor — oak bark, 

 usually. Fach day the strength of this 

 liquor is increased, until on the eighth 

 day the hide has received sufficient tan- 



