80 



THE TRAPPER'S ART. 



STRETCHING SKINS. 



In drying skins, it is important that they should be stretched 

 tight, like a strained drum-head. This can be done after a 

 fashion by simply nailing them flat on a wide board or a barn 

 door. But this method, besides being impracticable on the 

 large scale in the woods (where most skins have to be cured), 

 is objectionable because it exposes only one side of the pelt to 

 the air. The stretchers that are generally approved and used 

 by good trappers are of three kinds, adapted to 

 the skins of different classes of animals. I shall 

 call them the board-stretcher, the low-stretcher, 

 and the hoop-stretcher, and will describe them, 

 indicating the different animals to which each is 

 adapted. 



THE BOARD-STRETCHER. 



This contrivance is made in the following man- 

 ner : Prepare a board of bass-wood or other light 

 material, two feet three inches long, three inches 

 and a half wide at one end, and tw r o inches and 

 an eighth at the other, and three eighths of an 

 inch thick. Chamfer it from the centre to the 

 sides almost to an edge. Round and chamfer the 

 small end about an inch up on the sides. Split 

 this board through the centre with a knife or saw. 

 Finally, prepare a wedge of the same length and 

 thickness, one inch wide at the large end, and 

 tapering to three eighths of an inch at the small 

 end, to be driven between the halves of the 

 board. This is a stretcher suitable for a mink 

 or a marten. Two larger sizes, with similar pro- 

 portions, are required for the larger animals. The 

 largest size, suitable for the full-grown otter or 

 wolf, should be five feet and a half long, seven 

 inches wide at the large end when fully spread 

 by the wedge, and six inches at the small end. 

 Board-stretcher. An intermediate size is required for the fisher, 

 raccoon, fox, and some other animals, the proportions of which 

 can be easily figured out. 



