﻿BLUE-FOX FARMING IIST ALASKA 



27 



from the root of the tail about half its length and all of the tail 

 bone is pulled out of the brush. 



The carcass is then hung on a hook or nail by the tendons of the 

 hock joints and the pelt is pulled down, the knife being used when- 

 ever necessary to free it, until it is removed as far as the neck. 

 Careful work is necessary to cut around the base of the ears, in- 

 cluding them in the pelt, then around the eyes, and around the 

 mouth and lips in such way as not 

 to injure their margins. Car- 

 casses should be disposed of im- 

 mediately by burying or burning. 



DRYING PELTS 



As soon as it is taken from the 

 carcass the pelt is placed flesh 

 side out on a wooden frame for 

 drying. This may be made of soft- 

 wood one-half to five-eighths of 

 an inch thick. Soft material will 

 facilitate drying and the drawing 

 of tacks. A board 45 inches long 

 and approximately 7 inches wide 

 should be used, tapering at the 

 end so as to enter the nose. At a 

 distance of 12 inches from the nose 

 the board should be 6 inches wide, 

 and at the base 7 inches. Cut the 

 board in halves, lengthwise, and 

 on the sides of one of the pieces 

 fasten two cleats extending at right 

 angles at the base, so that when 

 the frame is inserted into a pelt 

 and a wedge is forced in to stretch 

 it tight there will be no overlap- 

 ping of the boards (fig. 26). By 

 varjdng the size of the wedge any 

 frame may be used for both large 

 and small pelts. No more stretch- 

 ing should be done than is re- 

 quired to bring the skin into natu- 

 ral shape, for undue stretching detracts from the value of the pelt. 

 To allow the skin to dry, the hind legs and tail are fastened to the 

 frame by means of tacks and small strips of wood, and the front legs 

 are tacked to small pieces of wood, as illustrated in Figure 27. 



A tablespoon is used as a scraper to flesh the skin and remove any 

 exces!^ fat. Scraping should not bo so close as to remove all the fat 

 and part of the membrane, for this will make the skin shrink from 

 the roots of the ji^uard hairs, permitting them to be pulled out, thus 

 limiting the life of the pelt. Fur buyers look for this defect, and 

 skins having it are severely cut in price. 



After the skin has been fleshed and di-ied on the frame for a day 

 or so, dejjcnding on conditions, it should be ttiken off, turned fur 



821648 



Fig. 26. — Frame for drying pelts. In- 

 stead of having a middle wedge, some 

 frames are made in one piece and 

 serve the purpose equally well 



