478 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1919. 



are opened from the wrist to the toes and skinned out in the 

 same manner as the hind feet. The ears are cut off beneath 

 the skin close to the skull and the thick cartilage in them is 

 removed. In order to avoid cutting the eyelids, the knife 

 should be carefully applied close to the skull when the first 

 trace of eyes appears as the skin is being turned from the 

 head. Any fat or muscle adhering to a skin should be 

 removed immediately, as fat causes 

 skins to become brittle and worthless, 

 while muscle invites decay when 

 conditions are unfavorable for 

 rapid drying. This is usually 

 done by drawing the skin 

 flesh side out over strips 

 of board or scantling, 

 rounded on the up- 

 per side (fig. 21), 

 and by 

 scraping 



Fig. 21. — Fleshing Beam. 



Skins are laid on this to be scraped free of fat and muscle, either when they 

 are fresh or after being soaked in cold water until they are soft enough to be 

 worked readily. 



it with the back of a knife, a dull file, or the edge of a square 

 stick of hard wood, the scraping always being done from the 

 head toward the tail. 



After being scraped, or " fleshed," skins are stretched as 

 uniformly throughout as possible. Open skins are usually 

 pinned or nailed out on any convenient flat surface, flesh 

 side exposed. If such a surface is not at hand, they are 

 sewed or laced to a wooden hoop or frame of suitable size 

 and shape. Cased skins are dried on stretchers made either 



