COUNTRY HIDES AND SKINS. 
C. V. Whalin, Assistant in Marketing Live Stock and Meats, Bureau of Mar- 
kets; R. W. Frey, Assistant Chemist, Leather and Paper Laboratory, Bureau 
of Chemistry; F. P. Veitch, Chemist in Charge, Leather and Paper Labora- 
tory, Bureau of Chemistry; R. W. Hickman, Chief, Quarantine Division, 
Bureau of Animal Industry. 
CON 
Page. 
Hides, leather, and the producer 3 
Sources ot hides and skins 3 
Condition of country and packer 
hides and skins compared 5 
Waste and economic losses from im- 
perfections 6 
Spread between price of hides and 
price of leather 9 
Directions for skinning, salting, and 
curing 11 
Take-off or skinning 11 
Saltinsr and curing 29 
Preparing hides and skins for 
market 36 
NTS. 
Poge. 
Market classes of hides and skins 40 
Methods of marketing hides and 
skins_: 46 
Careless handling and reprehensible 
practices penalized in markets 49 
Selected and graded sales compared 
with fiat sales 50 
Essential points 51 
Appendix : 
Market prices 53 
Exhibits showing market prices 
and classes and grades of 
hides and skins 55 
HIDES, LEATHER, AND THE PRODUCER. 
HIDES and skins, the most important raw material of the tan- 
ning industry, are products of the farm and range, whether 
they are sold directly as such or are disposed of in the sale of the 
animals. In addition to being the producer of hides and skins, the 
farmer is one of the chief purchasers and users of the finished prod- 
ucts of the leather industry. The farmer, therefore, is directly 
affected, both as a seller and as a buyer, by the quantity and quality 
of hides and skins and of the leather made from them. 
SOURCES OF HIDES AND SKINS. 
Packer hides and skins. —Packer hides and skins are taken off in 
establishments where the slaughtering is of a wholesale charac- 
ter, and where men usually are employed exclusively for the pur- 
pose of removing hides. In the plants of the large packers the 
labor is so divided that each worker has a particular task to per- 
form, in which he becomes very proficient. Since they are taken 
off in large numbers, the hides are uniformly selected and cured, and 
generally are free from salt stains and excess salt or pickle. The 
result is a product of uniform selection, of good pattern and trim, 
and with few imperfections, making possible a maximum yield of 
leather of the best quality. 
Country hides and skins. — Country hides and skins are taken off 
by farmers, ranchmen, and local butchers or by their helpers, who 
generally are inexperienced in skinning. This classification in- 
cludes " fallen " hides, or those from animals that have died from 
3 
