18 BULLETIN 1089, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGBK TURE. 
is much room for development in the use of these by-product s. 
Under modern packing-house methods, more use wi! 1 undoubtedly ' be 
made of many of the parts now being discarded. 
TANNING. 
The native methods of tanning hides in Alaska are primitive and 
there is great need for improvement. Since reindeer skins are re- 
quired for the making of clothing and other uses in the Territory, 
it seems highly desirable that the Government provide an expert to 
instruct the Eskimos in tanning. 
The skins which come from Siberia have a much superior tan, gen- 
erally speaking, than the Alaskan article ; consequently large num- 
bers of hides are imported annually from Siberia by the traders for 
sale among both natives and whites. In fact, this trade is so large 
that it is a considerable item in the list of Alaskan imports. In ad- 
dition to the tanned skins, made-up reindeer-skin parkas and other 
articles of clothing are brought over each season. This trade 
could be saved to a great extent for the natives of Alaska if they 
knew better methods of tanning. With the rapid increase of the 
reindeer herds it is time to prepare an outlet for all reindeer by- 
products. 
REINDEER MILK. 
Milk from reindeer is often used in making cheese, butter, etc., 
in other countries where the animals are raised. While the milk 
may be valuable as a food in Alaska, the natives and whites have 
made no extensive use of it as yet, and at the present time milk- 
ing is not done in any of the herds. The reasons for this are not 
far to seek. In the first place there are no inclosures or other 
means available for holding the reindeer for the purpose of milk- 
ing. Secondly, milking strains have not been developed. 
When the Lapps first came to Alaska they practiced milking 
to a limited extent. They state that when the herds were small 
it was a comparatively simple matter. The procedure followed was 
to drive the herd to some convenient place each morning, where 
the animals to be milked were caught one by one with the lasso. 
Each one yielded about a cupful of milk. It can readily be seen that 
this practice was neither economical nor good for the herd, and 
it was soon abandoned. 
If the best milkers were picked and the fawns separated from 
them, and in addition if the animals were kept in good fenced 
pastures and properly taken care of, the yield of milk from rein- 
deer could be greatly increased. 
