) , 
KjtjqnMun 
Vol. LXXVII. 
Ptibliahed Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
33.1 W. 30th St., New York. Price One OoUar a Year. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 2, 1918. 
Entered a.s Second-Class Matter. June 20 , 1879. at the Post No. 4uOG. 
Office at New Yoik, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
The Consumer’s Dollar In Hide 
Tu (Iteiunifio Coiniiji. V. Y., a green cowhide sells at 
the present time for to cents per jionnd. The average 
v'ciaht in this lo<-alit!i is .>.> pounds. Deacon shins 
(gating calves) sell front $2.50 to $2.50, one weighing 
JO pounds beittg worth $10. II. K. W, 
I .saw the figures received for at least 20 cowhides hy 
one of our farnu'rs, and the price [xn- pound was 14 
cents. The hides averaged to weight 50 pounds. None 
weighed more than 52 pounds and none less than 47 
liounds. Of course, these figures may be changed some 
iiy averaging a larger number, but this average is prob¬ 
ably not far from the usual i»rice received by farmers 
for'cowhide.s. This makes the average cowhide jiay the 
farmer ,87. R. M'. -M. 
Maine 
HAT is probalily a fair statement of the price 
usually paid for country hide.s. Quotations in 
New York runs from 2(1 to 27 cents. l»ut most country 
sales are made at S to 10 cents under those figure.s. 
Farmers have often asked ivhat this iirice repre¬ 
sents as compared with prices of leather goods such 
as shoes or harness. For some time past we have 
been trying to figure this out. and some of the re¬ 
sults of this investigation are given below. As a 
rule, one pound of green hide will make about one 
foot of leather—the quality depending on the care 
given the hide in skinning. As we see from the fol¬ 
lowing figures it requires about three feet of leather 
to make a pair of shoes. Figuring ou this basis, a 
hide weighing 45 pounds and in good condition ivill 
make the leatiier for about 15 pairs of uppers—the 
soles being made of heavier leather. Ih'obably, con¬ 
sidering the amount of leather in both uppers and 
soles, the 45-pound hide will make about seven en¬ 
tire pairs of slux's. I'hus the hide brings to tlie 
farmer $0.75. When he buys that hide back in the 
foi’in of shot's for himself and his family he pays 
from .828 to .842, according to tiie quality or style of 
the slioe. To put it another way, out of an aveiiige 
of .8.25 paid by the final consumer (in this case him¬ 
self) the farmer receives .8(>.75. The balance goes to 
the tanner and the shoemaker, and all their handlers 
and agents! We call this a 17-cent dollar! Can 
anyone make it out larger? 
The Leather In a Shoe 
Leather is usually divided into two classes, dry 
and green salted. A dry liide is one tliat is nearly 
free of all moisture, the hide being taken off prob¬ 
ably from four months to two years ago and put iu 
a state of pre.servation which makes it usable after a 
long period of time. A green salted skin is the hide 
of a freshly killed animal and must be used Avithin 
a limited period of time. Consequently, green .salted 
hides, being heavier in weight, will not give as great 
a percentage of finished h'ather per i»ound of hides 
as dry stock, d’o go into this subject, however, a 
little deei)er, would state that hides are divided into 
approximately the following groups: Coat skin.s, 
sheep skins, calf skins, ranging from 3 to 15 lbs.; 
b.orse and colt, kangaroo, cattle hides, ranging from 
15 fo (if) lbs. 
Apitroxiniate 
Per Cent of 
.\ver. No. 
Apiuoxiniate of Kim'I of 
Tot. Amoniit Einiaiied 
Ixiuti 
NuiuIkt Auiouiit Used I'rodiiced l.i 
■allier to 
of rimiids 
Which Is 
Domcsiic aii(i Ih. 
, of Itaw 
Imporl.'d 
lm[iorted 
Imported 
Stock 
Coat skins.. 
1(11.220.000 
97% 
105.000.000 
4 ft. 
8hcop skins. 
10L5;!0,0()() 
00% 
151..50(MM)0 
4 ft. 
('alf skins. . 
(>2.0.50.000 
55% 
113.90!).0!)0 
1 ft. 
I forso or colt 
23.5.32.000 
95% 
24,000.000 
1 ft. 
Kangaroo.. . 
1,229,000 
1007o 
1,229,000 0 to 7 ft. 
Cattle. 15 to 
00 lb. . . . 
404,000.000 
*20% 
101,000.000 
1 ft. 
*Used for 
upper leather and as much raised iu this 
country. 
Heavy cattle hides, ranging from 40 to 00 lb.s., 
such as are used for sole leather, usually 100 lbs., or 
A rooming Dairtfmnid and JTrr Tiro Partners. Pig. 5RS 
