The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Leather Question 
Tanning Hides for Leather 
There was a very good article on tan¬ 
ning on page 1513, but it does not go as 
far as I would like. I wish to tan cow 
hides for making harness leather. Har¬ 
ness leather and its products, such as 
harness, halters, etc., have become so high 
that farmers can hardly afford to buy 
them. All farmers have hides which they 
could tan if they knew how. J. J. 
Pennsylvania. 
Skins are transformed into leather by 
three widely different processes, each 
known as “tanning,” but each producing 
an entirely different kind of leather. First 
is the oil process, often known as the 
Indian method, and largely employed in 
the manufacture of buckskin and other 
pliable leathers designed for clothing. 
Second is the mineral, or chrome process, 
which produces leather of good wearing 
qualities in a short time, and at a com¬ 
paratively low cost. Leather of this 
kind is well adapted for footwear, but it 
is lacking in tensile strength, and thus 
not well adapted for harness. Third is 
the vegetable process, which consists of 
impregnating the skins with an astrin¬ 
gent. vegetable substance, called tannin, 
which forms a chemical union with the 
gelatin of the hide. This process requires 
several months and is expensive along 
the line of labor. But it yields a leather 
of great tensile strength, and is always 
employed in the manufacture of leather 
designed for harness. It is sometimes 
employed in the manufacture of sole 
leather, but of late years it has been 
nearly or quite displaced by the chrome 
for making leather for the uppers. Chrome 
leather is nearly or quite as serviceable 
for this purpose, while its cost is con¬ 
siderably less. Its manufacture, however, 
of an ax. In modern practice, and espe¬ 
cially in the manufacture of harness 
leather, the ground bark is leached re¬ 
peatedly to extract the tannin, which may 
thus be brought to a uniform strength. 
But formerly, and to a certain extent at 
the present time, it is placed in the pit 
or vat, in alternate layers with the hides, 
and water added. By this practice, how¬ 
ever, the element of guesswork is a 
pretty strong factor for the amateur to 
contend with. 
The hides are sprinkled pretty heavily 
with lime, packed together and allowed 
to stand for about two weeks. This is 
longer than is necessary to loosen the 
hair, but the additional time makes the 
leather more pliable. Then they are 
scraped with a dull knife, designed for 
the purpose, to remove the hair from one 
side and the fleshy integument from the 
other. Next they are soaked in acid to 
remove all traces of the lime. Either 
acetic or a weak solution of muriatic or 
sulphuric acid may be used for this pur¬ 
pose. Then each hide is trimmed into 
the form of a parallelogram, rejecting the 
neck, belly and legs. These are tanned 
by a little different process, which results 
in sole leather. These parts are thicker 
and thus better adapted for this kind of 
leather than for harness leather. The 
parallelograms are then immersed in the 
tannin, to which water has been added, 
until the hydrometer shows it to have a 
density of 0.1. That is, it has a density 
one degree above the zero point. In a 
previous letter upon this subject, on page 
102, the types became so transposed and 
reduplicated to make it read 110. But 
the hides are soaked in liquor of this 
strength for about a month, then removed, 
partially dried and immersed for another 
A 'ennessee Log House 
requires an extensive and expensive 
equipment. 
Tannin is found in the bark, roots, 
leaves or fruit of a great variety of trees 
and plants, but probably 00 per cent of 
all the harness leather tanned in the 
United States is tanned by the tannin 
extracted from the bark of either oak or 
hemlock. The former produces a leather 
of a light cream color, more flexible aud 
of slightly greater strength. The latter 
produces a leather approaching a brick 
red color, stiff and hard, but more im¬ 
pervious to moisture, and of greater wear¬ 
ing qualities. However, there is so little 
difference in these respects that the two 
kinds are used interchangeably. The bark 
is obtained from mature trees by cutting 
them during May, June and July, at 
which time it may easily be separated 
from the wood. Incisions are made four 
feet apart, just through the bark, and en¬ 
circling the trunk, thus dividing it into 
sections. The bark upon each section is 
then split, longitudinally, aud pried off 
in wide sheets with a curved, sharp- 
pointed implement called a spud. These 
are dried for a couple of days, then 
stacked for further curing, and usually 
disposed of the following Winter. The 
bark is a commercial product, and sells 
for about .$10 for a long ton of 2,240 
pounds. Thin is approximately the equiv¬ 
alent of a solid cord. Trees vary greatly 
according to size in their yield of bark, 
and it is not at all uncommon for an old 
growth hemlock tree to yield more than 
a solid cord of bark. Working in such 
trees a man can easily peel three cords 
of bark in a day. 
From this point only general instruc¬ 
tions can be given, since each tanner has 
a method of his own, which varies in one 
or more points from the methods of all 
others. In general, however, it may be 
said that the dried bark is crushed or 
ground into pieces about the size of a 
pea, or smaller. In tanning establish¬ 
ments this is done by machinery designed 
for the purpose, but in home operations 
it may be done with a sledge or the head 
month in a tanning liquor testing one 
degree higher, and this process is repeated 
every month for six mouths. 
Then, in the larger establishments, 
each hide is passed through the skiving 
machine, which removes a thin shaving 
and leaves the hide of a uniform thickness 
throughout. In smaller establishments 
this work is done with hand knives, and 
requires considerable skill. In home 
practice the hide is cut into strips and 
then passed through the hand “skiver,” a 
small machine operated by hand and cost¬ 
ing about $5. Or it may be omitted en¬ 
tirely, but a leather of uneven thickness 
will result. In the large establishments 
the skiviugs are utilized in the manufac¬ 
ture of bookbinding leather, and in the 
smaller tanneries, being taken in small 
strips, they are sometimes ground, mixed 
with glue and pressed into leather board. 
Next the hides are spread upon a bench, 
rubbed with oil until they will absorb no 
more, and then hung up to dry. When 
dry they are again rubbed with oil, and 
this process is repeated until no more 
oil can be worked into them. Then they 
are dried again, rubbed with chalk to re¬ 
move the oil on the surface and, lastly, 
one side is given a dressing of oil and 
lampblack. 
On paper this sounds like a very com¬ 
plicated proposition. Practically' it is 
very simple. Just make one step aud the 
next becomes plain. When I was a boy 
I assisted my father in tanning a hide by 
just this process, and afterwards we made 
a pair of heavy work harness from the 
leather, which did good service for many 
years. And practically the only cash out¬ 
lay for the leather was for two quarts 
of neat’e-foot oil with which to soften and 
dress the hide. c. o. ormsbee. 
Lady : “Here, my poor fellow, is a quar¬ 
ter for you. It must be dreadful to be 
lame, but I think it must be worse to be 
blind.” Tramp: “It is. mum. When I 
was blind they was handing me counterfeit 
quarters.”—American-Legion -Weekly. 
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