fht RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Questions About Tanning 
Softening a Hide 
Can yon tell me how I can soften a 
hide (beef) with hair on, which I have 
tanned with a readymade preparation? I 
followed directions closely, and the only 
thing I know of that might cause it to 
be so stiff and hard is that it dried too 
soon. However, it took about two weeks 
to dry where I had it. P. S. G. 
Bellaire, Mich. 
Beef hides make the very best kinds of 
leather, but, with the possible exceptions 
of the thin-skinned Jersey and Guernsey 
breeds, the hides are too thick, when in 
their natural condition, for coats or robes. 
They need to be made thinner by paring 
off the flesh side. This, however, is hardly 
an operation fo. the amateur, and cer¬ 
tainly not unless he is equipped with 
tools made for the purpose. Your proper 
method, at the present time, is to tone 
the berk from either do, and which would 
be preferable? w. r. B. 
Ballston Spa, N. Y. 
The bark from either of these trees 
will be all right for tanning, but it will 
be impracticable to get it, though possibly 
enough may be shaved or hewed off to 
answer your purpose for tanning a few 
hides. It will make no particular differ¬ 
ence whether the bark is green or dry so 
far as the tanning is concerned. But. it 
must, be broken into bits no larger than 
peas, and when green it is tough and not 
easily broken, while when dry it becomes 
brittle and may be easily broken. These 
factors will hamper you seriously in an 
attempt to utilize the bark at this season. 
Commercially, the trees are cut while 
growth is in progress: this is during the 
months of May, June and July and some¬ 
times well into August. The new growth 
has then loosened it from the wood, and 
it may he peeled off with little difficulty. 
While on the log it is cut into sections 
4 ft. long, merely by cutting just through 
to the wood. Then a longitudinal slit is 
made the whole length of the tree, a flat, 
but curved, iron bar is inserted in the 
slit, and the bark is pried off in wide 
slabs. These are flattened against the log 
and allowed to dry for a few days, when 
they are piled for future delivery. In 
some States it is sold by the cord, and in 
others by the long ton—2.240 lbs.—it be¬ 
ing claimed that one is practically the 
equivalent of the other. It. has in past 
years been sold as low as $3 a cord, but 
I am told that the present price is $18. 
As to the amount that a man can peel in 
a day, it varies greatly. I have easily 
peeled three cords in a day, and I have 
worked hard and only been able to put up 
half a cord. Shaving if off, as you will 
be obliged to do at this season, I should 
judge that you might be able to fill a 
barrel. c. o. ormsbek. 
The Value of Moleskins 
Is there any value for moleskins for 
furs? We have many of them here, and 
if there is any money in it I would go to 
trapping them. s. ,T. 
253 
The fur business as a whole is in very 
bad shape. American manufacturers are 
buying nothing worth noting. Moleskin 
garments have been and are still very 
popular with the trade. For the pa?*, 
three years moleskins have sold very well 
indeed. Last season, like all kinds of 
fur. they sold very high. American mole¬ 
skins do not take well, and have never 
occupied a very prominent position in the 
fur line. Prices ranged from 3c to 15c 
per skin, if square handled. The mole 
principally used comes from Switzerland. 
e therefore would advise no saving of 
American moleskins for commercial pur¬ 
poses; time and trouble not worth while. 
It was in the Far South. “How’s 
times?” asked the tourist. “Pretty toler¬ 
able. stranger,” responded the old fellow 
who was sitting idly on the stump of a 
tree. “I had a pile of waste to burn, and 
the lightning set fire to it and saved me 
the trouble of burning it. I had some 
trees to cut down, but the cyclone leveled 
them and saved me the trouble.” “Re¬ 
markable. but what are you going to do 
now?” “Waiting for an earthquake to 
shake the potatoes out of the ground.”— 
Scranton Times. 
the hide down well by the use of sand¬ 
paper. until it is as thin as desired. Then 
work all the neat’s-foot oil into the flesh 
side that it will absorb. Let it dry for 
several days, and then work in more. 
Finally, when it will absorb no more oil. 
stretch it, flesh side down, upon a frame¬ 
work. and admit smoke to the under side, 
similarly as in smoking hams. In the 
large establishments the hides are 
thinned by means of a machine which re¬ 
moves a thin layer from the flesh side. 
This is used for bookbinding trunk cov¬ 
ering and similar purposes, thus becom¬ 
ing a by-product which materially re¬ 
duces the cost of curing the hides. 
C. O. OR MSI! EE. 
Dressing a Coonskin 
I have a coonskin which I wish to 
make into a scarf, but it is not as soft as 
I would like it. I first soaked it and well 
8Craped_ it. then rubbed in alum and salt, 
rolled it tightly for eight days, rubbing 
in more as it dissolved. I then washed it, 
stretching and rubbing, to soften it. I 
tried the method of" dissolving 4 oz. alum, 
8 oz. salt in a gallon of rainwater, soak¬ 
ing 12 hours and drying 12 hours. I did 
this four times, finishing .with pulling, 
stretching and rubbing with pumice stone. 
I. have also rubbed in some neat’s-foot 
oil. and still it is not soft enough, espe¬ 
cially around the head, where the skin is 
thicker. Can you tell me what, to do? 
Churchville, N. Y. e. j. 
Your trouble originates in the fact that 
the skin was not thoroughly and evenly 
stretched before drying. This allowed 
certain portion to “full up,” thereby cre¬ 
ating thick, hard wrinkles. It also lies 
in the fact that you have used alum and 
salt in your tanning. The tendency of 
this combination is to produce a hard, 
stiff leather, and, while it. is a good tan¬ 
ning agent, these materials should not be 
used together if a soft, pliable leather is 
desired. Saltpeter should be used instead 
of the salt. Your remedy at the present 
time is to soften the hide by working 
plenty of neat’s-foot oil into the flesh side. 
Then pad a wooden block with several 
folds of cloth, in order that the hairs 
may not be broken. Lay fhe wrinkles, 
flesh side up, upon this block. Pound 
gently with a wooden mallet until they 
are reduced in thickness, meantime pull¬ 
ing and stretching and applying more oil 
whenever the hide will absorb it. Don't 
be afraid of using too much oil. for it will 
require a lot. but neat’s-foot oil and ma¬ 
nipulation will 'bring the hide into shape. 
Finish by removing the surplus oil with 
cornmeal or wheat bran, or by pumice 
stone as you have used. You are on the 
right track, only use more oil and more 
elbow grease. 
But are you certain that you want the 
bide to he soft and pliable around the 
neck? These hard wrinkles around the 
neck cause the hairs to stand up. stiff 
and erect, and, when the face and eyes 
are used, give a more animated and life¬ 
like expression and appearance than can 
be produced by any other means, and fur¬ 
riers often go to considerable trouble and 
expense to produce them. 
C. O. ORMSBEE. 
Hemlock Bark for Tanning 
I wish to use hemlock bark for tan¬ 
ning. I have a large hemlock tree, IS 
inches on stump, cut last Winter and left 
in the woods, as the snow was too deep 
to get it out. T also have an old hemlock 
still living, but struck by lightning. 1 
could get some bark from it, but it would 
be green. There are lots of hemlocks on 
our place, but outside of the one cut last 
Winter all axe green and living. Would 
See That Swivel 
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