Part 27 (2/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration]

For large animals, such as the deer, bear, beaver, the hoop stretcher is generally employed.

THE HOOP STRETCHER.

This consists of a hoop made from one or more flexible switches tied together so as to form a circle. In order to be adapted to this mode of stretching, the skin should be flat, _i. e._ taken off as described on page 172, the initial cut extending from the lower jaw to the vent. The size of the hoop required depends upon the dimensions of the skin. Lay the latter upon some flat surface and so gauge the hoop as that it shall surround the pelt on all sides; after which the latter should be secured or laced to the hoop with twine at the edges. All loose parts should be drawn up, and the skin should everywhere be stretched like a drum head. When this is accomplished it is the custom with many trappers to apply the preparation described on page 273, particularly where the skin is thick and fatty. But we are rather disposed to discourage the use of any preparation whatever, in any case, as they are by no means necessary.

In using the board stretchers the fur should always be on the inside, and when the hoop or bow is used it should be placed in such a position, that the air may circulate freely on both sides of the skin, which should not be removed until thoroughly dry.

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TANNING SKINS.

In case some of our readers might desire to tan fur skins for their own domestic purposes, the subjoined directions will be found to be reliable, and for all ordinary requirements, sufficiently adequate.

For tanning with the hair on, the skin should first be cleaned, every particle of loose fat or flesh, being removed, and the useless parts cut away. When this is done, it should be soaked for an hour or two in warm water. The following mixture should then be prepared: Take equal parts of borax, saltpetre, and sulphate of soda, and with them mix water sufficient to produce the consistency of thin batter.

This preparation should be painted thickly on the flesh side of the skin, after which these sides should be doubled together and the pelt left in an airy place.

A second mixture should next be prepared. This should consist of two parts sal soda; three parts borax; four parts castile or other hard soap: all to be melted together over a slow fire. At the end of twenty-four hours, after the application of the first mixture, the second should be applied in a similar manner, and the fur again folded and left for the same length of time. Next, make a mixture equal parts of salt and alum, dissolved in warm water and thickened with coa.r.s.e flour to the consistency of thin paste. Spread this thickly over the skin and allow it to dry, after which it should be sc.r.a.ped off with the bowl of a spoon. The skin should be tightly stretched during the operation, in order to prevent too great shrinkage. A single application of the last-named dressing, is generally sufficient for small skins; but a second or third treatment may be resorted to if required, to make the skin soft and pliable, after which it should be finished off with sand-paper and pumice stone. A skin may be thus dressed as soft as velvet, and the alum and salt will set the hair securely.

The above directions are excellent, for all general purposes, but we subjoin, in addition, a few other valuable hints and specific recipes in common use. Every trapper has his own peculiar hobby in regard to his tanning process, and the recipes are various and extensive. The above is one of the most reliable for general use.

A common mode of tanning mink and muskrat skins is given in the following:--

TO TAN MINK AND MUSKRAT SKINS.

Before tanning, the skin should always be thoroughly cleansed [Page 277]

in warm water, and all fat and superfluous flesh removed. It should then be immersed in a solution made of the following ingredients: Five gallons of cold soft water; five quarts wheat bran; one gill of salt; and one ounce of sulphuric acid. Allow the skins to soak in the liquid for four or five hours. If the hides have been previously salted, the salt should be excluded from the mixed solution. The skins are now ready for the tanning liquor, which is made in the following way: into five gallons of warm, soft water, stir one peck of wheat bran and allow the mixture to stand in a warm room until fermentation takes place. Then add three pints of salt, and stir until it is thoroughly dissolved. A pint of sulphuric acid should then be poured in gradually, after which the liquor is ready. Immerse the skins and allow them to soak for three or four hours. The process of ”fles.h.i.+ng” is then to be resorted to. This consists in laying the skin, fur side down, over some smooth beam, and working over the flesh side with a blunt fles.h.i.+ng tool. An old chopping knife, or tin candlestick, forms an excellent subst.i.tute for the ordinary fles.h.i.+ng knife, and the process of rubbing should be continued until the skin becomes dry, after which it will be found to be soft and pliable. The skin of the muskrat is quite tender, and the fles.h.i.+ng should be carefully performed.

HOW TO TAN THE SKINS OF BEAVER, OTTER, RACc.o.o.n, AND MARTEN.

These should be stretched on a board and smeared with a mixture composed of three ounces each, of salt and alum; three gills of water, and one drachm of sulphuric acid. This should be thickened with wheat bran or flour, and should be allowed to dry on the skin, after which it should be sc.r.a.ped off with a spoon. Next, take the skin from the board, roll it with the fur inside, and draw it quickly backward and forward, over a smooth peg, or through an iron ring.

The skin should then be unfolded and rolled again the opposite way, and the operation repeated until the pelt is quite soft and flexible. This is a good way of softening all kinds of skins, and the above preparation will be found excellent for all ordinary purposes. The muskrat skin may be treated in the same manner as the above, if desired, and the process directed on the muskrat skin may also be applied to the pelts of the other animals.

To remove the fur for a simple tanned skin, the hide should be immersed in a liquid composed of--soft water, five gallons; slaked lime, four quarts; and wood ashes, four quarts. Allow [Page 278]

the skin to soak for a couple of days, after which the fur will readily slip off.

Another method--take equal parts wood ashes and slaked lime, and add water to the consistency of batter. Spread this over the inside of the skin, roll it up, and place it in a pail, covering it with water. Here let it remain from one to five days, or until the hair will shed easily, after which it should be finished with the fles.h.i.+ng knife and velveted with sand paper.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE HISTORY OF FURS AND THE FUR TRADE.

In all cold climates, man has availed himself liberally of the warm covering with which nature has clothed the animals around him; but the wealth of the most favored nations has drawn to them the most beautiful furs, in whatever part of the world they are procured. Skins of animals were among the first materials used for clothing. Before Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden, they were furnished with coats of skins. The ancient a.s.syrians used the soft skins of animals to cover the couches or the ground in their tents, and the Israelites employed badger's skins and ram's skins, as ornamental hangings for the Tabernacle. The ancient heroes of the Greeks and Romans, are represented as being clothed in skins. aeneas, wearing for an outer garment, that of the lion, and Alcestes being formidably clad in that of the Libyan Bear.

Herodotus speaks of those living near the Caspian Sea wearing seal skins, and Caesar mentions that the skin of the reindeer formed in part the clothing of the Germans. In the early period, furs appear to have const.i.tuted the entire riches of the Northern countries, and they were almost the only exports. Taxes were paid on them, and they were the medium of exchange. So it was also in our own Western territories in the latter part of the last century, and is to the present day, to a great extent, among the Indians. In the eleventh century, furs had become fas.h.i.+onable throughout Europe, and the art of dyeing them, was practiced in the twelfth. In the history of the Crusades, frequent mention is made of the magnificent displays by the European Princes, of their dresses of costly furs, before the Court at Constantinople. But Richard I. of England, and Philip II. of France, in order to check the growing extravagance in their use, resolved that the choicer furs, ermine and sable amongst the number, should be omitted from their kingly wardrobes.

Louis IX. followed their example in the next century, but not [Page 279]

until his extravagance had grown to such a pitch, that _seven hundred and forty-six_ ermines were required for the _lining_ of one of his _surcoats_. In the times, the use of the choicer furs, as those of the sable, ermine, gris, and Hungarian squirrel, was restricted to the royal families and the n.o.bility, to whom they served as distinctive marks and badges of rank. These privileged persons applied them lavishly to their own use, and the fas.h.i.+on extended to the princes of other less civilized nations. Their royal use soon extended to Tartary, and the tents of the Khan were bedecked with the most rich and costly furs. In the following century, furs were commonly worn in England until their use was prohibited by Edward III., to all persons whose purse would not warrant a yearly expenditure of 100.

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