The advocate., 1897-09-22


and presses his weight against 1t. II
the nOtched log Is used the neck is
caught between the notch and the limb
The hair and grain (black epidermis) are
scraped off by working the knife down
the skin the way the hair runs. If the
hair is stubborn a little ashes rubbed
into such spots will offer resistance to
the knife and will make the grain Slip
The hide is now turned over and fleshed
with sharp knife by removing all SUI
perfluous tissue and working the skin
down to an even thickness throughout.
This operation must be performed with
extreme care or the buckskin will have
thick and stiff spots, which make it COM
paratively worthless.
After cleaning the hide it is allowed
to dry and then Is resOaked over night
Now comes the hard work of stretching
and sOftening the hide. The skin is
pulled, twisted and worked in every di-
rection until it becomes white and soft,
after which the operator rubs into it the
brains of the animal, which have been
removed by splitting the skull length
wise half in two Sometimes the brains
are first dissolved in tepid water, being
allowed to simmer over a slow fire while
the Jumps are rolled between the fingers
until they form a paste, which will dis
solve more freely. This solution is then
rubbed into the hide on the hair side
which is more porous than the flesh side
Deer brains may be preserved by mixing
them with moss, to make the mass ad-
here enough to be formed into cake
which is hung by the fire to dry. Such
a cake will keep for years, and when
wanted for dressing a hide 1t is dissolved
in hot water, and the moss removed. A
skin may be treated by soaking it in the
solution, wringing out, drying and re-
soaking till it is thoroughly penetrated
After the skin is treated with brains it
must again be pulled, stretched, kneaded
and rubbed. until the fiber is loosened
and every part becomes as pliable as
chamois skin. If two men are available
they saw the hide back and forth over
the sharpened edge Of q plank, or over
a taut rope, lariat or twisted sinew as
thick as ones finger. Large and refrac-
tory hides may be sOftened by stretch
ing them firmly on elevated frames and
dancing on them. 1t is hard job for
one man to soften a large hide, but he
can accomplish 1t by throwing the wet
skin over a convenient limb, forming
loop at the other end, passing stick
through it, and twisting into a hard
knot; then, letting 1t dry, resoaking, and
repeating the operation. The Oftener a
skin is wet and softened the more pliable
it becomes.
The final process is smoking, which
closes the pores, toughens the skin, gives
it the desired color and insures its dry
ing soft AS smoke-hOuses are not COM
it's own house. A small hole is dug in
the ground and smudge started in it.
Rotten wood may be used, but If par
ticular shade of yellow or brown be de-
sired some discrimination must be used
in selecting the fuel. Several small
poles are stuck around the hole, and the
skin is wrapped around them somewhat
like tepee or Indian lodge, the edges
being sewed or skewered together to
hold the smoke. The fire must be
merely smudge, as overheating would
ruin the skin. Both sides are to be
smoked, alternately, the process being
continued for several days.
The skins Of antelope or any Of the
deer tribe are treated in the same way.
Antelope, deer, moose and caribou hides
make good buckskin, but elk hides are
weak and inferior material.-Horace
Kephart, in GlObe-DemOcrat