STATION SKINS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 221, 18 September 1930, Page 25

STATION SKINS.

• METHODS OF HANDLING.

SECURING BETTER PRICES. i . . ' ~- .;-■ :

(By "SUPER.") Although the individual returns froiil properly treated sheep and cattle skins may not be very greatly increased where these are subjected to the best possible treatment, in the aggregate an enormous sum can be saved, to the Dominion if curing is carried out along the most approved lines. On many big stations —and often on smaller farms too —the skinning of dead sheep and cattle is carried out in a very careless manner, and little trouble is taken with salting. Similarly, in many cases sheep that are .killed for station use are carelessly skinned, cut in places, and improperly salted. Some station owners insist that th'eir shepherds use the greatest care in all skinning operations, and see that the. ■skins are properly treated later. . By so doing they place their skins in the highest grade, and net a few extra pounds per season. The very best treatment cannot make perfect a skin taken from an animal which has been dead for some time; such skins are never in the t*op grades. It can make, them readily saleable though, whereas skins from dead sheep often fetch : little more than the value of the wool they- are carrying. :

On the Dairy Farm. ' A few years ago before the "bobby" calf industry was properly organised, farmers annually killed many calves on the farm, the skins being sold to itinerant buyers who called at farms, even in isolated districts. The organisation of this industry is now so complete that only, farmers in backblock places bother to kill their own calves. Tho remainder send their calves to the works, netting, in addition to the value of the skin,; a small price for the meat. Where calves are killed on the farm though, great care should be taken of the skins, more especially because these skins are nqvr sought by the makers of gloves, and for this trade a very high class leather is needed. , ,' ; .■ %,..■ •-.-,

,'•■ lor certain classes of glove making, . the flesh surface of tho skin is outwards/and, naturally enough, if there are any, blemishes at all, these are found ia the final processes and give New Zealand skins a bad Jiame. .,[■ That • this is so in practice was .proved recently when a cask of calf skins was J .purchased and finally found to contain .' Menu'shes. Investigation, showed " that .' they had not been properly cured, , 100 much time having elapsed between the ■ tiine the >" skin was removed and whpn .it Fa's.salted.' ■' ' '. ' : : .• '

'•' Use Good Salt. , <'■. It cannot be too strongly emphasised ■ that salting of the skin should in every; case be carried, out as soon after the* ■ skin ig removed from the carcase as! /possible. ; This is true alike' of sheep, V.calveß and cattle, and if the skin' is taken from a dead'beast, the sooner it 'is salted the sooner will decomposition 'Obe arrested. Many farmers use sheep ■' Idip on their skins, but th'is is neither so satisfactory nor so; effective .as is /alt." The real point though—and it is one. which very few farmers have 3iad ' brought home to thenvMs «that..the . effectiveness ofr the "cure" depends on Vh'owmuch salt enters the skin during -the first,few hours. Nothing can undo the damage done through 1 neglect in the "first few hours after ,is,r ■'■'•'.. , Some farmers buy cheap' grades, of ■ salt for. use in skin curing, and,,in fact, ■'''•'• iise anything at Vail. This inevitably \ !■ leads to trouble'later, for'wi,th poor '"quality salts chemical changes take place V, which affect the hide detrimentally. The ■difference in cost between poor quality 'salt and good quality is small, and the -saving effected through using, the inferior • article is not worth while, even supposing that no improvement occurred; in ■ the skins.when better salt was used. ;.

, - > Careful Skinning.!,; ', ' --.Station owners and managers: cannot impress too strongly on their shepherds the need for using care when skinning. ;..' The writer when in a skin store -recently had a look at so,me bales- of. skins that . - hail come from sheep found dead during >'■'. thd lambiflg. They;were in very bad ■ ■condition indeed, and practically worth- . less except for the wool. Hardly one skin was free from cuts, and many •of '; ; these cuts were in the centre of the back; ; where no knife should have been used.

„ It is certainly harder to "punch", a ■. ■/■> skin free after a beast is dead, but by ; ; using the handle of the knife this' can be ■;d°no without using the blade, and-,thus ■ .y. ruining the skin. Some station owh'ers take a pride in the skins they send fbr- ' Ward, and institute, a little rivalry .between the men on their staffs, \o see ..who can produce the best skins at the , ;•. of the winter. A little encourage■i/Mini of this nature, coupled 'perhaps . ■■ small monetary incentive, will: ■ s rapidly improve the,standard " oi: the -skins-sent forward to the, hiafket. That' this is not idle surmise is within, the .-' Writer's knowledge. The skins from 6iie • .of the largest stations in New.Zealand ; are_ the laughing stock of the store-to-which they are consigned,; ■tyliile thoso y . that come from another large station, ; almost alongside, are always well cured > and free from cuts. On the latter placed ;■';;; definite, encouragement is j^iven' the , shepherds to look after the skins.

■■■•.:■■'. '..The ideal method of skinning is that j. adopted by butchers at all '; freezing ;';>■ ■ft'orke, who use the knife as little as '.■Possible; in fact, only for .the prelimi.nary opening up, arid who ."liunch'-' the ; v r skin from the belly and down both frbnt ; 'and hind legs. 'VlTien ihis has been done: ,; .v** is cdinparai;ively easy _to .draw it' ■ '' .neatly off the back, leaving it free.front' ; ■ all, blemishes. Small pieces of the lower ~..■:;-Part of the le* should not : be left :■■:'■-', ■•' ittaohed td the skin, as they have finally .:; 16' be trimmed away by the buyer, ~ Wasting his time. The skin should be ~ neatly taken out right to the points,, for ; ;';' AVcry.little helps," and buyers want to •■■' be. Able to trim it to. suit their require- ;; '• . menti. ■ '■ : .-.-. ■•- '■:'■' :'.'■' -S':

.•.:; ,Mbre care used in Tailing' and, better ''■ treatment of tile skins, combined with " the use of a high quality salt, will mean .;'.' enhanced returns, and :' .eventually a v_ 'btttcr demand for skins,as . '-•'a.whole. . '•" '; \. \ : >.'"»;