HIDE BRANDING.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 570, 24 May 1913, Page 2

HIDE BRANDING.

WHERE REFORM IS WANTED. Some reports relative to the present method employed in the branding of hides and skinß have been issued by the United Tanners' Federation of the United Kingdom and the Australian Leather Trades Journal. The United Tanners' Federation deprecates the use of uan of the hot iron by farmers and breeders and (joints out that the damage camed and economic waste brought about by such a crude £and unnecessary procedure is enormous. They sfnte that the difference in prico obtainable for the tanned leather were it is not branded, is probably fid to 4d per lb. Then, again, raw hides, if not branded, would fetch Id per lb more, and, as those hides wieght from fiOlb to HOlb the difference in value is Very appreciable.

The Tanners' Federation advocates either an alteration of Uu* method of branding, or that the animals be branded with smaller brands, on the cheeks, ears or flanks—not on the rump or the back as is at present nearly always dc They consider that this would hi' lly distinguishable, and would >m 5a to 7a per hide less damage beaßt, as the brands would U. . be on leather which in the open market is only worth from*7d to 9d per lb. In other words, the brand would be on the inner and therefore leea valuable part of the hide.