MONEY FROM PELTS
LOSS THROUGH DAMAGE CARE IN PREPARATION WHERE FAULTS OCCUR \ No. n. There are two ways in which the quality of pelts may be affected, according to the bulletin of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, in which the results of co-operative investigations by New Zealand exporters and English processors are detailed. In the first place, there may be faults which occur in the pelt before it reaches the freezing works, pinhole, shearing blast, sunburn and seed injury being the principal ones. In the second place there may be faults in processing, such as mottle, leopard grain and loss of enamel." . t . Until recently, the bulletin points out, one of the major defects of New Zealand pickled pelts was that known as pinhole, in which the surface of a pelt appears as though a multitude of stabs with pins had been made upon it. This defect is entirely a question of breed. The nearer the animal is to the Merino type of sheep, the greater is the' amount of pinhole. It is usually associated with fine-woolled sheep or with lambs. As the predominant cross in the Dominion tends to be Southdown, it naturally follows that a large number of pinhole pelts are produced. As a result of investigations carried out on New Zealand pelts in England, is has been definitely established that pinhole, instead of being a major defect, is a means of identifying skins which are suitable for certain types of leather. In other words, researoh has revealed a better market for what was previously regarded as a low-grade skin. Damage In Shearing
In one shipment last season approximately 10s a dozen skies was lost through damage caused by shearing and sunburn. Shearing blast is a series of parallel scars, which appear to be made by the comb of the shearing machine. Inexperienced shearers are apt to allow the comb to become too hot. In 6ome cases it becomes hot enough to burn the hand of the operator, so presumably it also burns the skin of-the animal with which it comes in contact.
This overheating of the machine is considered to be due principally to three reasons —infrequent changing of the comb, too great a tension on the spring, and racing through having the machine out of the wool for too long intervals. Consequently, it is suggested that the period of time when the machine is not clipping should be reduced to a minimum. Liability to Sunburn If a spell of hot, sunny weather is experienced after clipping, the back of the animal is liable to be sunburned. When burning is slight it is"seen in the finished leather as a loss of enamel, that is, the bright the grain is missing, while the sunburned skin reacts differently from the rest of the skin during the dyeing process Marks due to shearing and sunburn evidently disappear if allowed sufficient time in which to heal, as this class of trouble is more pronounced on pelts taken early in the season. There is no evidence as to the length of time necessary for these scars to heal, but it is suggested that it would help to reduce the incidence of the defeats if shorn animals were not sent for slaughter when visible evidence of them exists. ' Another shipment of pelts was greatly reduced in value by the presenoe of grass seeds, the bulletin continues. These seeds persist into the finished leather, and m addition to making a hole in the finished article, have to be mechanically removed. It has been suggested that the chief cause of this trouble is the barley grass, which grows freely, unless removed, around woolsheds and pens. Improvement in Flaying It is mentioned that, the introduction of the chain system of killing has improved the flaying of the skins. The pattern is better and a greater spread, or area, has been obtained, but butcher strain on the trial shipments had not been eliminated. It is possible that as the chain system was in its infanoy when the trials were carried out, the incidence of this defect was unduly large because of the inexperience of those doing the flaying, Butcher strain and other flaying defeats have in the past been responsible for large losses in the value of New Zealand pelts. Consequently, good flaying should be kept constantly "in mind by the operators. The compilers of the bulletin comment that it is not'possible to discuss the various methods by which processing has been improved. Definite progress has been made, however, and the causes of.some of the commoner faults have been discovered. There are many factors, which, while not being the real cause of a defect, exert a contributory effect on its incidence. Thus eliminating one of these, contributory causes may have improved slightly tlie quality of the pelts, but may not entirely eliminate the defect. Wo,ll-proceased pelts are produced by careful attention to all details, many of which are unfortunately too often considered as being insignificant.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21757, 23 March 1934, Page 15
Word Count
830MONEY FROM PELTS New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21757, 23 March 1934, Page 15
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