A Simple Fur Press.
Take a box with a bottom the size you wish the bottom of your bale of furs to be and turn it bottom side up on the floor near the wall. Then spread a piece of burlap over it large enough to hang over the edges a little all the way around. Then lay on a piece of heavy brown paper about the size of the burlap. Then lay on your furs in a flat, square pile, the same shape as the top of the box. It is a good plan to brush the hair all out straight and smooth as you lay them on. Lay them on until you have them thick enough so that when pressed down they will be as thick as you want your bale. Then lay on another piece of paper and burlap about the size of the ones on the bottom.
Then lay some short pieces of board crosswise under your lever. Then nail a cleat to the wall the same distance from the floor that the top of your bale will be when pressed. Then take a piece of good solid board or anything handy that may be used as a lever and lay across the top of the bale, catching one end under the cleat on the wall and pry it down and weight it or have some one hold it for you while you fold the edges of the paper together smoothly and the burlap in the same way, folding the corners in neatly. Now you can sew these edges together with some good stout cord and release your lever, tie on your shipping tags and you will have a neat secure bundle, all ready for shipment. The bundle may be strengthened by putting a good stout cord around it lengthwise and crosswise twice. This makes something to get hold of when handling it.—L. Dewey.