2. As soon as possible after the animal is dead and dry, attend to the skinning and curing.
3. Scrape off all superfluous flesh and fat, and be careful not to go so deep as to cut the fiber of the skin.
4. Never dry a skin by the fire or in the sun, but in a cool, shady place, sheltered from rain. If you use a barn door for a stretcher (as boys sometimes do), nail the skin on the inside of the door.
5. Never use preparations of any kind in curing skins, nor even wash them in water, but simply stretch and dry them as they are taken from the animal.
To Dress Beaver Skins.—You must rip the skin the same as you would a sheep. Stretch it in all ways as much as possible; then it is to be dressed with equal parts of rock salt and alum dissolved in water, and made about as thick as cream, by stirring in coarse flour. This should be spread on nearly half an inch thick, and scraped off when dry, and repeated if one time is not enough. This same process of dressing applies likewise to otter skins.
To Trap Quail.—A quail trap may be any kind of coop, supported by a figure 4. The spindle of the figure must either be so made as to hold grain, or, what is better, some grains of wheat or buckwheat are strung over a strong thread with the aid of a needle, and tied to the spindle. Quails and prairie hens easily enter a trap when the ground is covered with snow. At other times it is rather difficult to catch them.
To Trap Wild Turkey.—A wild turkey trap is made by first digging a ditch; then over one end is built a rude structure of logs, covered at the top.