Leather: From the Raw Material to the Finished Product

by K. J. Adcock

Russia is another important country for the production of all kinds of raw hides and skins suitable for leather manufacture. American tanners buy very largely from this market, and a few enterprising firms even send their own representatives to the great annual fair held at Nishni Novgorod, where large quantities of dried hides and skins, besides many other kinds of produce, are offered for sale. British tanners take comparatively little interest in this important supply, but, as a result of the great European War, an increase of trade between Russia and the United Kingdom is anticipated, although the Russian leather trade is developing rapidly and will absorb increasing quantities of native raw material.

Excepting a few in Ireland, raw goat skins are not produced in Great Britain. The chief drawback to goat breeding there is a somewhat inexplicable aversion on the part of the public to the flesh of goats; although another reason may be the destructive nature of the animals themselves, for they devour and uproot anything edible that comes in their way. It is, perhaps, unfortunate that some of the large areas of uncultivated land in Great Britain are not given up to the breeding of goats on a large scale, since these hardy animals will thrive on rough, hilly lands. Apart from the value of the meat, it might be a paying proposition to rear large herds of goats for the supply of milk (which is more nourishing than cows') and skins. Leather-dressers are, therefore, dependent on imported supplies, of which the principal sources are India (North-Western District), Mexico, Arabia, Africa, South America, and several European countries.

Goat skins from the main sources of supply vary very much in quality—even those produced in the same country. In India, for example, skins may be obtained in some districts which can be made into leather to sell at about 5d. per square foot; from another district, when finished into the same kind of leather, say glazed kid, they may be worth 1s. 4d.[1] per foot. Fineness and clearness of grain and good substance are the main essentials of a first-class goat-skin leather; unfortunately these qualities are rarely combined in one class of skin, and there is a decided surplus of light thin skins which are hardly saleable, even for ladies' shoes. Some American shoemakers overcome this difficulty by pasting a piece of cloth on the back of the skin. In fairness to the buyer, the boots made of such leather should be specially marked, as the wearing quality of a backed thin leather is not to be compared with one naturally stout.

[1] It must be understood that, owing to the war, these prices have been greatly increased.

The skins of goats are used for many purposes besides the manufacture of the famous glacé kid leather; gloves, moroccos for bookbinding, upholstery for furniture, fancy articles such as purses, pocket-books, bags, and ladies' belts all require large quantities of goat and kid skins. It may be pointed out here, however, that quite nine-tenths of the so-called kid gloves are made of lamb and sheep skins. In appearance, there is very little difference between the real kid and the lamb skin gloves, but the former are more durable and warmer in wear than the latter.

With an enormous range of qualities, it is a difficult task for the goat-skin dresser to find the most suitable sorts for his trade. The skins used in the glove industry are largely obtained from the Near Eastern countries, Arabia, Austria, Spain, and the Cape. The selections best suited to the making of glazed and "patent" (japanned) kid are found in the North-Western provinces of India, Brazil, China, Russia (especially the Asiatic provinces), Mexico, the Cape, and Arabia. The Indian goats known as the Patnas, which are collected in the district of Behar, are commonly supposed to be the best in the world, chiefly because of their fine grain and stout substance; but the best Brazilian and Mexican skins are equally good in quality. The best moroccos for fancy articles are made from Continental skins, and in this respect Germany has the great advantage of a good supply of native skins. Norway and Spain also provide skins suitable for real morocco leather. A very large quantity of Indian-tanned goat skins are imported into European countries and dressed for "morocco" leather. There should be a distinctive name for this class of leather, as, although it is similar in appearance, it is not nearly so good in quality as the real morocco.

In addition to cattle hides, sheep, and goat skins, which are the main supply of raw material for leather, other kinds of hides and skins are utilised. Horse hides, which, in the United Kingdom, are graded according to size and quality in four or five selections and sold by the piece, are largely used on the Continent, and especially in Germany; nearly all of the British production being sold to that country. When chrome tanned, these hides produce quite a serviceable upper leather of good wearing quality, but, owing to their somewhat loose texture, the characteristic grain of box calf cannot be reproduced naturally, and the surface of the leather has, therefore, to be printed. This style of finished leather does not meet with the favour of British boot manufacturers, and the industry has not been greatly developed in consequence. In view of the increasing cost of other kinds of leather, however, more attention may be paid to that made from horse hide, but the supply of this raw material is very small compared to the production on the Continent, where horse flesh is consumed freely. Russia produces large quantities of horse hides and colt skins, most of which are exported to the United States of America, where they are made chiefly into japanned, or so-called "patent," leather, which commands a very high price in relation to the cost of the raw material.

Next in importance to horse hides is the pig skin, which produces a wonderfully tough leather. The pig skin leather industry is chiefly confined to Scotland and Germany, the reason being that the skins are left on the carcases in the other parts of the world. On the average, a pig skin is worth about 6s., yet it is seldom removed from the carcase. One reason is the great difficulty of flaying the animal; it appears to be almost impossible by present methods to remove the skin without cutting away a large quantity of fat, and the value of the skin compared to the loss of weight of the meat offers very little inducement to remove the skin, in addition to which, the custom of leaving the rind on bacon and pork effectually prevents any attempt at present to increase the supply of pig skins. This is a great loss to the leather trade, for the pig skin is particularly suitable for saddles and various kinds of strong leather goods. Imitation pig-skin leather is made from hides, shoulders, bellies, or persians, but real pig skin is distinguished from the imitation by its peculiarly marked grain, formed of groups of three small holes which penetrate well into the skin and form part of the sheaths of the pig's bristles.

Among other skins useful for leather are those of the wallaby, kangaroo, dog, lizard, crocodile, alligator, ichneumon, frog (Japanese), deer, antelope, and chamois, while it is said that even rabbit skins have been pressed into service in Germany, though they cannot have much value owing to their small size and thin substance. Dog-skin leather wears well, mainly on account of the large amount of natural grease present in the skin, but the supplies are naturally small. The hides of the walrus, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and other wild animals are also tanned in small quantities, walrus leather being well adapted for knife and sword polishing.

The mammals also contribute their quota to the supply of raw material of the leather trade, the seal perhaps, being the most important. This refers to the hairy seal hunted off the North American coast.