“What is this stuff?” inquired Peter of a man who stood near by.
“That is sumac, young man.”
“Sumac! Just common sumac?”
“Well, no. It is the same sort of thing, though. We import this from Sicily, because the foreign leaves grow larger and contain more tannin. Sicilian sumac makes better leather than does the American variety, which comes chiefly from Virginia.”
Peter nodded.
“And how long, pray, do the skins lie covered up in this snuffy brown powder?” questioned Nat.
“About a week,” answered the man. “We do not tan all sheepskins this way, however. Some, as you will see, are tanned by being suspended from a bar into a vat of quebracho. Others are put into wheels of chrome tan just as calfskins are. White leathers are tanned, or more properly speaking tawed, in a mixture of alum and egg-yolk.”
“Egg-yolk!” gasped Peter. “Eggs—such as we eat?”
“I am not so sure that they are such as you would care to eat,” grinned the man, “but the yolks come from eggs, nevertheless.”
“I should think it would take lots of men to break the eggs fast enough and get them ready,” murmured Peter, half aloud.