=Trimming of Green Hides.=--Before the hides are packed they should be examined for brands, etc., and be distributed to their proper packs, according to assortment. The switch is cut off from the tail, any loose ends of the hides are trimmed off and the ears split. Unless this is done, it makes an uneven pack on account of the thickness of the ears; furthermore the salt does not have a chance to penetrate the ears and they are liable to spoil. Any loose pieces of meat that the butchers may have left on the hide should be taken off, as well as any excess amount of fat. The hides after being trimmed should be allowed to lay for three to five hours to cool. If the hides are put into the pack without doing this, it is likely that, when the pack is taken up, some hides will be found on which the hair has slipped; these are necessarily No. 2 hides, and as the uniform rule is 1c per pound less for No. 2’s than for No. 1’s, it will show a loss of approximately 50c to 60c per hide. Another bad feature of having “slip-hides” is the fact that if the buyer finds them at all, he is always suspicious that there are others in the pack which are out of condition, that he has not seen, and that they will come out of the tannery with unsatisfactory results. When hides are put in the pack, extreme care should be used to see that _every part_ of the hide is exposed to salt. The legs should be straightened out flat and the pates thoroughly spread, so that the salt may reach every part. Hides should lie in pack and salt for from twenty-five to thirty days before they are fully cured. At the expiration of this time they are ready for shipment, and are taken out of salt, inspected and each one rolled into a bundle and tied. =Switches.=--The switches should be spread out on the floor and given a thorough chance to cool off, when they are thrown into a pack by themselves and heavily salted. They should be watched closely, as there is unavoidably considerable blood and moisture in them, and if any sign of heating is found they should be overhauled and resalted. =Shrinkage of Hides.=--No set rule can be made as to how much hides will actually shrink, but if the foregoing directions are followed closely and intelligently the shrinkage may be kept at the minimum, which will usually range from 12 to 15 per cent. This is governed largely, as before stated, by the amount of water which the hides take up on the killing floor, which if weighed with the hide will nearly all seep out when put into the packs and cause an excess shrinkage from the original green weights. Further the storage has a great deal to do with it, but if proper care is taken the shrinkage should be kept within the figures given.