Page 235 - Agriculture_Form_3

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Hides: After slaughter, the hide is removed from the animal. This is called flaying.
Just like meat, hides can rot if they are not preserved soon after removal. It is best
to preserve the hide within 3 - 4 hours after slaughter. In East Africa, there are
two main ways to preserve hides. These are air drying and wet salt curing. In air
drying, the hide is hung on a frame to dry. The frame can be round or rectangular.
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Ropes or strings are used to stretch and hold the hide in place (refer to Figure
10.17 (a). It takes about 7 days for the hide to dry fully. In wet salt curing, salt
is used to keep the hide from rotting. First, the hide is spread flat on the ground
or a wooden platform. Then, clean salt is spread evenly on the flesh side. The
salt should be 30 - 40% of the hide’s weight. Another hide is placed on top and
also salted. This process is repeated for more hides, stacking them one on top of
the other (refer to Figure 10.17 (b)). Each hide stays in contact with salt on both
sides. Good hides are used in making shoes, belts, bags and other leather goods
(refer to Figure 10.18).

Figure 10.17 (a): Air drying Figure 10.17 (b): Wet salting

Figure 10.18: Examples of leather products
Source: https://www.nitasuri.com/blogs/news/types-leather-fashion-accesories

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