For mink, etc., never use a single board—it may tear the skin—but make a double stretcher (Fig. 17 _a_). Take a half-inch board of pine or cedar, two feet long and three inches wide, and taper it to two inches at one end and shave the outside almost to an edge. The board is then split in half with a saw; where no saw is at hand the two pieces are whittled out separately. The stretchers are now put into the skin, and the legs pulled out as far as they will go and tacked in place, or a slit made in each and the leg hooked over a notch in the edge of the stretcher. Then a wedge two feet long, an inch wide, and tapering to a point is inserted between the stretcher, and driven down until the skin is as tight as a drum-head. The middles are then tacked fast, and a square-pointed stick inserted into the tail. If the boards threaten to collapse, two short sticks with ends lashed together pushed over them will keep them flat. The tail-piece (Fig. 18) shows a mink-skin properly stretched. A fox-stretcher will be exactly twice the dimensions of the mink-stretcher; others in proportion. The raccoon, bear, etc., is skinned by a cut from chin to tail, cuts being made up the legs at right angles to the cut, and stretched upon a square frame (Fig. 17 _d_) by means of a lacing of cord or tough bark. Formerly all open skins were stretched on the hoop-stretcher (Fig. 17 _c_), but now only the beaver is treated that way.
Skins must never be dried in the sun nor by a hot fire. Nor should any preservatives whatever be applied, not even salt, until ready for tanning. All fat should be removed, taking care for knife-cuts.
The most delightful season in the woods, throughout the northern and middle parts of the United States, is during the summer months, and in the South right up to Christmas; while in other parts of the country, through southern Texas and California, the woods are attractive all through the year.
Brush-houses, sylvan retreats, and tree huts of various kinds are made by boys all over the country, and some very unique and original ones are often constructed from simple and inexpensive materials. Everything from the back-yard “lean-to” and the tent of sheets to the tree huts that are inaccessible when the rope-ladder is drawn up may be made by boys who are at all handy with tools, and a well-built tree hut is an ideal place in which to spend one’s vacation days.