Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 9-5-2011

Spokane Spokesman-Review, September 3, 1911:

A good baseball may be made at home.  You will need some soft kid.  The wrists of your mother’s old kid gloves will make fine coverings.  You also need soft wool yarn for the inside, and this must be packed very tight into the covering.  Now to get the proper shape of the ball, for a baseball should be as round as an orange. Take an orange; cut it evenly into quarters, numbering them at one end to aid in putting the parts together again.

Okay, sure, but what am I supposed to do with the soft kid?