Philippine mats: Pandan straws

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Part of Philippine Craftsman

Title: Philippine mats: Pandan straws
Creator: Miller, Hugo H.; Minier, John F.; Andes, U.S.; Muller, Theodore; Brezina, Alice
Language: English
Year: 1912
Rights
Fulltext: PHILIPPINE MATS. ll)' HliOO H . 1\111.1.1:11, JOIIS }'. M1:<1>:11, U. $. A:<ut:S, TIIP.OOOR>: MlJI.J,.~R and M rs. ALICEBRHINA. (Co~tlinucd.)" PANDAN STRAWS. DESCRIPTION OF PANDANS. Pandans or "screw.pines" as they are sometimes called are readily recognized by their characteristic appearance." The common forms occasionally planted in pots as house plants and in gardens, or more often found growing wild, have long and rather narrow leaves always supplied with more or less sharp spines which run along both their margins to the very tip. A no· ther row of spines is present on the under surface along the midrib. Bearing in mind this middle row of spines it is im· possible to mistake the leaf of the pandan for that of the pineapple or maguey which it resembles more or less in form and shape. Another very prominent feature of pandans is the presence of air o1· prop J·oots which grow from the stem above the ground and are helpful to the plant in various ways. The veins of the leaves always run parallel and in a longitudinal direction. The leaves are never borne on a petiole, but are attached directly, in winding corkscrew fashion, in ranks of three, to the stem. Pandans are true tropical shrubs or trees. Although also found in the subtropics of Australia they never occur in other temperate regions except when raised as ornamental plants in greenhouses. Even their distribution in the tropics is limited, as they are found growing wild only in the tropical regions of the Old World, especially on the islands lying between the mainland of Australia and southeastern Asia. They are hardly ever cui" This is the second par t of the article on Philippine Mats, which was begun in the September Craftsman. It will be concluded in the November number. "Due to the efforts of Elmer D. Merrill and A. D. E. Elmer, Botanists of Manila, aided by Prof. Martelli, of Florence, Italy, our knowledge of Philippine pandans has been greatly broadened. It is hoped that interested parties into whose hands this paper may come will help to extend it b~· sending specimens of pandans for identification to the Bureau of Education, Manila. Such specimens should consist of the ripe fruit and of at least two full grown lea\·es from which no spines or tips have been remo\•ed, and which have been cut from the stem as closely as possible. 1139~9-3 277 278 THE PH!Llf'PINE CRAFTSMAS tivated, for where they do occur they are found in more than sufficient quantity for the purposes to which they are put. They are esentially seacoast or open swamp forms, generally found at low altitudes and appearing to find a moist, warm climate most congenial to their growth. In the Philippines they occur in all provinces, though not always in sufficient quantity to make them of commercial importance. The structure of the pandans presents many exceedingly interesting characteristics well worth noticing. Some plants are very low with leaves not wider than a blade of grass, while others form large trees with leaves many meters long and several decimeters wide. Spines generally occur along the whole margin of the leaf, though in a few forms, especially in cultivated varieties, they may be present only at the tip or may be wanting entirely. The marginal spines usually curve forward and vary in size from small, hardly perceptible forms, to large shar p conical structures. At times they are set very close together; again they may be several centimeters apart. Those on the midrib most often curve backwards and may vary the same as the marginal spines. Generally the spines are green in color though in some species they are pale-green, red, black or white. Some forms seem to creep along the ground, while others, low and bushy and standing close together, form, with their niJmerous supporting prop roots, an almost impenetrable jungle. The high tree fonns are very striking because of their peculiarly shaped crowns. The first roots which the pandans develop soon disappear and their place is taken by others. Starting high above the ground, these grow at an angle from the stem and generally reach the soil. They serve the twofold purpose of supporting the stem and of supplying it with sufficient air. If, by accident, the underground roots die oft', the plant relies entirely on these air and prop roots for support and food. The strong prop roots are generally of the same diameter throughout, though sometimes they thicken at the ends. Normally they never branch above the ground, but after reaching the soil very often divide. The tip of the roots is protected by a cap, while a layer of cork tissue prevents the drying out of the root body. The pandan has two kinds of flowers, male and female. The male flowers are ar ranged in the form of a spike protected by a modified leaf called the bract. They are white in color, crowded together on the spike and consist of stamens which hold the pollen. The flowers do not have the showy colored bracts which forms so prominent a feature in those of many other plants. PIJILIPPJNE MATS 279 The female flowers consist only of the necessary parts. As the pollen occurs in enormous quantities and as the plants generally grow in groups, it is very probable that some flowers are pollinated by the wind. The fact that many pandans have very fragrant blossoms makes it almost certain that in the majority of cases insect pollination takes place. In a few forms that have a very disagreeable odor, pollination is effected by night flying insects. The fruit commonly has the general shape of the female inflorescence, but as it matures it increases greatly in size. Pandans have a composite fruit made up of smaller fruits called drupes. The most common forms resemble the pineapple with its le2fy fruit apex cut off. As is natural, variations from this type occur. Cylindrical, eggshaped, jakfruit-like forms are quite common. The largest may be 60 em. long and weigh 25 kilos, the smallest only 7 em. in length and 60 grams in weight. The fr uit may occur solitary at the end of a branch, or in groups. The color is green, though some species change to a bright red before maturity is reached. The fruit may have drupes ranging from 12 mm. to 14 mm. in length and these may contain one seed or a number of seeds. At maturity the drupes separate and the fruit falls apart. If the plant occurs along the water, the seeds, when liberated, float about until they rest in a suitable place for germination. USES 0.' PANDANS. Pandans are valued chiefly for their strong fibrous leaves which are woven into mats, bags, and hats. Unless especially prepared, the soft plant tissue between the harder leaf fibers Lecomes dry and dirty and breaks in time; hence the ordinary pandan bag or mat can not be considered a durable article. However, when treated to a boiling process or when rolled, as explained for sabutan and the pandan of Majayjay, the leaves yield straw which is stronger and more durable than most palm or sedge straw used for the same purposes. Pandan mats are important articles of domestic commerce in Malaysia, as it is estimated that four-fifths of the total population use them for sleeping purposes. In all places except where palms, like the buri, or sedges occur, they yield the most suitable and most easily prepared mat material. Generally the whole leaf is utilized after removing the marginal and midrib spines. The coarsest mats are used in drying out copra, cacao beans, paddy and such products. Pandan mats are made and used widely in the Philippines. 280 THE PIJILIPP/NE CRAPTS.\IAN Formerly, before gunny sacks came into general use, coffee was packed in pandan bags and where pandans did not grow they were introduced and cultivated for that purpose. Even to-day bags from pandan play an important part in transporting sugar, coffee and other tropical products in and around southern Asia. Few pandan bags are made in the Philippines in comparison with the enormous quantity of bayous woven of buri straw and used to contain domestic rice and export sugar. Pandans are used extensively for making hats in the Philippines as well as in other parts of the world. In several islands of the Pacific very fine ones are woven from straw consisting of the whole leaf cut into strips. In the Loochoo Islands imitation Panama hats of great strength are woven from the skin of a pandan, bleached and rolled into a straw. In the Philippines numerous varieties of pandan hats are produced, varying in grade from the fine and expensive sabutan to the coarse pandan.'~ In some other places, as Burma, pandan leaves are woven or sewed into sails. In southern India they are utilized as umbrella covering. lf no stronger material is obtainable, the leaves are placed on roofs as thatching, but they do not seem to lend themselves well to that purpose. In countries where they grow, they are often used instead of twine or made into ropes or hunting nets, or into drag ropes for fishing nets. They are said to be excellent paper making material. ]n some islands the fibers are separated from the leaf and used by the inhabitants in the manufacture of belts and aprons. The wood of the tree pandans is too spongy and soft to make a good material for the construction of houses. Still, on small islands, such as the Coral and Marshall Islands, the natives construct their huts from pandan wood. Generally, it is used only for rough, temporary work. In some localities the soft interior part is removed to make water pipes. Again, because of its lightness, the wood is used by the people on the many islands of the Pacific to buoy their fishing nets. Pandan roots are employed for various purposes. If sufficiently thin they are used, after being cleaned, for making baskets. The roots may also be pounded out, cleaned and made into brushes for painting or whitewashing houses. They a11e sometimes so employed in the Philippines. They are also used for cordage. A medicinal oil is sometimes obtained from them. "Bulletin No. 33, Bureau of Education. Journal of Science, Manila, Vol. VI, Sec. C, No.2. Pl-l/LIPPINE .1/ATS 281 The flowers of some pandans, especially those of Pandanus tectorius, are extremely fragrant. This plant is the most widely distributed of the pandans and is the most frequent pand:.m found along the seacoast and in low altitudes. Some botanists claim that the male flowers of this species have the sweetest odor known among plants. So powerful is their fragrance that by it sailors can often tell the presence of lund before they actually see it. The natives in some places use the flowers in making an aromatic water, or, by distillation, a volatile oil, known as keura oil, which is used medicinally for rheumatism. Certain pandan fruit is ex· tremely oily and serves at times as a subtitute for butter. The sap has the taste of sweet apples and is relished by the inhabitants in many islands. In some places it is even made into fruit jam. The very young leaves, espe. cially those surrounding the flowers, are eaten raw or cooked, a n d constitute an important article of diet when a famine sweeps India. KHWS OF PANDANS. In a walk of half a mile or, at most, a mile along the beach of any of the seacoast provinces in the Philippines, one is almost sure to come across Pandanus tcct01·iu.s. A map showing the distribution of this pandan Pl•te XXXIV. Common 11•nd•n •long Pu•y would therefore be practically an outline map of the Islands. The species does not grow in nipa swamps, though immediately back of them it will be found well established. Neither could one expect to f1nd it in localities where the cliffs come down abruptly to the sea, permitting only the existence vegetable life of the lowest form. Pandan is its usual name in the Philippines. In Zambales it is called "panglan" or "panglan babai." Another name is ''pangdan." The stem is not very strong, and reaches a height of from 3 to 6 meters. It is generally supported by aerial roots. The leaves 282 THE PHILIPPINE CRAf'TSMAN are of medium thickness, on the average 1.35 m. long and 6 em. wide. They are provided with strong sharp spines about 5 mm. in length. These are curved forward and are as much as one centimeter, 01· a little more, apart. The spines on the under surface of the midrib are shorter and farther apart, but bend in the same direction. The male flowers form a spike and these are surrounded by very fragrant leaves called spathes. The fruit is 20 em. long, 18 em. wide, and contains from 50 to 80 drupes, each about 5.5 em. long and 2.5 to 3 em. wide. The upper half of the drupes are free but close together. There are small furrows on lhe tops of the drupes, rather deep but not very distinct. When ripe the fruit has a fine red color and the drupes fall from the head. Pandanus tccto1·ius is of considerable importance in nearly all parts of the world where it grows, and it is devoted to most of the uses alt·eady noted for pandans in general. In certain pI aces , large industries are founded on it. In India, the leaves are cut every second year and made into large bags. Hats are produced from it in the Pacific Islands, those from the Hawaiian group being especially well known. It is probable that the imitation Panama hats of the Loochoo Islands are also woven from a material (raffia) Pial~ xxxv. Fruit of the common pand.,. prepared from the common pandan. In the Marshall Islands it is recorded that forty varies of this species have been evolved in the course of planting and cultivation for industr ial purposes. From the information ~ubmitted with the specimens 1·eceived in the Bureau of Education, it is to be judged that the economic importance of the common pandan in the Philippines is of but little consequence. Though widely used, no large or even local industries are based upon it. A scattering production of hats, mats and bags is reported in Abra, Union, Zambales, Mindoro, Bulacan. Rizal, Batangas, Sorsogon, Iloilo, Antique, Oriental PHIUPP!NE MATS 283 Negros, Cebu, Leyte and Sorsogon provinces. Near Badoc, llocos Norte, and along the Abra b01·der the Tinguian people make mats from an upland variety for local trade. In Balayan, Batangas, the leaves are used for thatching. In Surigao they are also made into baskets. In most processes the preparation of the straw consists of cutting the leaves into strips and drying them. In Zambales, however, it is reported that the leaves are flattened, pressed, split, and rolled. In Mindoro, they are soaked in water and dried in the sun before being cut into straw. It is probable that much better material could be prepared from this pandan if such processes as are used in the making of sabutan straw and straw from the Majayjay pandan were followed. Judging from the results obtained in other countries it would seem that if suckers of the common pandan were taken in the districts in which it grows, planted, and cultivated, varieties would result which would be much better adapted for industrial purposes than the parent stock. Indeed it is probable that sabutan, the Philippine pandan of greatest economic importance, is a variety which is the result of generations of planting, still closely resembling P. tectotius but differing from it in its leaves which are thinner, : {,1~; ~ t· .... ~ .' ·) n I ·;,~.·-,;.: _ ._ 1 _ti_-,\ •. , .· . '· · _ - ... ~ l . 1 . I • /.!> t· . ' ... ',. I:'.' - 'I ' -Jonger, of finer texture and Of Plate XXXVI. Sabut.n at TaniY. Rizal. greater strength. It is possible also that sarakat, the economic pandan of the Bangui Peninsula, Jlocos Norte, is a variety of P. tectorius. Botanical.-It is a question among botanists whether the pandan known as sabutan is a variety of the common sea-shore pandan (P. tecto,·ius) or whether it has sufficient distinctive characteristics to entitle it to be considered as a separate species (P. sabotan) . Botanists have not as yet succeeded in securing a fruit of this pandan, which could settle the question, and it is 284 T/-18 PHILIPPJ,\'E CRJ!PTSMAN very doubtful whether the fruit will ever be found.'3 Prof. Ugolino Martelli of Florence, Italy, an authority on pandans, con· siders sabutan to be Pandanus tectorius var. sinensis. This classification is for the present accepted, as most evidence is in f<>.vor of such determination and in this paper sabutan is therefore considered to be a variety of the common pandan, the chief ch:mge in which, through generations of planting, has been in the production of a leaf, stronger, thinner, and of finer texture than that of the parent stock. The sabutan plant is never found growing wild though after it has once been started and rooted it will endure neglect and even abandonment. Jt produces better and finer leaves, however, if it receives some care and attention. In the towns of Tanay and "To settle, if possible, the question of whether sabutan flowers and fruits, inquiries and investigations on the ground wet·e made in Tanay and Pi! ilia by a representative of the General Office of the Bureau of Education. The people interviewed in these towns were positive in their statements that they had never seen the fruit of this pandan though they did remember seeing the flower. Every possible effort was made to get accurate, reliable information. An old man was engaged as ~tuide and a male inflorescence· of sabutan was found in a patch located on a hillside, under the shade of trees and surrounded by considerable underbrush. The patch, according to the statement of the old man was older than he could remember; the age of the guide was, perhaps, between sixtr and seventy years. The flowers were odorous and covered with smn\1 brown insects almost hiding the inflorescence. PHILIPPINE MATS 285 Pililla, Rizal Province, and in Mabitac, Laguna Province, and in all the towns along the lake shore as far as Paete, the suckers of the plant are set out in small plots of ground surrounding the houses of the people. These form patches which in several years (depending mostly on soil conditions) yield pandan leaves large and fine enough to be used in the manufacture of hats and mats. The ideal location for sabutan is along the banks of streams where it can get the benefit of the light shade of bamboo or plants that happen to grow in the vicinity. Ordinarily, good results are obtained by planting the suckers of sabutan in a loose, and moist, but well drained, soil. Plants are set out one meter apart in every direction, as they spread considerably. They need some shade, especially when young, but not the heavy shade of an abaca or banana grove. The plant grows to be from 2 to 4 meters high. The leaves are fine in texture, about 2 meters long and as wide as 6 centimeters. Spines occur on the margins and on the under surface of the midrib. The male inflorescence procured from Tanay by the Bureau of Education is similar in appearance to that of Pandanus tectorius a11d is about 27 centimeters long. At varying distances on the flower stalk are leaves (bracts), thin and fine, from 10 to 24 centimeters long and with fine spines on margins and midrib. The flowers have a pleasant though not very strong odor. Stat11s of the sabntan mat industry.-As an industry, the weaving of sabutan mats is confined to the towns of Tanay and Pililla, in the Province of Rizal. The beginnings of this industry go back beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitants Ol' even of their parents. It is probable that, as the people state, mat weaving has been carried on ever since the towns were founded. Tanay is the older of the two and it would seem (though reliable historical data of this kind are difficult to obtain) that the town was the first to engage in sabutan mat weaving and is probably the mother of all the sabutan industries carried on around Laguna de Bay. The present condition of the mat weaving industry of these two towns, however, is precarious; it appears to be gradually dieing out. The fabrication of sabutan hats has been introduced from Mabitac, Laguna Province, into Pi! ilia, with the result that the younger generation is entirely engaged in making hats and the relatively small number of mats produced is being woven by the older women who have not cared to learn the new art. As yet no hats are made in Tanay, but the work is being taught in the schools and from conversation with people of the town it is judged that theY are becoming interested also. 286 THE Pli!UJ>PJ,YE CRAFTS.\1.4,\' The disappearance of the sabutan mat industry would be very unfortunate, for the products are the finest samples of lhe mat weaver's a1·t produced in the Philippines. The mats are of fine straw; the natural gray of sabutan is pleasing; the designs used are good and the colors are usually well combined. The favorite patterns consist of heavy plaids with some of the stripes containing sub-patterns produced by floating straws; the simplest ones have narrow border designs in straight lines. The most expensive mats are decorated with embroidered designs. The combination of colors in these are sometimes not pleasing and the designs themselves are not of special merit. However, if better ones are substituted, these mats should be excellent for a foreign trade demanding expensive articles of this nature. Unlike most Philippine mat industries, this one has not as yet been affected by coal tar dyes, and only vegetable dyes, found locally in the town or in the forests, are employed. The straw dyes very well and as a consequence the colors produced are even throughout the mat; nor have any of the shades that brilliant effect or "off color'' which is so distasteful in certain fibers. The colors obtained are onlr fairly fast in the light, however, and it is probable that the new coal tar dyes will be faster and cheaper, In point of durability, sabutan mats would be superior to all others produced in tij~ Islands if woven of double straws. In price they now vary from forty centavos to thirty pesos, the ordinary ones bringing from 1~1.50 to 1•2.50. If the industry is to be preserved intact, however, something must be done to give it vitality, for the weavers know from PHIUPPJNE MATS 287 experience of neighboring towns that more money can be made from weaving hats than in the fabrication of mats, and they will naturally change to the more remunerative article. Unlike most other weaving industries, the craft has not as yet been organized in Tanay. The production of mats h&s been more or less haphazard, with but little supervision by any person resembling the broker usually connected with household industries. The weaver on completing a mat sells it in the market or to some storekeeper. Up to the present time. the chief trade in these mats has been at Anti polo in May during the "romeria" or annual pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of Anti polo. Certain persons in Tanay have made it a practice to gather up a store of mats and take them to Antipolo for sale there during the fiesta. A few of them are on sale in Manila and in neighboring provinces. Of late, however, persons have appeared who are taking up the industry more thoroughly as brokers and it is to be hoped that ihe workers will be organized into some better system for production than now exists. There is a large opportunity not only for supervision but also for division of labor. At present the men of the house cut the leaves, and each weaver (all the weavers are women) carries out the rest Of the proceSS. There WOUld be Pl•te XXXIX. Smoot~ing nbut•n. T•n•y. a considerable saving of time if certain persons devoted themselves to the preparation of the gray straw, and the dyeing was left entirely to certain other workers. In this way the wea~ers of the mats would be engaged only in the actual fabrication of the article and much time would be saved to them." "Plain double pandan mats, the material of which resembles sabutan, are imported from Singapore and sold by Chinese storekeepers in Manila in large quantities. They lire roughly made and the fact that they are double permits the unfinished edges to be turned undet· and sewed down with coarse red cotton twine. They sell for a little less than the plain, single, Tanay sabutan mats with finished edges. 288 THE PHILIPPINE CR.4FTSJIA.\' Planting, rnatu,1·ing and yield of sabutan.-The plants from which the straw mats at Tanay are made are set out in plots near the houses of the workers. The suckers are planted in April at the beginning of the rainy season, and, while it is always stated that straw prepared from the leaves grown in the shade is best for weaving, yet the plants are never intentionally set out in the shade but are planted wherever an unoccupied plot of ground is obtainable. As a matter of fact the patches to be seen in the sabutan towns grow in R semi-shade such as one would expect to find in yards where the usual ornamental and fruit trees and banana plants grow. Much of the sabutan is in the sun from morning to night; some is shaded during all or part of the day. The suckers mature leaves in the third year ·~ but these are cut off and thrown away as useless and it is not until the fourth year that the lower leaves can be stripped into straw. Harvest takes place every four months, five or six leaves being obtained from a plant at each cutting. The plants are never inigated but it is to be noted that the soil around Laguna de Bay is very moist and that the wate1· table is close to the surface with a good seepage from the hills which are near the shore. It is probable that the plants differ in their production of leaves because some have many more branches than others and the climatic and soil conditions affect the yield. Prepamtion of the slraw.-The best straw is prepared during the dry season, because at this time there is sufficient sunshine to produce a good colored material. As a consequence the workers prepare a large quantity at that season and store it in or under their houses, wrapped in mats. The leaves used are about 2 meters in length and 6 em. in width. The central thorns on the back of the leaves are removed by cutting away the midrib. Two lengths about an inch in width are thus produced from which the outer rows of thorns may or may not be removed according to custom. The lengths thus obtained are left in the sunshine and wind for about half a day to render them more flexible, after which they are cut into straws. For this purpose there is used an instrument consisting of a narrow wooden handle about 2-! em. wide at the base, into which narrow sharp teeth, usually of steel, are set: " It is very difficult to obtain definite information with exact figures. These statements were made by a woman expert in weaving mats. and owing to the frank answers to the questions put, her information seems more reliable th:m that of the usual weaver inten·iewed. Other persons state that from two to six leaves are taken f rom a plant ever)· month. PHIUPPJNE MATS 289 Brass and even hard woods can be used for teeth. The point of the segment being cut off, the base is grasped in one hand, the inside of the segment being turned toward the operator. The comb-like instrument is forced into it about 4 em. from the end of the base and the teeth are held against the first finger by pressure of the thumb. The leaf length is then drawn up by the other hand and is cut into straws depending in width upon the fineness of the comb used. If the leaves are too young they will break in this process. The stripped segments are then usually tied up into bundles as large around as the fist, and hung in some shaded place exposed to the wind. The length of time occupied by this process varies. In some places it is omitted, though it seems to be always carried out in Tanay. The bundles are then undone and the worker, holding the uncut base of each length in one hand, runs the straw between his fingers and the sharp edged ruler-like piece of bamboo held in the other. This is done several times and results in the removal of considerable moisture, the prevention of wrinkling and greater pliability of the straw. There are several variations in the processes followed for boiling sabutan. In the Province of Laguna a fistful of the stripped lengths with bases still attached are rolled up into a bundle and placed in fresh water in order to remove the coloring matter-in some places in clear, running river water, in other places in a can of clean, fresh water-for about twenty-four hours; the water is changed several times. In the last method the process is discontinued when the water remains clear. Bun290 THE Pl/ILIPPINE CRAFTSMAS dies are then placed in cold vinegar, water or lemon water to which green tamarind fruit has been added to make the color of the straw lighter and to toughen it; the water is brought to a boil. Bamboo is used as fuel as that fire is not so hot as a wood fire. The length of time required for cooking differs. One good authority states that it should be stopped when the odor of sabutan can no longer be detected in the vapor, which occurs after about fifteen minutes boiling. This authority also states that the straw should be removed when it takes on a reddish hue. Many women put the straw into clear boiling water to which nothing has been added. After this process the straw is allowed to cool, is washed several times in clean, fresh water and is spread in the sun to dry, whereupon it assumes a gray color. lf there is no sun the cool straw must be kept in fresh water which is changed every twelve hours until the sun appears. If a greenish shade is obtained the process has not been correctly carried out. Straw f rom dark green, thick, old leaves, or from those grown in the sun, is often reddish brown in color. The boiling processes noted are those used in the preparation of straw for mats. The process followed in Tanay has been described by Mr. Amado Simpoco, principal of the Tanay Central School. The stripped lengths after being wilted and drawn over the sharp edged piece of bamboo, are made up into fist bundles, tied at the middle and placed in a large copper pot 61 em. in diameter and 84 em. in depth and containing about 25 bundles. The pot is filled with water and the sabutan is boiled for 24 hours, care being taken that the straw is always covered. After boiling, the bundles are removed and untied and the strips are hung in the shade or in the house to cool; afterwards they are placed in the river for a day and are then washed carefully and dried thoroughly in the sun. The gray straw thus obtained is stored in bundles, still attached to the uncut bases, and is left in the air for three or four nights before it is woven into mats. Dyeing snbutan.-1\fr. Simpoco has also made a careful study of the methods used in Tanay in dyeing sabutan straw, and the results of his efforts are presented here. Red orange: For the production of red orange straw the gray material, prepared as outlined above, is first treated by steeping in water containing kolis leaves and twigs. The leaves and chopped twigs are pounded in a mortar and are placed together with the sabutan in a large receptacle capable of containing from 25 to 30 bundles, filled with water. The material is allowed to remain in the receptacle for four days. Early in the morning of the fifth dar the straw is removed and hung in a shaded PHILIPPINE .1/ATS 291 place until dry and is made up into bundles tied tightly at the larger end. The dye fluid is carefully prepared. Chips of sappan are boiled in a large copper pot for one day. A quantity of turmeric roots and annatto seeds are pounded separately in mortars until they are reduced to a very fine sl2.te. These are then separately treated with water and pressed, the result being a turmeric water and an annatto water. These two are mixed and poured into the boiling sappan. After about 25 minutes the bundles of sabutan are placed in the pot and the whole is allowed to boil until every part of the fiber is uniformly colored. After having been boiled sufficiently the bundles are removed and placed in a large basket, later to be dried in the shade. They are left in the night air for three or four nights and are then rolled up in coarse mats. The shades procured vary with the proportions of the dye materials used. Some are a decided orange, others are light yellow. Yellow: Yellow straw is produced in the same manner using turmeric and annatto only. Red: In the production of red straw the bundles are treated with kolis leaves in the same manner as in the preliminary process for red-orange straw. Into a pot capable of holding 25 fist bundles of sabutan, four gantas '6 of finely chopped sappan are placed. Over this are placed 15 bundles of the straw which in turn are covered with one ganta of chopped sappan. The remaining 10 bundles are then added and covered with still another ganta of sappan. The pot is filled with water and set over a fire for from twelve to fifteen hours. Care is taken that the bundles are always kept under the water and that all parts of the material are uniformly colored. The loss by evaporation is counterbalanced by adding water from time to time. When well colored, the straw is removed from the pot and placed in a large basket for a day and is then hung in the sunshine to be dried. It should be allowed to remain in the night air; when thoroughly dried it is rolled in coarse mats. Black: Black straw, a warm dark gray, is prepared from the red material. Buds of bananas, leaves of kabling, ta\isay, camagon, and the castor plant are pounded in a mortar and are mixed with fine particles of black clay such as can be obtained from rice paddies. Sappan water, made by boiling sappan chips, is then added to the mixture and the entire mass is placed in a large receptacle for a day. Red straw is put into this mixture '"Three liters equal 1 ~anta. 292 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTS.II.4.N and allowed to remain for two days. It is removed on the third day and again returned to the mixture on the fourth day. On the fifth day the straw is finally removed and placed in the sun, being kept in the air at night. Coal tar dyes are used in the production of green and purple straws. These are purchased from the Chinese stores. The prepared gray fiber is also employed with these dyes. The usual method of boiling in a tin can until the desired shade is obtained, is followed. The straw is dried in the sun and kept in the night air. Colors produced are not so uniform nor so satisfactory as the others described and are seldom used. Weaving the nwts.-Before weaving the mat the worker runs the straw over the rulerlike piece of bamboo as already explained, and removes the uncut base to which it has been attached during the various processes of preparation, bleaching and dyeing. One side of the mat is first woven the entire length, and is finished by having the edges turned in. This edge is then placed in a slit made in a narrow stick of wood and is tied in place with strips of sabutan straw running around the stick and through the mat. The mat is allowed to remain attached to this stick until it has been completely woven. As weaving Plate XLI. Pandan of M•i• ri•Y· proceeds, the finished part is rolled up on the stick, thus being out of the way of the weaver. Thb arrangement also serves to keep the mat in position during weaYing and prevents it from getting out of shape. Single straws are used and consequently the mat has a right and a wrong side.'~ The most expensive mats, which are seldom made, are double and of very fine material. "Sabutan lends itself easily to the fabrication of pocketbooks useful as purses, card-cases or ci!{arette-cases. From it can also 00 made very pretty, stron!{, durable and useful handbags. The weaving of both of these articles has been taken up in the schools of Tanay, but it is not as yet commercial in the town. Sets consisting of a handbag and a pocketbook in the same color and design arc attractive. PHILIPPINE MATS 293 The spread and cultivation of sabutan.-For a number of years there has been an increasing interest throughout the Philippines in the propagation of sabutan. Teachers in various places have procured suckers from the towns along the east coast of Laguna de Bay, and have planted them out with the idea of having their own industrial material close at hand. Many of these attempts have been failures since not enough information had been obtained concerning the soil and moisture conditions necessary for the cultivation of the plant. The Bureau of Education has therefore gathered as much information as possible on the cultivation of sabutan, based upon the experience of various persons who have attempted planting it. It has been found that, in those regions having a dry season, the suckers should be planted early in the rainy season so that they may become well rooted before the rains stop, or else water should be provided through irrigation ditches. In nearly all cases it has been reported that the loss of plants resulted from lack of water at the planting period. It is reported that difficulty is found in making the suckers live if planted in the sun, but that, when well established, those so planted grow and produce suckers better. As has been previously noted no special attempt is made to set the plants out in either the sun or shade in the towns around Laguna de Bay, but all weavers slate that leaves grown in the shade are the best for industrial purposes. Sabutan plants need a moist but well drained soil. They should be set out about a meter apart each way (that is, the rows one meter apart and plants one meter apart in the row), since they spread out considerably when they become older. Where sufficient moisture does not exist, irrigation should be provided. If it is decided to shade the suckers, plants such as the papaya, having long roots rather than surface roots, are best. No sabutan plants should be planted within 6 feet of the papaya. It is probable that with cultivation the plants will yield leaves suitable for straw in from one and one-half to two years, the time to mature depending upon the conditions noted in the preceding paragraphs.18 "Sabutan suckers may be purchased from The Luzon Floral Co., Manila at i'5 per hundred, freight prepaid. In shipping, the plants are packed in baskets so that they can be easily handled. It is believed by persons who have received shipmen's from this source that the plants will remain in good condilion out of the ground for a week or more during shipment. Hence it is not advisable for pl:1ces mote remote than one week from Manila to order any of these plant~. For further information see Circular No. 82, s. 1911, Bureau of Education. It is probable that suckers can be obtain~1~9~!~~ the cultivated plants in about a year after they are set out. 294 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSM.4;\" Sabutan LJJJ>es.-In several places in the Philippines there are pandans which yield leaves similar to those of sabutan. It is probable that none of these are the true sabutan. The most im~ portant one is that growing along the northeastern shore of Ta.vabas Province. Mats are made at both Casiguran and Baler, and enter loa small extent, the interprovincial trade with neigh. boring provinces. It is stated, however, that these regions abound in the species of pandan from which the mats are made. Sabutan type mats are also reported made at Palanan in Isabela Province, and a t rade is carried on in them with neighboring towns. Other pandans reported under the name of sabutan and resembling it more or less have no commercial importance. Sarakat is a distinctive pandan of the Bangui Peninsula of Ilocos Norte. The climate of this region differs from the rest of Jlocos Norte in that it has rainfall practically throughout the year, receiving as it does the benefit of the northeast monsoon which is cut off from the country to the south. It has not as yet been determined whether sarakat is to be described as a new variety of P. tectorius or is to be designated as an entirely new species. F rom mats submitted to this office, it is to be judged that sarakat straw is as fine as sabutan. In fact, the material is so thin that even though the mats are woven of double straws they are no thicker, and a1·e a good deal more pliable than all other commercial pandan mats, sabutan excepted, produced in the Philippines. The upper surface of pandan straw is glossy, and the under surface is rough. In making the double straw, the two rough surfaces are placed together so as to expose both glossy ones. Hence, unlike the sabutan, both sides of sarakat mats are similar in appearance. The material, however, is not so strong as sabutan.'9 The mats are not decorated either by weaving in colored straws or by embroidered or border designs. In price they vary from about 1*'1 to 1"'2. Mr. Petronilo Castro, formerly Supervising Teacher of Bangui, has stated that that town supplies most of the mats used by tb.e people of llocos Norte. Some buri mats and a few "pandan" mats (probably from the common seashore variety) are made. ,. At this writing no data are at hand as to the preparation of sarakat straw, but it is probably made simply by drying. It is possible that much stronger and more pliable stmw could be obtained if a process such as is used in the preparation of sabutan were followed. PIJILIPPINB MATS 295 The sarakat mats exceed those of pandan in numbers and in commercial importance and are more beautiful and stronger. The demand for the mats is great and many people are engaged exclusively in their fabrication. This pandan (P. utilissimus) is known in most places where it grows as "pandan" or "pandan totoo," the true or tame pandan. It is extensively used in Laguna and Tayabas and is remarkable for its very large leaves and its heavy fruit. The tree occurs in groups in dr)~ ground but thrives best in half shade near streams. 1t attains a height of from 4 to 8 meters. The trunk branches toward the top and is supported by a few short and thick prop roots. The leaves are often 5 meters long and 2 decimeters wide. The lower part of the older leaves stands up straight while the upper half droops. The younger leaves are erect with only their tips bent down. The leaf spines are short, blunt and conical. The fruits look like the jakfruit and are very large and heavy, being often 6 decimeters long and 2 decimeters in diameter and weighing at times 25 or more kilograms. The drupes ripen slowly and gradually; they are red in color when fully Fruit of Pan<lanu1 utllin imu• (Majayjay). mature and possess a peculiar faint odor. It takes some time before all the drupes are shed, and in a g1·ove of fruiting trees they can be found in all stages of maturity during the month of May. P. utilissimus is found growing wild throughout the plateau region of Majayjay, Louisiana and Cavinti in Laguna Province, and extending into Tayabas Province. It is only the leaves from those plants which have been set out in plots, however, that "' Vol. I, No. 1 of the Philippine Agriculturist and Foreste1.. A description of the plant occurs in i\lr. A. D. E. Elmer's leaflets. 296 TllE Pll/LIPPI:YE CRAFTS.l/AX are utilized in the making of mats, hats :md telescope baskets. Like sabutan, this pandan grows best in the half-shade near streams, and leaves grown in the sun are considered infer ior. Nevertheless, no attempt seems to be made to select a locality for their propagation, and plots are planted wherever land is available. This pandan will not live in stagnant water and is particularly adapted to hill-sides where there is a constant flow. The most satisfactory statistics on the propagation of P. utilissimus are obtained from Cavinti, where the plant has been introduced within recent years and suckers are still being brought in from other towns. It is stated that suckers onehalf meter in height mature in about three years, while suckers one meter in height or over will produce suitable leaves in one year or less. The most satisfactory results are obtained by t r a n sP Ian t i n g the mature plants, since leaves are obtainable in a few months and in half a year suckers large enough for transplanting are produced. It is stated that in setting the plants out, the undergrowth is cleared away and the suckers are placed in the ground about H meters apart. Some Plato XLIII. Rolling Pandan, Majay)ay, Laguna. attention iS given to the young plants such as loosening the earth around them; but as soon as they obtain a good foothold no cultivation is attempted. Usually weavers own their patch of pandan from which th~ leaves are obtained for making the straw. Several workers sometimes have a patch in common and the few weavers who do not own pandans themselves must purchase. The leaves are sold on the tree, the purchaser cutting them off with a bolo. 'fhe price is from 20 to 30 centavos per hundred, depending PHIUPPJNE MATS upon their size, softness, thickness and imperfections. The longest, thinnest, darkest green leaves, with the fewest imper· fections, are considered the best and cost the most. In Cavinti where the leaves are imported from Louisiana and :Majayjay, the price of the best leaves is 50 centavos per hundred. The estimates of the number of leaves yielded by a plant in a year differ considerably. By some it is stated that on the average one leaf is produced per month; others report that from three to five leaves are gathered in from three to six weeks. The thorns are removed from the edges, and the midrib is cut away, thus reducing the leaf into two halves each of which is again divided. These strips are placed in the sun for half a day. The unique process in the preparation of this pandan straw is the rolling which occurs at this point. While it is probable that any roller with sufficient weight could be used, that employed in the pandan districts of Laguna is the primitive "iluhan" by which sugar.cane and copra is also crushed. It consists essentially of three heavy wooden horses, in the grooves of which a log, heavily weighted with stones, rotates. The pandan lengths are placed in one of the grooves underneath the log and so rolled. The object of the process is to make the material thinner and more pliable. Straw is stripped from the lengths thus prepared by the use of the gauge!' The straw is then further dried in the sunshine and is ready to be woven. Sometimes the lengths are stripped before being rolled, so that the straw is left in the sunshine for another half day and then placed under the log in the iluhan. Mats are woven in Majayjay and Louisiana only, the weavers . of Cavinti devoting their entire time to the fabrication of hats. The mats are woven of single straw, but they are fairly thick and not at all limber. The number produced per week runs probably into the thousands, of which about 75 per cent are made of coarse straw and are intended for use in drying palay, copra, etc. These mats are known as "bangkoan," a word hav· ing about the same significance as "bastos ;" that is, coarsely or poorly made. The finer and better made mats are intended for use as sleeping mats and for the floor. They are decorated with colored buri straw, usually in some shade of red produced by mordanting with kolis leaves and boiling with sappan wood as explained for buri straw. Occasionally, other colors are used, produced from the imported coaJ.tar ("Chino") dyes, but in all cases the shades p1·oduced are not very pleasing. The deco"It is probable that the improved Andes stripper can be utilized in the cutting of pandan straws. 298 THE PHIUPPI.VE CRAFTS.l!AN rations are embroidered in, and consist of simple borders in straight lines with an open center design of somewhat the same pattern. \Vhen first woven, the mats are usually of a dark green color. Before being sold, they are placed in the sun which changes them to a grayish color somewhat resembling sabutan. After long use, however, the final shade is yellowish green. There seems to be but little division of labor in the production of these mats. Usually the whole family goes out into the patch and cuts the leaves, removing the thorns before bringing them home. Only women weave the mats. ln Majayjay a few workers color their own buri straw used in decorating the mats, but for the most part this material is obtained from dyers, one a Chinese, the other a Filipino, who prepare it for sale. The weavers are independent of advances by brokers and sell their product to Filipinos or to the representatives of Chinese merchants in Pagsanjan and Manila. A few weavers take their mats to Lukban whence they are distributed over Tayabas Prov· ince, but many more are gathered up by these brokers and sold in the market at Pagsanjan. The mat market there usually occupies one whole sidewalk running the length of the market building. The pandan mats of Majayjay and Louisiana are notable for their strength and durability, and are excellent for the floor or bath. In price they range from 1~0.50 to r•·s.oo. The usual price of the decorated mats is :1 .. 1.50. The demand continues brisk and prices have recently risen. The weakest point in the mat at the present time is in the colored buri straw used to decorate it, for this tears long before the pandan shows signs of wear. If colored sabutan straw is substituted for the buri, a much stronger and probably more pleasing 2rticle will result.:~ 'l'he pandan P. simple.~·, known as "karagumoy" or "carogumoy," is the economic pandan of the Bicol peninsula in southern Luzon. It is usually found growing in well drained soil under the shade of banana and abaca plants and areca palms. It needs this protection because the leaves are easily broken or ruined by hard winds. The leaves are generally longer than those of sabutan (they are 2 meters to 3~ meters in length) and•. " Arrangements are now being made through the schools for the introduction of sabutan plants into the towns of Majayjay and Louisiana. "Most of the information on "karagumoy'' is taken from the report b~· Mr. Ralph E. Spencer, submitted to the Director of Education. PHILIPPINE MATS 299 are but from 6 em. to 10 em. wide. They are very thick, being practically as coarse as the leaves of P. utilissimus. They bear stout spines on the midrib and along the margins, from two centimeters to three centimeters ap~rt. A fungus disease often attacks them, causing dry hard patches, and not only spoiling the color but also making the material so brittle that it breaks in the preparation of the straw. The plant is propagated by means of suckers in patches seldom over a half hectare in extent and often consisting of a few plants back of the house. The suckers are set out in rows and are probably one year old when the first leaves are taken, though the workers disagree on this point. At a certain given time, from eight to fifteen leaves are cut from the plant each year; at other periods, two or three may be taken from the same plants. Most of the leaves are harvested during the rainy season. Karagumoy I eaves have a commercial value in many of the places in which the plant occurs. In Tabaco, Albay, women cut the leaves and carry them in l a r g e bundles to the market, where the r are sold ai Ploh XLIV. KorogumQY. prices usually varying from 8 to 12 centavos per hundred. Throughout the Province of Albay mats are made from karagumoy, and in some towns the industry is of considerable importance. For instance, in the barrio of San Lorenzo in Tabaco, mats may be found in the making in nearly every house. In Sorsogon, too, the industry is widespread though not so impotiant commercially. In Balusa the production is l2rge enough to supply the local demand and leave a surplus for export to neighboring towns. In the Bicol provinces karagumoy is considered the best of all straws for the production of mats. In price the mats vary from thirty to ninety centavos, according to fineness. In preparing the material, the spines and midrib are first removed and the leaves are divided into four strips of about equal 300 THE PHILIPPINE CRAPTS.I!AN width. The straw is prepared from these with the knife and gauge; it is dried in the shade for a few hours and drawn several times over a piece of bamboo as explained for sabutan in order to make it more supple and smooth. The mats are woven in the early morning and at night, the straw being more pliable then. Attempts have been made in the schools to dye karagumoy but no success has yet been attained. The mats are plain. The stem of this plant, P. copelandii, grows frorr:. 4 to 9 meters high. The leaves have an average length of 2.1 meter and a width of 8 em. H Spines occur along the entire margin. Near the base they are comparatively coarse and from 3 to 4 mm. long. Towards the apex of the margins and mid veins, the spines are short and close together like the teeth of a fine saw. From 3 to 5 heads generally form on the fruit stalk, each of them from 7 to 12 em. long and 5 to 7 em. across, at first pale yellowish in appearance but soon turning red. Their drupes are 14 mm. long and 3 to 4 mm. in diameter. This pandan is found in Cagayan, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Samar, Bohol, Occidental Negros, Capiz, Surigao, Davao and other provinces.2~ This pan dan is not of economic importance in central and southern Luzon. In the Bicol provinces it is used to some extent but it is considered inferior to other materials. In parts of the Visayas, such as Bohol, Capiz and Samar, it is utilized to a considerable extent, but cannot be considered of commercial importance. It is the economic pandan of Surigao, but even there its commercial importance is local only. Table showing comparative mcast1rcments of certai11 Philii'Pine pcmdunB. i;~Cm "'m !Scm ~.5cm ~5J.<>~~m 2m __ _ "m Fine 60cm 9cm 20cm 9cm 7to8cm 3cm 2cm _____ I em Many__ Many. 2. lm. Scm. Medium. 7tol2cm. 5to7cm. ><mm. I 3to~mm. Many. ,. The average was obtait.ed by measuring accurately a number of specimens of the specie~ sent in to the Bureau of Education from various provinces. ••us most common name is bariu, spelled also bario, balio, balewc, balcau. In Occidental Ncgros it is also called balean, barog in Surigao, batin in Cnpiz. PHJLJPPINE MATS 301 The species P. mdicans is reported as olango from Leyte, waiigo in Bohol, owaiigo in Sm·igao and uyagiio in Sorsogon. H is usually found growing along rivers and in marshes. The trunk reaches a height of 8 m. and its largest leaves may be 6 m. long and 12 em. wide. There are from 6 to 10 dark brick red fruits in a cluster. The fruit is 14 em. long and 8 em. wide and contains 100 or more drupes. Each drupe is 2.5 em. in length and 12 mm. in diameter. The leaves are made into straw from which coarse mats are woven. Taboan is the name given to Pandanus dubius in Surigao while in Bohol it is known as bacong. It is a rare species. It is said to be a heavy, clumsy appearing tree with stem about 8 m. high, wide spreading branches near the top, and s oft, pulpy and stringy woo d. The flowers are g r o u p e d into an in flo. rescence. The male inflo. rescence, about 60 em. long and p a r t I y covered by creamy yellow bracts, is erect and occurs at the end of the branches. The leaves are deep g1·een in color on both sides, with an average length of 2.25 em. and a width of 20 em. The Plate XLV. we .. ing • karJgumoy mat. TJbaQo, Albay, drupes of this pandan are from 8 em. to 13 em. long and from 5 em. to 8 em. wide. The plant is utilized to a small extent in making mats. In the Tagalog speaking provinces of Bulacan, Bataan and in and around Manila, Pandanus lnzonensis is called "alasas." It is also called "pandan" but this name should be reserved for Pandanus tectorius. The former is restricted in its habitat to the provinces around Manila Bay, while the latter is found in most of the seacoast provinces of the Philippines as we:! as in other tropical parts of the world. Pandanus lllZ011£nsis at. tains a greater height than Pandanus tcctol'ius. but has narrower leaves than the latter. The male flowers are borne in a fleshy, much branched inflorescence f rom 20 to 30 em. long. Each 302 THE PHIUPPINE CR.4FTS.l!A.S branch is partly surrounded by a broad thin bract, 8 em. wide. Each individual flower has from 4 to 9 stamens. The whole fruit is about 20 centimeters long and contains from 30 to 60 drupes, yellowish red in color when ripe. Each drupe is from 3 to 4 em. long, 2 to 2.5 em. thick, and contains from 6 to 10 seeds. The straw from this panclan is of inferior qualitv, though it is said to be used in Bubl.can for mats. Besides the pandans, the identity of which has been explained above, there are several unidentified specimens or varieties from which mats are made. lt may be that some of these will be found identical with those already discussed when sufficient botanical material has been gathered to determine them. In Isabela Province, a pandan known as "langu" having long, strong, thin leaves, is made into mats in Santa Maria, Delena and Bolasi. l\lats are made along the coast of Cagayan Province, in the Ilocano barrios of the towns of Claveria and Sanchez Mira, from a pan dan known as "pataga." These are very coarse and thick and have an unusually shiny surface. According to Mr. Otto Harwood, the leaves vary in length from 10 em. to 35.5 em. and in width from 7.5 em. to 15 em. The straw is made by cubting the leaf into strips and drying them in the sun. Although the industry is yet small, it is developing. A species of pandan is employed in the towns of C&malaniugan, Aparri, Gataran and Lal-loc in Cagayan Province for ll"!aking mats. Locally they are valued at from 40 to 50 centavos, but in lsabela Province to which they are exported they sell for as high as a peso and a half. The only municipality in Pangasim:.n province in which the making of mats has reached provincial and interprovincial importar.ce is Bolinao. The species of pandan employed is not known. The mats f\re shipped to towns ~dong the seacoast of Ilocos and Zambalcs Province by sailing vessels, and are sold in the local markets or to local merchants. In Mindoro the town of Subang makes pandan mats which are shipped to Batangas, Cavite and l\Ianila. Two pandans, called lingo and baring were sent to the General Office of the Bureau of Education f rom Guindalman, Bohol It was impossible to identify them as no fru it was included. They probably represent two new species. Lingo has a leaf 2.9 m. in length and of an almost uniform width of 5.5 em. At 80 em. f rom the tip, it is 4.5 em. wide, then gradually becomes PHILIPPIN E .IIA TS 303 i' ·I Pandoousteclorill3 o~ng all shores Sabulan ________________ .! " I I 'l II Pandanusc~andii. ... Z ~~ Pandanu~ utili&.\iiU:> .... 1i Pandanus sim~ex. ___ ___ 4 •• 0 y · -~ •· + ,. "' I n, _j" f>hll lpplne dlotrlbutlonol chlel utlll:ed PRnd•n•. 304 THE Plf!Llf'PINE CRAFTS.l/.4.N acuminate. The marginal spines are 2 mm. long, curved forward, from 6 to 8 mm. apart near the stem, but closer together at the distal one-third of the leaf. Spines of 1 mm. or less in length and 4 mm. or less apart, curved forward and extending throughout the length of the leaf, occur on the lower surface of the midrib only. The surface of the leaf is smooth and shiny. The leaf of baring is 72 em. long, 2.8 em. wide, apparently spineless, smooth and fine in texture. Both of these pandans would probably yield good industrial materials. In Jloilo, the town of Banate has a pandan mat industry of interprovincial importance, whose product is an article of commerce as far as Negros. The mats sell at about 50 centavos each. There is u large export of pandan mats from Duo, Antique, to the province of 1loilo. Pandan mats are exported from Cuyo Island in Palawan. Some are sent to the mainland of Palawan and others to Antique. The Moro pandan mats are the most richly colored of all those produced in the Philippines. At this writing, information is not at hand to determine the method of preparing the straw nor the species of pandan from which they are made. Mats which h2.ve been exhibited at successive Philippine expositions have undoubtedly been dyed with imported coloring matter. The designs are of the general effect of the mat reproduced on page 304. The colors are often well combined and the effect is very striking. The Cotabato mats are double; the under portion is woven of thick, heavy, uncolored &traw, and the upper portion is of finer material; the two parts are spliced together. Pl!JLIPPINE MATS 305 SEDGE STRAWS. KINOS o~· SEDGES. The sedges which form the family of Cyperaceae are grasslike or rush-like herbs, with solid, jointless, usually triangular stems, while the grasses (Gramineae) are mostly herbs, usually with hollow stems closed and enlarged at the nodes. The former play an important part in the manufacture of mats because of their length and freedom from nodes. The family includes several genera of importance, viz: Scirpus, Cyperus and Fimbristylis. Of these the Fimbristylis is the most important, for two species of Fimbristylis have a fairly large commercial use; they are therefore taken up separately. Of the genus Scirpus, the species S. grossus known as "balangot" in Ambos Camarines and Capiz, "bagaas" in Occidental Negros, "tiquio" in Rizal and "bagui-bagui" in Capiz, and S. erectus, are used for mats. S. grossus is not a very suitable material for industrial purposes, its distinctly three-cornered stalk being too coarse in texture and too large to permit of weaving even a fair grade article. S. erectus is much better. T h e stalk is about as fine as tikug and grows to a height of 60 em. The flowers sometimes occur in a solitary cluster, but more often from 2 to 5 clusters of spikelets are found on the side of the stalk near its top. The plant is widely distributed in the Philippines and inhabits open grass lands. It bears some flowers throughout the year. As yet only coarse mats are made from it, but its general appearance would warrant experiments along the lines of the processes by which tikug is treated. The only native names noted are "tayoc-tayoc" and "tikug" by which names the plant is known in Occidental Negros. These names, however, are more properly applied to other plants. Scirpus mucronatus is somewhat likeS. c1·ectus in general appearance. The stem of S. mucronatus is more robust and coarser in texture and attains a height of 80 em. Its dried stem 306 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSMAN has an a.Yerage width of 4 to 5 mm., while that of S. erectus measures f1·om 2 to 3 mm. The flowers of S. mucronatus appear in a very dense head on the side of the plant from 2 to 9 em. from the top. Each head is made up of from 5 to 20 spikelets. These spikelets are from 6 to 15 mm. long, while those of S. erectus are never more than 1 em. in length. The coarser stalk of S. mucronatus makes it a less desirable mat material than S. erectus. ln the Jlocos provinces a very coarse round sedge called tiker (Scil'pus lacustris) occurs. It may be of value if split and dried in the sun so that it curls up into a round straw. The genus Cypcnts includes a number of economic pI ants, mnong them the Chinese matting sedge. The species most used in the Philippines is C. malaccensis. This plant has an underground stem which, as it continues its growth, sends out new stalks. The plant lives for a number of years and when fully grown is from 0.5 to 1.5 meters high. The stem is stout and three-sided in shape. It has few or no leaves, and when present the leaves are not more than 3 em. long. From 2 to 5 leaf-like stems (bmcts) not more than 20 em. long occur under the inflorescence. The spikelets which make up the inflorescence are somewhat crowded together; they are very narrow, Plate XLIX. Tihr (SolrPYS laouotrio). ~~~~·sl il~ot;e C~illi~~~~es~~\~~~~: ish swamps and along tidal streams. It is also found in tropical Africa, Asia, the islands of Polynesia, and Australia. It is usually in flower from July to December. It was formerly made into mats and hats and is even now utilized in rare instances in weaving them, but it is most important as a material for slippers, and possibly for matting. Of the 125 species of Fimbristylis found only in warm regions, two are of economic importance in the Philippines, while one PHILIPPINE MATS 307 more might perhaps be tried out as a mat materiaL All the species of Fimbristylis have tufted, fibrous or woody stems. The leaves occur near the base. The inflorescence consists of a great number of flowers grouped closely together to form one or more spikelets. The spikelets themselves may be either solitary or clustered. The individual flowers are covered by glumes and are arranged spirally on the axis. As the fruit matures, the glumes of the flowers become the "chaff" of the grain. T h is sedge (Fimb1·istylis utilis) grows usually more than a meter long and has tufted stems which are shiny an d smooth in appearance and average about 4 mm. in diameter. The stems may have long leaves at the base or may be entirely leafless, and are usually four- to five-sided immediately under the inflorescence. The general appearance of the stalk is round. The plant has few or no underground root-like stems. The flowers are densely clustered together to form spikelets, dusky brown in color, measuring 6 mm. by 3 mm. In the Visayas it is generally known as tikug. In Agusan and Surigao it is called "anahiwan" and in Bukidnon "s u d s u d". Sometimes it is called tayoc-tayoc in confusion with the smaller sedge m ore properly known by that name, which much resembles tikug. A specimen from Pampanga was labeled "muta". Tikug grows in greatest profusion 2nd reaches its highest economic importance in parts of Mindanao, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar. To a less degree, it is found and utilized on Negros and Panay. While it is found in Cebu, it is not used there. As a recognized industrial plant, therefore, its distribution is confined t? the Visayas and Mindanao. Its appearance in Pampanga would indicate that it may be found in other regions in 308 THE PT-1/Llf'PINE CRAFTS.l!AX which its value in hand-weaving and in the making of matting is not understood. ~u Tikug is utilized in making hats, mats, matting, slippers and Y.arious minor articles. The best known tikug mats are produced on the Island of Samar, where the sedge grows wild.'' It has never been cultivated there. Different grades are recognized in the height and width of the straw. The finest is 1} mm. in diameter while the largest straws are fully four times that width. Full grown stalks sometimes reach 3 meters in height, but the average is 1-!f meters. In most places in Samar only very coarse tikug is found and this is especially true in the northern half of the island. The best material grows near the towns of Basey and Sulat, a circumstance probably due to the fact that most of these sedges are pulled up for weaving before they become old and coarse, for it is in these two towns that the mat industry of Samar is centered. All grades of tikug can be used in making mats; but as the straw cannot be split into finer pieces, it is only from the narrower material that the fine mats are made. The map on the distribution of tikug shows the regions in Samar in which this sedge occurs.z8 ln some parts of Samar rough mats are made from- tikug dried in the shade. In Basey and Sulat bleached straw is used. In the bleaching process only the sun is used, the bundles being spread out where there is neither grass nor shade. The straw must be kept perfectly dry at all times, for if it becomes wet or damp it will mildew and turn an unsightly black or brown. In the morning it must not be put out until the ground is dry and in the evening it should be taken in before dew is formed upon ,. Robinson, in Yol. VI, No. 2, Section C of the Journal of Science, states that this sedge also grows on the eastern side of Luzon. "F. meliacea is also known as tikug in Samar but it cannot be used in weaving. "In pulling up tikug lhe whole stalk can generally be obtained by grasping it a short distance below the top. It is made into small bundles and tied a short distance below the seed heads. Each bundle contains from forty to sixty straws. In all towns except Basey the weavers gather the stalks they use. At Basey, however, where weaving of mats is a recognized industry, the straw is obtained from country people who make it a business to gather and se!l it. These tikug vendors carry the bundles of green stmw to the town where they sell for from forty centavos to one peso per hundred bundles, depending upon the length of the straws. PH!L!PPINE M.4.TS 309 310 THE Pl/IUPPI:YB CR.4.FTS.JJAN it. The best results are obtained by drying the material in a place where there is no grass, as the turf generally holds considerable moisture and retards the process. With proper care clean white straw can be obtained in about one week under the most favorable conditions. Sometimes, but not often, the above process is preceded by boiling the straw for ten or twenty minutes in plain water. Several bleaching experiments have already been made with tikug, but as yet none have been entirely sucessful. Jn one experiment straw was boiled in alum, but the resultant material was not so \Vhite as that obtained by simply drying it in the sun. Boiling green tikug in water containing acetic acid from the juice of limes and lemons was unsatisfactory. The best stmw obtained was that produced by simply boiling the green stalk for a few minutes in water and rinsing it well and then drying in the sunshine for several days. The straws are of different lengths and diameters; after bleaching they must be sorted. The seed clusters are removed and the bunches are lied in a big bundle which is laid on the floor with root toward the worker. The longer straws of s m a II diameter are then pulled out and placed in small bundles, the process continuing until the several different grades are thus separated and nothing remains but a few short thick straws which are kept for embroidering designs. Each bundle is then trimmed by cutting off the roots and ragged tops and the straw is ready for storing, dyeing or flattening. If tikug remains i~ a damp place it will mold and become worthless. It is easily kept during the dry season, if frequently exposed to the sun. During the rainy season it should be wrapped in a blanket or cloth. PlllL/PPINE JIATS 311 Very few uncolored straws are used in Samar mats. The dyed material is more durable and does not mildew as readily as the uncolored straws. Tikug dyes easily and this is probably one of the reasons why the mats of Samar have so much color. The cost of the dye in a Basey mat is no small part of the total expense of production. Consequently it is necessary to employ a cheap dye. For instance one of the best commercial dyes known in Manila was used with great success on Samar mats, but the value of the coloring material consumed in making them was greater than their selling price. The dye used in making the cheapest of Samar mats costs the weavers about 10 centavos while the more elaborate products need as much as 65 centavos worth of dye to color them. A common mat containing 15 centavos worth of dyestuff sells for about a peso.zu The colors obtained by the Basey mat weavers have a greater variety of shades and tints than those produced by any other workers in the Philippines on tikug or any other mat material. The shades and tints depend upon two considerations: (1) The amount of dyestuffs used and (2) the length of time the boiling process is continued. Four dyestuffs are used. Yellows are obtained from turmeric; greens and reds are obtained from coal-tar dyes; and a red-orange from deora. The leaves of the latter plant are crushed and the pulpy mass thus obtained is boiled to yield the dye fluid. By combining these four dye materials in different proportions, by using varying amounts of the material, and by boiling varying lengths of time, different colors, shades and tints are obtained. The method of dyeing is as follows: The bunches of tikug are coiled and placed in a can of hot dye where they are boiled from two to ten minutes, or until the desired intensity has been secured. The more the straw is boiled, the more nearly permanent will be the color and the greater will be its intensity. Care must be taken to see that the dye fluid is not too strong; otherwise the color will be too intense. ln order that the material may be evenly colored, the tikug is submerged in the dye so that it is well covered and is turned over several times during the process. After the coils are removed they should be laid upon the ground or floor, allowed to cool, and then hung in the shade to dry. "The high cost of these dyes results from the adulteration practiced nnd the exhorbitant profits usually about 450 per cent. It is expected that the new dyes obtained from Germany through the Bureau of Education will make a saving of about 80 per cent to the workers. 312 THE PH!UPPIXE CRAFTS.I!AX The straws composing the bleached or dyed bundles of material arc stiff and uneven; some are bent and others are round. The process of flattening them and making them more pliable is carried on during damp days, in the morning or evening, for if done in the open air on cloudless days, or at any time when the atmosphere is dry, the straw becomes brittle and breaks. However, climatic conditions may be overcome by wrapping the straw in banana leaves or damp cloth for an hour or more and then working it where no breeze can dry it out. No W<ltCJ' should be applied. The workers employ the usual blunt-edged, ruler-like piece of wood; between this and the thumb "the straw is drawn by the free hand. This process flattens the straw and makes it pliable so that it does not split during weaving. Up to three years ago tikug was but little used in Samar except for weaving m<lts. Commercially, mat weaving was confined to Sulat and Basey. Since the American occupation it has been widely used and the work has been introduced into most of the schools. Not only have methods been greatlr improved but new use;; have been found for the material. To-day the sedge is woven into floor and wall mats, hats, table mats, slippers, book-bags, hand-bags, necktie cases, pencil holders, pencil cases, and pillow and cushion covers. Recently the weaving of matting on looms has been undertaken in the schools and a fine product, similar to the matting of Japan, has been produced on the ordinary loom adjusted to the straw. The chief use of tikug in Samar is in the weaving of mats in the towns of Basey and Sulat. Since time immemorial tikug mats have been woven on Samar. At Palapag, Oras, Dolores, Taft, Balangiga, Santa Rita, Gandara, Oquendo, and Catnrman, a few rough ones, the product of unskilled workmen, were made, but they were of no commercial importance, since the people did not weave enough to supply their own demand. As fa1· back as can now be traced, the people of Basey and Sulat have been making mats for the provincial and interprovincial trade. Since 1907 the people of Dolores, Oras, Santa Rita, and Balangiga have imprO\'ed in weaving and are now producing a few mats for the market. Their work is much inferior to that o1 Basey and Sulat. In the year 1911 Basey produced about 9,000 mats and Sulat about 300. The latter town could have increased its production greatly, but its remoteness from the market and from the route:. of commerce reduces the large demand which PHILIPPINE .II A TS 313 might otherwise exist for the mats. Basey is better situated in these respects; moreover, the people have been forced to fail back on mat weaving as their chief means of support, for typhoons have destroyed their coconuts and abaca, and their rice crop is scant. Almost every night mat wem·ers are found at work in many of the houses. Several years ago when American soldiers were stationed in the vicinity of the town, there grew up a great demand for mats, and the weavers, taking advantage of their need and their little knowledge of values in the Philippines, demanded exorbitant prices and received them. Most of the Basey people spent their time producing mats, and to a great extent sacrificed quality for quantity. The grade of mat that sold for 'P'l8 several years ago can now be bought for about -!"8; that which sold for 1'3, two years ago can be bought to-day for 1'-2. Lately there has been a rise in price owing to increased commercial demand. Mats made to order, particularly special mats, cost more than those bought already woven, the price depending upon the size of the article, the character of the design, and the fineness of the straw and the weave. A mat two meters by one meter, made of the finest grade of tikug, would require several months for completion and would probably cost between i"30 and 1"'40. There is hardly a limit to the size of the mat which can be woven. Three years ago one having dimensions of 10 meters by 12 meters was made for a church, as many as 30 women working on it at the same time. 314 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSMAN Basey mats are of two general kinds; those with plaid designs woven in and those on which the designs are embroidered. The former are the more difficult to weave; but as there is no decoration to be added, they are the cheapest mats obtainable, the prices for the ordinary grades ranging from 1"'0.80 to '1"'3 each. Some weavers turn out only blank mats of one color and do neither designing nor decorating. Straw used on these is usually dyed, nry few mats of natural colors being made. They are worth from -?'0.50 to - 1"'2 each and are generally sold to girls who are skillful in embroidering designs. These girls decorate the mats and sell them for from f>'2.50 to 1"-6 each, the price depending upon the original cost of the mat and the amount of decoration put upon it. The ideas for the designs on Basey mats are usually Plate UV. A cheap Samar mat with wO<M·in dotiGn. obtained from pictures or textiles. The straws, both bleached and dyed, are split in two for embroidering purposes. This makes them thinner and more pliable. The time neeessary for making a plaid mat sold for two pesos was found to be as follows, an eight-hour day being used as the basis of a day's work: Gathering tikug Dyeing tikug Flattening tikug . ·weaving mat Total time Days. 1.00 .25 .25 3.50 5.00 The selling price of the mat was one peso, the cost of the dye 15 centavos, which left the weaver a balance of 85 centavos for PHILIPPINE MATS 315 five days' labor. The plaids used in Basey mats are simple, but the embroidered designs are extremely intricate. They consist for the most part of foliage, flowers and animals. Weavers are often given a contract to make a stated number of mats in accordance with a design furnished them. A few are capable of reproducing almost any pattern presented,30 but if they are not told exactly what colors to use they employ every shade, color and tint they can secure. The Basey mats are distinguished by the multitude of colors used. In general it may be stated that the chief criticism of this product is the gaudy effect produced by the, colors used. In some cases the colors are well toned and harmflniously combined, but the majority of the mats produced contain vivid colors which are not all harmonious. Through the schools, efforts have been made to reduce the number of colors and to modify the gaudy and complicated floral designs. An improvement is seen each year. 'l'he ordinary mat is usually about 2 meters by 1-! meters, though smaller and larger ones are made. During the past three ,. The followin~ story is reported as showing the cleverness of the weavers of Basey in embroidering designs on mats. An engineer in charge of road construction refused to buy certain mats from a vendor but stated, jokingly, and in order to be rid of the insistent merchant, that if he were - brought mats having designs which were of interest to him, as showing scenes connected with his work, he would buy them. In a few weeks the broker returned bringing with him a large mat on which were displayed a road roller, wheel barrows, shovels, spades and other implements connected with road building, and part of a road itself. 316 THE PH/LlPJ>JSE CRAFTS.l/.4..\' years the weavers have been encouraged to make mats about the size of an ordinary cot and to use no more than two colors in weaving them. A few mats suitable for placing under dining tables are also made. Sulat weavers produce fewer mats than those of Basey but make them of fine, closely woven straw. l\fost of the mats with a woven-on border come f rom Sulat. These people, while able to produce a fine, soft, pliable mat, can not embroider decorations on them nearly so well as do the people of Basey. Samar mats wear well. Wall mats last indefinitely and sleeping mats are used from two to ten years or more.n An embroidered m•l wit ~ simple decQrolion. in comp• rilon with most m•h from a ... y. The port of Tacloban, Leyte, due to its proximity to Basey, is the chief center for the distribution of Sama1· mats. As soon as the mats are completed the weavers take them across the straits to Tacloban where they are sold to Chinese brokers, transients and residents, both American and native. Few ships leave "'In general it may be stated that the sabutan and tikug mats are the strongest made in the Philippines. Neither the wearing qualities of the straw nor the permanency o{ the dyes in buri mats are equal to those Of tikug. !{ tikug floor mats become dirty they may be cleaned without injury if the dyeing wns well done. They should be shaken to remove dust and dirt, laid flat on the floor and lightly scrubbed with a cloth, sponge or brush, using lukewarm soapsuds, after which cold water should be thrown on them. They arc dried by hanging in the sunshine or the b1·eeze. PHILIPPINE MATS 317 Tacloban that do not carry away from 5 to 20 mats; often they take away as many as 50, the amount generally depending upon the number of passengers aboard the boat. Some of the ship's employees are regular customers of the weavers and buy mats at stated prices to sell them again at a reasonable profit at Manila and other ports of call. Besides, there is quite a sale of mats in the towns of Samar, Leyte, and Cebu through vendors, residents of Basey, who secure the mats in their home town at low prices and sell them at a profit. These persons usually deal only in the mats, and sell them for cash, not trading for other articles. Plaid Basey ~~---------~ mats are on sale in nearly all the Chinese general merchandise stores of Ma· nila. As yet there is little supervision by brokers in Basey. The mat industry there needs but the in· traduction of some system of supervision by brokers to regulate the size, qual· ity, design and co I or scheme of the mats, and a foreign market to be· come a much more extended industry. The schools have already done much toward improving workmanship and design; it must remain for indi· vidual enterprise, how- '-~~~~~-~~~~ ever, to get in touch with foreign demand and supervise the weaving of mats to suit it.s~ Tikug mats are made in large numbers in Bohol. The straw for the most part is finer than that used in Samar and the pat. "A firm has recently entered the field and is doing a mail order business in these mats with the United States. Their plans include the furnishing of straw and dyes to the weavers and the weaving or standard designs. ")fost of the information given under this heading was taken from reports by Percy i\I. Jones and F'rank Thomason, formerly supe1·vising teachers of Bohol. 318 THE PHILIPPI.VE CRAFTS.\1.4.,\" terns are chiefly stripes and checks. Very little embroidering is attempted. Bohol mats are used principally for sleeping purposes. In northern Bohol there is scarcely a family that has not three or more large mats, which are rolled up and laid away during the day time and are unrolled upon the floor at night for a bed. They are durable and last for years. Large sleeping mats may be purchased in quantities as high as 40 to 100 during the Sunday market day in Talibon or on the Saturday market day in Ypil, a barrio of the same town. In price they range from one to three pesos each . .The second use of Bohol mats is for decorating walls, tables, and floors. Those so employed are smallE'r than the sleeping Plate LVIII. Embroidering a rn•t. mats, usually square, but sometimes round. More care is exercised in their weaving and only fine young straws are used. The preparation of the straw and the dyeing are done with great care. Mats of t he best quality are quite d1fficult to secure and the schools have recently been encouraging their production. As in other regions, the tikug from which Bohol mats are made, grows wild in the rice fields after the harvest. It is found in abundance in northern Bohol in the municipalities of Getafe:· Talibon and Ubay, and sparingly in other towns of the island (see map) . The straws are gathered from the field by pulling them, thus breaking them off at the roots, and they are tied into bundles about 3 decimeters in circumference and sold in the market. The largest market for such bundles is found in PHIUPPINE MATS 319 the barrio of Ypil in the municipality of Talibon. The price is usually about 10 centavos per bundle. From two to four of these bundles are required to make a mat. The tikug is not kept in the original buntlles longer than one or two days, for it will turn black. The material is usually separated into two parts, one to be dyed, the other to be bleached. That to be dyed is spread in the sun and thoroughly dried for one or two days, care being taken that rain does not fall upon it and blacken it. The other part is boiled in a solution of acetic acid for twenty minutes, after which it is thoroughly dried in the £un and thus bleached. The natural dyes used in Bohol for coloring tikug are dauda and tunneric. The former produces permanent colors, the latter fugitive ones. The artificial dyes bought at Chinese stores are also used in producing shades and tints of green, violet and ruby which are satisfactory. In general those in crystal form have proven more satisfactory than the powder dyes. Before dyeing, the sheath-like leaf is pulled from the bottom of each straw and the material is looped into small bundles. Often the straws are dampened with water. Dyeing is usually done in a 5-gallon petroleum can two-thirds full of water, heated to boiling. 1f the artificial dyes are used the powder is stirred in and dissolved and the bundles of tikug are then pressed down into the liquid so that all the material is well covered. A stone is often laid upon the straws so as to keep them down in the boiling dye. lt usually requires about twenty minutes to obtain the desired shade, which is nearly always a deep one. Where fresh dauda leaves are employed, about 2 pounds are placed in the water and boiled a few minutes before the tikug is put in. If dried leaves are used about one pound is soaked in cold water for a few minutes and the whole mass is then added to the boiling water. Turmeric roots are pounded in a mortar and then added to the boiling water, after which the tikug is added. All the dyes noted are combined to produce other colors and varying shades. During the process of dyeing, the straw should be turned and moved about in the boiling water to insure an even color. 'fhe straw should never be boiled too long, or it will be cooked and become tender and weak. After the straw has taken on the shade desired, it is removed from the can and thrown on the ground. When the bundles are cool enough to be handled, they are untied and the straws spread out to dry, preferably in the shade. After it is thoroughly dried the material is rebundled and thus_ kept for weaving. 320 TilE Pll!LIPPINE CRAFTSMAN Before weaving, the straws are flattened by drawing each one separately between the edge of the knife and the heel of the weaver's foot of the sole of the chinela. Damp days are best for this process. Weaving is done under the house or under trees. Evenings and nights are most suitable for this work on account of the dampness of the atmosphere. The embroidered mats of Bohol are decorated with split straws. The mats of Bohol are bought by traders who exchange cloth and other goods for them. These men carry them to the towns of Bohol which do not produce mats, and to other islands where they sell or exchange them at a good profit. When once the supply of mats on hand has been bought up in a mat producing town, several months elapse before the market there is replenished by a new supply. After completing a mat, the weaver has no immediate desire to begin another. Tt is quite probable that the output of mats could be increased considerably if the market and the price were bette1·. Jt is estimated that the weavers earn not more than 20 centavos per day at the industry. Tikug also grows in large quantities in Leyte. Its chief use there is in the weaving of matting on a crude loom, an adaptation of the common textile loom. Tikug is apparently generally used throughout Surigao in making mats. The best mats of this region come from the upper Agusan and the island of Dinagat. They are usually made for local consumption though the people of Dinagat exchange their mats with Bohol traders. The sedge grows in great abundance in the lake of Talacogon near the town of the same name in Agusan. Tikug is also found in many parts of the Moro Province. It abounds in the swamp lands of the Lanao region, from which mats are exported via Jligan. If it is to be colored, the straws are soaked in water for about two days, after which they are cooked in the boiling dye. Bleached straw is prepared by exposing it to the sun, after which the material is polished and flattened at the same time by rubbing the stalks with ashes, between the fingers. The question of the cultivation of tikug ie one of considerable importance. It is a well known fact that the finest Leghorn hat straw is produced in It.aly by sewing wheat closely and reaping the straw before the grain ripens. The best mat straws of China and Japan are produced from cultivated sedges. The PH!L!PP!NJ-7 Mtl TS 321 Bureau of Education is therefore encouraging expe1·iments in the cultivation of tikug, but as yet these have not been extensive enough to determine whether the sedge can be propagated for industrial purposes. There are no data as to cost. A quantity of seed was procm·ed and forwarded to various parts of the Islands in which tikug had not been reported as growing. These were sent out to various persons with the idea of determining (I) soils suitable to the plant, (2) whether it could be cultivated in the rice paddies between harvest and planting, (3) how closely the seeds should be planted, (4) how old the plants should be at harvest.3 ' No results have as yet been obtained from the seeds so sent out. Fair results, however, have been realized in Samar, where approximately 5,000 stalks were grown to the square foot in very rich soil fertilized with manure secured from the military stables. The straws obtained were 3 meters long. It was found that the thicker the seeds are planted the finer and longer are the straws obtained. Reports differ as to whether tikug should be considered a pest or not. In Leyte it is stated that it grows in the rice fields along with the rice crop and appreciably diminishes the crop. There it is a weed pest; in Samar it is not so considered. In Bohol one teacher states that the plant is not a pest as it will not grow in dry localities, and hence does not interfere with crops. Where it is found in the rice paddies, a covering of earth will easily destroy it. It does not scatter quickly, for, while the roots will grow if transplanted, the sedge is mostly propagated by seeds and these are distributed principally by water and not by wind. No great chances are taken in planting tikug. On the other hand, some teachers state that the seeds are scattered by the wind and that the roots impede the plowing of the fields. It is probable that where the tikug obtains a good foothold on irrigated rice land it proves a considerable annoyance to farmers; but its growth as a pest can be regulated by plowing. This plant, F. dipllylla, one of the most widely distributed of all sedges, is found at all altitudes up to 2,000 meters throughout the warm regions of the world. The stems may be smooth or hairy and the leaves one-third to two-thirds as long as the stem. F. diphylla is generally smaller than F. utilib. Its stem is only 2 mm. in diameter. The flowers, densely clustered into spikelets, are generally of two colors-straw and brown. They reach 1 •• Circular No. 82, s. 1911, Bureau of Education. 322 THE.' PHILIPPISE CRAFTS.l!AS em. in length and 4 mm. in diameter. Below the spikelet the stem has from 3 to 5 sides. The roots are fibrous; underground stems may occur, but they are never more than 2.5 em. long. This plant is known as tayoc.tayoc in lloilo, Capiz and Occidental Negros. lt is reported from Pampanga and is called "tabtabin" in Zambales. The straw produced by tayoc-tayoc is much finer but considerably stiffer than that from tikug, and cannot be considered so good an industrial materiaL Nevertheless it is used to some extent in the production of hats and mats, especially in the provinces of Iloilo and Capiz. In Dumalag. Capiz Province, hats are of considerable importance. Mats of tayoc-tayoc are reported as made in Banate and Janiuay, Iloilo Province, but this has not yet been verified. As with tikug, seeds of tayoc-tayoc were obtained and distributed among various provinces to determine whether the propagation of the straw was practicable and if the cultivation of the plant would result in a better material. As yet no definite results have been obtained. A RUSH STRAW. But one rush straw has been brought to the attention of the Bureau of Education; it is the Japanese matting rush, Juncus ejJus11S. This species is distributed over a large part of the globe, being the candle rush of Europe and the common plant of wet ground in the United States. In Japan it is made into beautiful mattings, the handsomest and most costly produced. The pith is also employed for lamp wicks, and probably the "timsim" imported from China and used in oil lamps in the Philippines is obtained from this plant. Juncu.'l effusus has no native name in the Philippines. It is found throughout the Mountain Province and in the Apo region of Mindanao. It attains a height of almost 2 meters where soil and moisture conditions are favorable. The stalk is cylindrical and at the end tapers to a point. lt is from 2 to 3 mm. in diameter. The flowers grow in a bunch on the side of the stalk near the top and are light brown in color. At the present time this rush is not utilized in the Philippines, though it is probable that it can be used in the weaving of many articles. If split, a flat straw is obtained by removing the pith. Nothing intensifies interest so much as to endeavor to do a thing yourself; nothing arouses attention and clear observation like handwork in all the arts and crafts.-FRANCIS W. PARKER.