PHILIPPINE HATS. 115 
took to their own town, where it was woven in the same way as bamboo. 
The Baliuag buntal hat is therefore, more closely woven than that of 
Lncban, and is consequently stronger. It is also more beautiful but more 
expensive, the hats usually selling from 8 to 13 pesos each, in stores 
tliey bring much more. These hats have been offered for sale in Manila 
from the outset, but in small quantity. Almost exactly similar hats 
have been made for about 5 years at Mavitac, Laguna, and more recently 
at Paquil, in the same province, but their total number has been very 
small indeed, and they have probably never been on the market. Lucban 
is the chief seat of the buntal industry. Other toAvns in its vicinity, 
especially Mauban, Sampaloc^ Majaijai, and Luisiana, also have an 
important share in this manufacture, but their output is chiefly sold 
through Lucban. As a consequence, the name of that town is more 
often used in the Philippines for these hats than is the name of the 
material, but outside the Islands, the most common name for them seems 
to be "Bangkok," although the Siamese city has no trade of its own in hats. 
The cheapest Lucban hats sell for one peso or one peso and t^venty centavos, 
but the general run of prices is 2 to 6 pesos, the best are 12 pesos apiece. 
The return to the worker is better than it is in almost all other localities, 
she receiving about 5 pesos per week, but this amount varies with indi- 
vidual skill. Estimates for the value of the Lucban buntal output range 
from 100,000 to 250,000 pesos per annum, representing nearly half this 
number of hats. It is probable that even the higher of these figures is 
not excessive. 
There are a few other special features about the industry in Lucban. 
Attempts have been made at different times to hire the skilled workers 
and to bring them together to work, in other words, to establish a fax^tory, 
but the proceeding has never been a success. A few men are among the 
■weavers, a condition also occasionally met with in Bulacan, but in both 
provinces they seem to be confined to the coarser work. The weaving 
of the brims,' considered the most difficult part in Bulacan, is here the 
easiest and is done chiefly by children. A few buntal hats are made in 
other towns, but not in commercial quantities. Among these are places 
in Bohol, where some of the material called by this name is said to be 
obtained from the sheaths at the base of coconut petioles. 
CALASIAO HATS. 
r 
Although in Calasiao itself, the tree from which the hats are made 
and the hats alike are known as huri, or more often silag, outside of it, 
the hats usually take the name of the town. This is well, both because 
hats made horn the buri-midribs should not be confused in any way with 
those made from other parts of the leaf, and because many curious stones 
are in circulation regarding the material. 
The leaves are cut from the tree before they have unfolded. They 
