46 



PREPARATION. 



Splints.'^ — The preliminary work in the manufacture of 

 bamboo splints is done by the men. The bamboo, after 

 being felled (the bamboo stem is felled when it is from 

 4 to 5 months old and before it has developed any branches) , 

 is allowed to wither in the shade for from three to five 

 days, and is cut up into sections at the node with a bolo 

 or saw. The nodes are trimmed off. Since the sections 

 toward the bottom would produce too short and those at 

 the top too weak material, the middle sections only (from 

 10 to 20 in number) can be used. Each section is split 

 into three or more pieces and the inner part is removed 

 with a short, sharp, stubby knife until there remains but 

 about one-eighth of the original thickness, including the 

 green outer skin. The material split away cannot be used, 

 since the splints obtained from it would be too coarse and 

 weak. The stripper must be expert enough to know when 

 he has obtained the proper thickness. The remaining splint 

 of bamboo is flattened by placing one end on a bench and 

 forcing the rest down flat so as to remove the curve. The 

 stripper then cuts two lines across near the top, one deeper 

 than the other, but not through the material, and pries 

 and pulls the bamboo into three layers (lapat), each of 

 which can be again reduced to thinner layers in the same 

 manner, so that from four to ten layers, besides the green 

 outer skin (balat), can be obtained, though the usual 

 number is five or six, and it is very seldom that more than 

 eight are produced. (The best and finest splints are ob- 

 tained from the bamboo layers nearest the green epidermis.) 

 The material is then boiled in water for about half an hour 

 and bleached in the sun — a strengthening and whitening 

 process. 



Basket splints.- — Deep-green culms should be used. If, 

 on scraping away the epidermis with a knife, the exposed 

 layers are slightly dark or brown in color, the material is 

 too old and hard to be used for baskets. 



• Bulletin No. 33, Bureau of Education. 

 ■ Albay Industrial Bulletin No. 4. 



