59 



phere is dry, the straw becomes brittle and breaks. How- 

 ever, 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 water should be applied. The workers employ the usual 

 blunt-edged, rulerlike 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. 



The best time for working up the straw is early in the 

 morning or late in the evening and at all times on cloudy 

 and rainy days. In dry weather the straw becomes very 

 brittle. It is also well to cover unfinished work for the 

 night with a damp cloth. 



USES. 



Mats. — The mats made from tikug straw are superior 

 to the buri mats in wearing qualities, equal to the average 

 sabutan mat, but inferior to the very finest mat product 

 of the sabutan plant. Tikug mats are usually colored and 

 often have a soft, rich tone due to the gloss and pliability 

 of the straw and the readiness with which it responds to 

 dye treatment. It is easy to work patterns and designs 

 of various kinds and colors into the mat. The designs 

 published in connection with the article on Philippine Mats 

 in the The Philippine Craftsman, Volume I, No. 5, and 

 the suggestion given on the use of colors in mats in the 

 same publication in Volume I, No. 3, will be found helpful 

 in the designing and coloring of tikug mats.^ 



The ordinary tikug mats are more or less rectangular 

 in shape and used by Filipinos as sleeping mats or at times 

 by Americans for wall decorations. Recently, the people 

 in Samar started the making of round mats which are 

 intended to be put on the floor under the table or other 

 furniture. The schools also employ tikug straw for doilies. 



At the first Philippine exposition in Manila in 1912, the 

 Bureau of Education exhibited a Japanese matting loom 

 which had been greatly improved at the Philippine Normal 



* See also The Philippine Craftsman Reprint Series, No. I. "Phil- 

 ippine Mats," Bureau of Education, 1913. 



