77 



are then placed in a mixture of half a liter of tuba vinegar 

 (or 3 liters of vinegar made from cooked rice or one-fourth 

 liter of lemon juice) to which enough w^ater has been added 

 to cover the rolls of buri, and boiled for about five hours. 

 The material is then spread in the sun for three days to dry, 

 care being taken that it is not exposed to rain or dew. The 

 segments are then placed in cool, clear water for twelve 

 hours and again placed out in the sun to dry for two days. 



Buri raffia. — The full-grown, opened buri leaf is large 

 and circular in outline, but as a shoot — before its surface 

 is exposed to the sun — the leaf blade is folded together like 

 a fan. Each fold is made up of two sides and may be called 

 a leaf segment. Along the thin edges the segments are 

 partly united. They are closely packed together and are 

 nearly of the same width, the largest in the center being 

 about 2 m. long, the others on both sides gradually shorter. 

 The leaf blade is borne on a long petiole grooved on its 

 upper surface. 



Buri raffia is the skin stripped from the leaf segments of 

 the buri shoot before the blade has unfolded. 



Each segment is like a long narrow leaf, folded at its 

 midrib. The skin for the raffia is pulled off from the outer 

 surface of the two halves. Occasionally it is derived from 

 the inner surface. Raffia cannot be obtained from the 

 opened buri leaf, as the skin adheres too tenaciously to the 

 underlying tissue to be removed to advantage. 



The epidermis should be removed, preferably immediately 

 after the shoots have been cut from the trunk, or at least 

 within twenty-four hours. If this is not done, it is not only 

 difficult to obtain the raffia, but in stripping the material 

 is easily torn into shreds and is then less valuable for 

 industrial purposes. 



To obtain the raffia, a leaf segment is selected and its 

 midrib is cut away. This gives two strips from each 

 segment. The best raffia is obtained from the upper surface 

 of each strip. 



The base of the leaf segment is ordinarily held in position 

 by the right foot. The upper surface of the segment is 

 held upward and in such a way that the segment is parallel 

 to the body. About 2 inches of the tip of the segment is 



