78 



grasped with the left hand (palm upward) and folded 

 forward with thumb and forefinger, so that the two upper 

 surfaces are brought in contact. The folded segment is 

 then usually placed on the knee with the thumb bearing 

 strongly on the folded part. Keeping the left hand in this 

 position, the leaf is then grasped by the right hand and 

 pulled so that a sort of blister is formed at the crease. (To 

 do this deftly requires practice.) Holding the leaf taut, 

 the skin is then picked up at the blister and pulled away 

 from the underlying tissue. 



During the operation it is essential that the segment be 

 kept taut, or the skin will be torn into several strips. If a 

 very white material is desired, the raffia obtained must be 

 freed from the pulp, which still adheres to it, by being 

 scraped with a knife. It is immediately placed in the sun 

 for three hours. 



In practice, the skin from the inner surface of the segment 

 is seldom used for raffia. It can be prepared by scraping 

 away the pulp with a sharp knife, a process which requires 

 considerably more time than that needed in preparing the 

 outside skin. The inner skin is stronger than the outer, but 

 it is not so light in color and must not be combined with it 

 if a uniform color effect is desired. 



Buri raffia is easily manipulated by little hands and is 

 consequently an excellent material for use by young children. 

 Another notable quality is the ease with which it is dyed 

 and the beautiful tones which it takes. The raffia should 

 be dampened before being used. 



BuntaU — Buntal is obtained from the petiole of the 

 opened leaf of young buri palms. 



The process of extraction is as follows: The petiole of 

 the opened buri leaf is cut off from the trunk at its base and 

 generally divided into pieces about 3 to 4 feet long. The 

 spines which occur on the sides are removed. A few inches 

 of the epidermis on both sides near the base of the petiole 

 are taken off and the exposed part thoroughly beaten with a 

 wooden club or blade of a bolo until the ends of the fibers 



' Discussion on the preparation of buntal and Calasiao fibers is 

 based mainly on Bulletin No. 33, Bureau of Education. 



