198 PHILIPPINE PALMS 
The buntal fiber, derived from the petiole, is especially val- 
uable and is extensively used in the manufacture of fine hats 
both for local use and for export. The production of buntal 
fiber originated in the region about Sariaya, Tayabas Province, 
Luzon, while the hats are commonly known in the market as 
Lucban hats, being mostly manufactured in the neighboring 
town of Lucban. These are the so-called Bangkok hats of the 
American trade. Now, however, the production of buntal is 
extending to other regions, and buntal hats are being manu- 
factured in other towns, sometimes from materials locally 
produced, sometimes from fiber purchased in Sariaya or 
neighboring towns. Technical Bulletin No. 3 of the Philippine 
Bureau of Education * gives minute directions for the produc- 
tion of the fiber, for the problem of buntal production is not 
only one of method of extraction, but also of proper selection 
of petioles. Buntal is extracted from the petioles of young or 
immature palms, and apparently the fiber is best obtained 
from those plants having considerable sap fiow. Buntal fiber 
commands a price of about 4.00 pesos per kilo, which in a 
country like the Philippines indicates that the cost of extraction 
is great and that the yield of fiber of the proper length and 
quality is small. 
The material prepared from the unopened leaf of the buri 
palm is of great local significance; buri strips, which are pre- 
pared from the young leaf, being perhaps most important. The 
coarser strips are used in weaving sacks, coarse mats, and sails. 
which are sometimes of considerable size; the finer, better- 
prepared ones in manufacturing various grades of hats, mats, 
and baskets. Hundreds of thousands of sugar sacks made from 
buri strips and known as bayones, annually convey practically 
all the sugar exported from the Philippines. 
In some towns the manufacture of buri-strip hats for export 
is an important local industry. These hats are chiefly of low 
grade and cheap. Buri-strip mat making is an extensive in- 
dustry wherever the palm grows. The coarse mats serve for 
packing and baling various materials for export. The finer 
ones, as the finer hats, are always made from bleached strips. 
Frequently the strips are dyed different colors and combined 
to produce various geometric figures. 
The unopened leaves are important for another reason. They 
produce the so-called buri raffia, variously known in the Phil- 

* Philippine Craftsman, Volume III (1914), page 45. 
