130 ENGLISH STRAW PLAT. [IS'J. 



in England ; that, at all events, it was desirable to 

 get from America some of the seed of this grass; and 

 that, for this purpose, my informant, knowing that 

 I had a son in America, addressed himself to me, it 

 bciii'4 his opinion that, if materials similar to those 



ly Miss WOODHOUSE could by any means be 

 giinrn'hi i,iiL r !<in<l, the benefit to the nation must 

 be con 



D. I , icnceof this application, I wrote to 



my son James, ( \ >rk,) directing him to 



do what he was able in order to cause success to the 

 undertaking. On the receipt of rny letter, in July, 

 Vork to Weathersfield, (about a 

 hundred and twenty miles;) saw Miss WOODII 

 made the necessary inquiries; obtained a specimen 

 of the grass, and also of the plat, which other per- 

 sons at Weatherstield, as well as Miss WOODHOCSE, 

 were in the habit of making ; and having acquired 



ce>sary information as to cutting the grass 

 and bleaching the straw, he transmitted to me ail 

 account of the matter; which account, together with 



, ccimens of grass and plat, I received in the 

 month of September. 



E. I was now, when I came to see the specimen 

 of friars. convinced that MUs WOODHOUSE'S mate- 



< ould be grown in England; a conviction 

 which, if it had not been complete at once, would 

 have been made complete immediately afterwards by 

 the sight of a bunch of bonnet-straw imported from 

 Leghorn, which straw was shown to me by the im- 

 porter, and which I found to be that of two or three 

 sorts of our common grass, and of oats, wheat, and 

 rye. 



F. That the grass, or plants, could be grown in 

 England was, therefore, now certain, and indeed 

 that they were, in point of commonness, next to the 

 earth itself. But before the grass could, with pro- 

 priety, be called materials for bonnet-making, there 

 was the bleaching to be performed ; and it was by 

 no means certain that this could be accomplished by 

 means of an English sun, the difference between 



