STRAW-PLAIT MANUFACTTIIK. 



STUA\vr.i:i;l:v. 



6W 



from Je to tide, until it becomes too abort to cross over o as to 

 double on the other aide of the angle. The philer thru takes another 

 straw, and puts it under the short end at the point of the angle (the 

 middle of the plait), and, by another straw coming under and HMT tin 

 joined one 'from both side* of the angle in the operation of plaiting 

 it will become fastened ; the short end being thru left out underneau 

 the plait, and the newly fastened straw taking its place on that side oi 

 the angle to which the short one was directed. The plait thus fonnet 

 is represented in the cut .*/. 1, about double the real size. The plait 

 is formed in pieces of great length, which are adjusted in spiral coils, 

 with their adjacent edges knitted together, so as to form the Urge 

 circular pieces of plait which, under the name of hats, or fatt, are so 

 extensively exported from the north of Italy. The mode of effecting 

 the junction may be explained l.y the help of the annexed cuts. Pig, 

 2 represents, about four times the real size, the two adjacent edges 

 when knitted together ; the dotted lines indicating the edges of each 

 piece of plait, and showing how for the angular folds, or tyrt, of one 

 piece are inserted into those of the adjoining piece. The thread by 

 which the two rows of plait are held together is hero straight, and is 

 Fig. 1. Fif.S. 



entirely concealed in the plait. The joint is, indeed, only to be 

 detected on either side by the slightly increased thickness of the plait 

 where the angles are inserted into each other, and the thickness of the 

 thread itself. The mode of junction may perhaps be better under- 

 stood from fy. 3, which represents the pieces of plait drawn a little 

 asunder, and shows the course of the thread, which is indicated by 

 dotted lines where it is covered by the straw. The operation is 

 performed by pushing a needle through the folds in the required order, 

 and, after passing it through as many as can be conveniently done at 

 once, drawing it through in the manner of a bodkin, leaving its place 

 to be taken by the thread. Sometimes, for the sake of expedition, 

 only every alternate fold is threaded. In arranging the plait in a 

 spiral coil, as in making a hat, it is necessary, in a few places, to force 

 two loops of the smaller circle into one of the larger circle adjoining it, 

 to allow for their different diameters. 



Specimens have been produced in England even finer than real 

 Leghorn ; but such extreme fineness can only be attained by a sacrifice 

 of strength, and an increase of work. 



The material commonly used for plait in Tuscany is the straw of 

 Tritirum Inrgidum, a variety of bearded wheat, which seems to differ in 

 no respect from the spring wheat grown in the vale of Evesham and 

 in other parts of England. It is grown in Tuscany solely for the 

 straw, and not for the grain ; and the upper joint of the straw is that 

 chiefly used for plaiting. The straw is pulled while the ear is in a 

 soft milky state ; the corn having been sown very close, and conse- 

 quently produced in a thin, short, and dwindled condition. It is then 

 dried by spreading it thinly upon the ground in fine hot weather, and 

 afterwards tied up in bundles and stacked, for the purpose of enabling 

 the heat of the mow to drive off any remaining moisture. After 

 remaining in the mow for about a month, it is spread out in a meadow 

 and exposed to the action of dew, sun, and air, in order to bleach it. 

 The straw is frequently turned during this operation ; and after it is 

 completed, the lower joint of the straw a pulled off, leaving the upper 

 joint, with the ear attached to it, for use. This part is then subjected 

 to the action of steam, and to fumigation with sulphur, in order to 

 complete the bleaching, after which it is ready for use. It is tied up 

 in bundles, and imported to England in this state. 



Bleaching with sulphur is commonly practised in this country. The 

 apparatus for this process usually consists of a cask open at both ends, 

 with its seams papered. It is set upright on the ground, having .1 

 hoop nailed to it inside, about 6 inches beneath the top, to support 

 another hoop with a net stretched across it, upon which the straw is 

 laid loosely. The cask is then covered with a tight overlapping lid, 

 stuffed with lists of cloth. A brazier of burning charcoal is inserted 



beneath the cask, and upon this is placed an iron dUh containing 

 pieces of brimstone. The brimstone soon takes fire, and the sulphur- 

 ous acid gas evolved during its combustion fills the cask, and bleaches 

 the straw in three or four hours. After bleaching, the straw is aired 

 and softened by spreading it upon grass for a night, and it 

 ready for splitting. Chloride of Time is also employed as n 

 bleacher. 



Straw may bo dyed, for ornaniont.il pur|>oses, of many different 

 colours. Blue is given by a boiling-hot solution of indigo iu sulphuric 

 acid; yellow, by decoction of turmeric; red, by boiling hanks of 

 coarse scarlet wool in a bath of weak alum water containing the straw; 

 or directly, by cochineal, salt of tin, and tartar. Brazil wood and 

 orchil are also employed for dyeing straw. 



The iplinlt, or pieces of split straw, being curved in a way whi.-h 

 would impede the operation of plaiting, require to be Uttl 

 between rollers. These, as well as the whole straws used in other 

 kinds of plait, are moistened with water to render them easy to work. 

 It need hardly be observed that cleanliness is indispensable to the 

 beauty of the plait. Hence the Italian plaiters find the spring to be 

 the most favourable season for the work, as the plait is not then 

 exposed to the smoky atmosphere of the huts as in winter, nor to the 

 dust and perspiration of summer. The Italian plait is dressed and 

 polished by passing it forcibly between the hand and a sharp piece of 

 wood. 



The British straw-plait district comprises Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, 

 and Buckinghamshire ; those counties being the most favourable for 

 the production of the wheat-straw commonly used jig KiutlUh plait. 

 The manufacture is also followed in a few places in Essex and Suffolk ; 

 but very little in other counties. The principal markets are Luton, 

 Dunstable, and St. Alban's. In Italy the manufacture is ehielly 

 followed in the neighbourhood of Florence, Pisa, Siena, and tl 

 d'Arno, in Tuscany; and it is also established in Venice and other 

 places. There, as in England, the manufacture is purely domestic. 

 The chief market is Florence ; and the demand is principally from 



England, France, Germany, and America. 



There are many kinds of straw-plait m 

 the names of whole DiwzttiMc, patent Ihtn& 



plait made in England, known by 



the names of whole DiwzttiMc, patent Ihtn&tabh', xjJit nt/'ftf, /)((/ 

 Liif'ut, Hertford, Irfghom, Italian, backbone, ltt&tre, wr- . tl><i u/ <>n<t, &c., 

 differing one from another in the straws being whole or split, in the 

 thickness of the straws, in their number, or in other particulars. 

 There has also, within the last few years, been a great extension given 

 to the trade, by the combination of lace, whalebone, mohair, and 

 other substances with the straw, leading to the production of very 

 beautiful fabrics. 



In the ' Companion to the Almanac ' for 1861, is an article by Mr. 

 Charles Knight, describing many of the features in the English 

 straw-plait manufacture of the present day. A few .of the chief facts 

 will here be given in a condensed form. The census of 1851 showed 

 that 28,000 females of all ages were engaged in Great Britain in this 

 manufacture; of whom 10,000 were in Bedfordshire, 9000 in Hert- 

 fordshire, 3000 in Buckinghamshire, and the rest scattered in other 

 counties. When seasons are favourable, and fashion tends to the 

 wearing of straw hats and bonnets, many girls and women turn 

 their attention to this trade, who would otherwise seek engage- 

 ments as domestic servants. Such was the case in 1859, when 

 Luton, Dunstable, and St. Alban's were very busy with the 

 straw-plait trade. During that season, one single firm, Messrs. 

 Vyse, purchased as much plait as 3000 persons could prepare, and 

 made up 9000 straw hats and bonnets weekly. Hen are engaged 

 in cutting and sorting the straw, drying and brushing the plait, 

 and stiffening and blocking the hats and bonnets when made ; the 

 other processes are undertaken by females. Taking all the branches, 

 it was estimated in 1851 that 70,000 persons were thus employed in 

 Great Britain, and that the yearly returns were 900,000?. ; it is sup- 

 posed that in 1859 these numbers wre doubled. The manufacture of 

 Brazilian grass hats is one of the peculiarities of the St. Alban's dis- 

 trict. In the country place? surrounding the three chief towns for 

 the manufacture, straw-dealers buy straw from the fanners, sort and 

 cut it, bleach it, and make it up into bundles. Weekly markets are 

 lield in the towns, at which the plaiters buy the straw. The women 

 and girls make up the straw into plaits of various kinds and widths, 

 which are either sold at once to itinerant dealers or middlemen, or are 

 taken to market. The bundles of plait are bought by hat and bonnet 

 makers, who either work at their own houses, or are employed in 

 large establishments by the chief firms. These straw and straw-plait 

 markets are held in the open streets of the three towns. No plaiters are 

 employed by the manufacturers ; the straw is bought already plaited, 

 ind ready to be made up into hats and bonnets. Much taste and skill 

 are shown in the making of the better kinds of straw bonnets, and the 

 weaver occasionally earns high pay. The manufacturers attend to all 

 the fluctuations of fashion ; and the workpeople have to adapt them- 

 selves to frequent changes in form, material, and manipulation. 



A small import duty, formerly imposed on foreign straw-plait, was 

 repealed in 1860. 



STi; A UT.KllKY. The botanical t-haraeters of the strawberry have 

 been given in the NAT. HIST. l)rv. Of the cultivated strawberry, the 

 varieties are almost endless, and nearly every season something new is 

 produced. In the Fruit Catalogue of the London Horticultural 



