MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES USED IN HORTICULTURE. 117 



on these the straw, or reeds, is laid in handfuls, and bound to each 

 longitudinal cord by other cords, which, for greater convenience, are 



Fig. 89. 



Mode of making straw mats. 



made up in little balls, c, c. These cords are also of tarred rope-yarn. 

 When a mat is finished, the cords are tied together at the top or 

 finishing end, the mat is then detached from the frame, and its sides 

 chopped straight with an axe. These mats are more conveniently made 

 by two men than by one man ; and by placing the frame upon a raised 

 plank or bench, than by placing it on the ground, and obliging the men 

 to stoop. When straw is used, that of rye is the best, and will last, even 

 in Denmark, three years : reeds last longer. In the most severe weather 

 these mats are rolled on the glass lengthways ; that is, from top to bottom 

 of the mat; by which the direction of the straw is at right angles to 

 that of the sash-bar, which prevents the glass from being broken ; and 

 over this covering, in very severe weather, reed mats may be laid with 

 the reeds in the same direction as the sash-bar, so that the water may 

 run off them as it does off the thatch of a house, and keep the mats below 

 quite dry. Where reeds cannot be got, mats of rye or wheat straw 

 may be substituted ; because it is evident that having the straws or 

 reeds laid in the direction of the slope of the glass must be attended 

 with great advantages by throwing off the rain instead of absorbing 

 it. (' Gardener's Magazine,' vol. v. p. 416.) The usual dimensions of 

 these mats are six feet by four feet, because that size answers for 

 covering frames and pits of the ordinary dimensions ; but when they 

 are to be used for covering the sloping glass of hothouses, they should 

 be made of sufficient length to reach from the coping to the ground, 

 covering the front glass or front parapet. A ring of twisted wire 

 should be placed exactly in the centre of the upper end of each mat, 

 and to this ring a cord should be attached, for the purpose of being 

 passed over a pulley to be fixed on the coping-board, or on the back 



