444 



THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 



machine, the mat knit together by twine, and its texture such 

 that it may be rolled up closely. These mats are not only much 

 better as a protection than a bast mat, but cost much less than 

 that, while, in point of appearance and amount of protection given, 

 the advantage is all in their favour. The preceding figure 

 represents a simple frame used for making these mats in the 

 nurseries of M, Jamin, the celebrated cultivator of Orange-trees, 

 who thus describes it : — " Get two pieces of timber (1) about three 

 inches thick, four inches wide, and as long as required. Pierce 

 these timbers, as shown in the figure, and introduce the bar A in 

 the holes to maintain the same width between the sides, and 

 support the nails or screw. These nails are to keep the string 



tight (5). The bar 

 may be shifted from 

 hole to hole so as to 

 make mats of any 

 desired length. The 

 length of the string 

 must be about three 

 times that of the straw 

 mat, and rolled round 

 a little reel, shown at 

 E. The straw must 

 be placed on the ma- 

 chine so as to have 

 all its cut or lower ends close- against each side, the tops 

 meeting in the middle, and so as not to have the mat thicker 

 than three-quarters of an inch when finished. The stitches must 

 not be wider than three-quarters of an inch', and are worked as 

 follows (see F in the figure). Take a little of the straw with the 

 left hand, and work the reel with the right, first over the straw, 

 then over the looped string, coming back underneath, and swiftly 

 passing it between the two strings, puUing tightly and pressing 

 the straw, so as to have a flat stitch, and not thicker than three- 

 quarters of an inch at the most. The same operation is repeated 

 until the mat is finished. The machine described has been at 

 work for the last twenty years in our nursery at Paris, and is 

 still as good as new. An ordinary workman may make daily from 

 thirty to forty yards' run of these straw mats with it." There are 



Stra-zu Mat (^]^,iil/iisso>i) used /or covering Frames. 



