100 MODE OF CULTIVATING AND 



Continent. Hertfordshire straw has actually been sent to 

 Switzerland, plaited in that country, and returned to England, 

 where, notwithstanding the import duty of seventeen shillings 

 a pound, it can be sold at one quarter less price than plait 

 made at home.* 



ESTHER. 



And pray, mamma, of what straw are the Leghorn hats 

 made 1 ? 



MRS. F. 



Of wheat straw; but, as the universal employment of Leg- 

 horn hats renders their manufacture an object of some inter- 

 est, suppose we devote our conversation this morning to the 

 subject? 



FREDERICK. 



Thank you, aunt. 



MRS. F. 



These hats are called Leghorn, because it is from this port 

 that they are principally sent to England; but they are made 

 in most parts of Tuscany; and in traversing the Val d'Arno, 

 in the road from Pisa to Florence, we saw the peasants sitting 

 at their doors plaiting the straw, which seemed to form the 

 principal occupation of the country. The wheat, in order to 

 bring the straw to the requisite degree of fineness, is submit- 

 ted to a peculiar mode of cultivation. The poorest, lightest, 

 and most sandy soil is selected, and if it be an elevated land, 

 and full of stones and pebbles, it will answer the better, and 

 produce the finer straw; for, you must recollect, that the ob- 

 ject in view is directly in opposition to that which we usually 

 strive to attain. Instead of producing a fine, vigorous plant, 

 the aim is to render it as weakly, as thin, and producing as 

 little grain as possible. The land, therefore, is but slightly 

 prepared for its reception; the corn is sown very thickly, to 

 crowd the plants closely together. It is usually sown 



* Transactions of the Society of Arts. 



