STRAW PLAT, 157 



form children to habits of industry without exhausting 

 their strength or gaiety." 



The women and children in nearly every part of 

 Tuscany wear large straw hats, entirely prepared and 

 made by themselves. These give them a very neat 

 appearance ; but altogether the peasantry of this state 

 seem to be in a better condition than those of any 

 other part of Italy. They owe this superiority rather 

 to their own industrious, frugal habits, than to any 

 material difference of government or taxation. 



The material of which the plat is made is some- 

 times prepared from the straw of rice and of rye 

 or darnel grass. But the straw principally used is 

 the culm of a kind of red wheat, very commonly cul- 

 tivated in the Tuscan states. It is a variety of spelt 

 corn, or red wheat (triticum spelta) , having some- 

 what the appearance of barley ; the grains grow in 

 the ears in a similar manner, but their shape is like 

 that of other wheat. 



Although apparently a very simple process, some 

 skill and patience are required to prepare, split, and 

 plat the straw, and to perform all the other opera- 

 tions without breaking so fragile a material. The 

 wheat is allowed to grow till just ready to burst into 

 ear. The straw is then pulled up by the roots, which, 

 as well as the ear, is cut off from every stem ; as soon 

 as cut, it is tied in small bundles, immersed for a 

 short time in boiling water, and spread out to dry. 

 This being done, the knots are cut off, and the most 

 slender straws are put aside to be platted whole, 

 from which the best and most durable hats are made. 

 The others are split longitudinally, with the point 

 of a penknife, into two or three parts. These are 

 again moistened and pressed flat for three or four 

 hours, and they are then ready for platting. When 

 hats of an extraordinary fineness are to be made, the 

 straws are divided into a greater number of strips ; 



