BOAS] PREPARATION OF MATERIALS 153 
to Hill-Tout, gives the grass a silvery, glistening appearance and 
makes it easier to unroll and flatten the stems. If only yellow grass 
is available it is sometimes covered with diatomaceous earth, such as 
is used to clean and whiten goats’ hair, and is then beaten with a flat 
stick on a mat or skin until satisfactorily bleached. As a rule those 
stems which are very yellow, brown, or purple are not prepared, 
because they do not sell well, and any stems which are noticeably 
lighter or darker than the shade desired and which are mixed in with 
the others are discarded. However, material of this description is 
not wasted because, since no importance is attached to the appear- 
ance of the bottoms, it finds a place there, even on the finest prod- 
ucts. The women say, “ No one is apt to notice the bottom.” 
The sections of stems which are cut and arranged in bundles consist 
of the smooth parts between the joints, and therefore vary in length. 
When bundles are prepared for sale the joints are not always removed, 
but the basket maker attends to this when she begins her work. The 
longest straws measure about 35 centimeters, the shortest from 12 to 
13 centimeters, while the average length is about 25 centimeters. 
The number of straws in each lot is supposed to be approximately 
100. Usually an effort is made to have all the stems in one bundle 
of the same shade, although occasionally odd ones are mixed in. They 
are nearly all of the same diameter. Before being used, the grass is 
split with the point of the awl and divided generally without diffi- 
culty. It is then pressed and smoothed on a flat surface with the side 
of the instrument. 
There are other methods of putting up bundles of straw. Some 
are assorted, the longest cut in two and the short ones left full length. 
The cortex which has been scraped from the cedar roots is used to tie 
them together. Two bundles are generally found to be enough for 
an average amount of imbrication on a medium-sized burden basket. 
Bark 
After prying the bark from the trees or shrubs and splitting it into 
ribbons it is necessary to remove all roughness on the under surface, 
such as may be caused by adhering parts of the wood. This is done 
by scraping with a knife or sharp stone, a process which renders the 
bark more pliable, especially at places which cover knots. The 
outside is carefully scraped also to remove the grayish, dusty epi- 
dermis which is visible, especially on cherry bark. Other kinds that 
are procured in the Lower Fraser canyon, where the climate is moist, 
also have a gray epidermis. After this has been removed the smooth, 
glossy under bark is exposed. Careless women do not take the 
trouble to do this, but merely chip off the bits of wood, while others 
in their excessive zeal or carelessness scrape too deeply, destroying 
much of the gloss and rich color and cutting down to the green sap. 
This weakens the material so that when it is used in imbrication it 
soon wears through. 
