70 
strips are used mainly for hats, baskets, handbags and tobacco 
cases. The epidermis of the unopened leaflets can readily be 
removed and is known as raffia. "This { is eq et in strength to 
the Madagascar raffia which is more commonly found in the 
n 
. m: e P. 
cloth. The schools have extended the use of raffia to the manu- 
facture of screens, carriage cushions mee ae in macramé weave 
The midribs of the unopened leaves, while still yellowish- 
white in color, are bleached, spliced, and made into very fine 
hats known in Manila as Calasiao hats and in the Visayas as 
i 
The petiole of the opened Burt leaf is cut into sections two to 
three feet long. One end oe : is apis ae ee inner fibers, 
Lb d 
mostly hand. 
is apparently imple it ires dexterity and skill to aveid| break- 
th tl pulled out. Another way of getting 
ie fibers is to pound the Ge petiole and then pull the fibers 
out; but on drying it is found that such fibers frequently become 
discolored These fibers are made up chiefly into hats, beautiful 
by scraping below the darker portions of the petioles. Thus 
and the colors are permanent. The chief palms so use 
Arenga mindorensis and Arenga saccharifera (sugar pa pa 
* Inquiry of the U. S. consul at Bangkok elicited the information that no hats 
tein th fines iG ¢ 4 ont 
for prison consumption. 
