176 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



ering floors. Old pieces of carpet may also be used. Various 

 hotbed mattings are sold by dealers in gardeners' supplies. 



Gardeners often make mats of rye straw, although the price 

 of good straw and the excellence of manufactured materials 

 make this home-made matting less desirable than formerly. 

 Such mats are thick and durable, and are rolled up in the morn- 

 ing, as shown in Fig. 199. There are various methods of making 

 these straw mats, but Fig. 210 illustrates one of the best. A 

 frame is made after the manner of a saw-horse, with a double 



top, and tarred or marline twine 

 is used for securing the strands 

 of straw. It is customary to use 

 six runs of this warp. Twelve 

 spools of string are * provided, 

 six hanging on either side. Some 

 persons wind the cord upon two 

 twenty-penny nails, as shown 

 in the figure, these nails being 

 held together at one end by 

 wire which is secured in notches 



210. The making of straw mats. fijed intO them. The Other Cuds 



of the spikes are free, and allow the string to be caught be- 

 tween them, thus preventing the balls from unwinding as they 

 hang upon the frame. Two wisps of straight rye straw are 

 secured and laid upon the frame, with the butt ends outward 

 and the heads overlapping. Two opposite spools are then 

 brought up, and a hard knot is tied at each point. The pro- 

 jecting butts of the straw are then cut off with a hatchet, and 

 the mat is allowed to drop through to receive the next pair of 

 wisps. In making these mats, it is essential that the rye con- 

 tains no ripe grain; otherwise it attracts the mice. It is best 

 to grow rye for this especial purpose, and to cut it before the 

 grain is in the milk, so that the straw does not need to be 

 threshed. 



