AMERICAN HOME (iARDEN. 



37 



ger than a single sash, so that 

 they may overlap, if need be. 

 For a mat intended to be four 

 feet wide, take strong, well- 

 twisted hempen string, about 

 the thickness of a straw, and 

 stretch five strings at ten or 

 eleven inches apart, or six at 

 eight inches, from a bar near the floor upward to another 

 bar or beam six or seven feet above ; strain them tight, and 

 fasten them securely to nails or pins driven for the pm-pose. 

 Knot firmly on to each of them, just above the lower har, a 

 second string of the same size, or a little smaller, and only 

 thi'ee or fjur feet long, for lacing-strings, which you can add 

 to as you find necessary in the progress of the work : these are 

 left hanging loosely on the floor. Next provide a quantity 

 of pretty long straw ; place it upon your left hand as you seat 

 yom'self like a basket-maker in front of the stretched strings. 

 Take about a boy's liandful of the straw, and place it with the 

 butts projecting a few inches outside of the outer string, and 

 lace it to its place by the second or third lacer, passing this 

 aromid the stretcher, and fastening it with a half-hitch knot ; 

 take another handful for the other side, and lay it in with the 

 heads inward, so overlapping the former as to make the whole 

 layer even ; fasten it in place, and proceed to lace clear across 

 the mat. Take other equal quantities of straw, and lace them 

 in in the same manner until you attain a height equal to the 

 desired length of your mat. Having fastened yom* last lacing, 

 cut the stretchers, and tie the ends securely ; then lay the mat 

 at length upon the floor, and, with a board or slat for a straight- 

 edge, cut the projecting ends so as to make your mat of the 

 desired width, leaving the ends of the straw not more than 

 three inches beyond the outer stretchers (Fig. 14). Such 

 mats will last for several years if kept dried and under cover 

 when not in use. Special care should be taken not to roll 

 them up for summer storing while they are damp. 



If it is found convenient to make a frame, upon which the 

 stretchers can be extended horizontally, the work mny be still 



