150 OTHER USES OF HERBACEOUS VEGETATION. 



Section VII. — Matbeial foe thatchins and mat-making. 



More than half the population of the empire live under thatch 

 roofs and nine-tenths of this enormous number under thatch com- 

 posed of grass, used either by itself or with leaves packed in between, 

 in order to secure more perfect tightness combined with lightness. 

 The durability of grass under complete exposure to the sun and 

 atmospheric influences is in direct ratio to the proportion of hard 

 fibre it contains, and in inverse ratio to the quantity of sugar, 

 starch and nitrogenous matters in it. Hence tough fibrous grasses 

 are the best for the purpose, and no thatching grass should be cut 

 until the seed has ripened and the stalks have begun to dry. 

 After it has been cut, the grass cannot be dried too quickly and 

 put away under shelter from dew and rain. The sooner it is used, 

 the better. 



For matting, the stalks of both sedges and grasses are employed 

 after they have been deprived of their leaves. The most suitable 

 species are those which have long, straight, well-silicified stalks, 

 with sufficient fibre to prevent their being brittle. Like thatching 

 grass, the material for matting should be cut only after the seed 

 has ripened and the stalks are nearly dry. The matting made is 

 not only used for covering floors, but also as a ceiling immediately 

 under thatch roofs. It is also, when stifE enough, sometimes used 

 directly for roofing, and especially for putting over open carts and 

 stage coaches during the rainy season. 



Another use made of the stalks, besides mat-making, is in the 

 manufacture of " chicks." With the thick lower portion of the 

 stalks of the large Saccharums are made the chicks commonly hung 

 round verandahs in Northern India. In the Indian mode of paper 

 manufacture a fine grass chick takes the place of the wire netting 

 on which the half stuff is caught in becoming a sheet of paper. 



Section VIII. — Othee uses of heebaceous vegetation. 



Numerous species are eaten by man as a vegetable, some of 

 them being equal to the best kinds grown in kitchen gardens. 

 Many others supply useful drugs, while some are used in the in- 

 digenous arts of the country. Two species of lichens, Rocella 

 tinctoria and i?. fuciformis, yield the orchella of commerce, which 

 gives on treatment with lime, carbonate of potash and urine, a 

 very valuable blue dye (litmus). Dyers use it also to produce 

 crimsons. Khas-khas tatties and chicks, made of the roots of 

 Andropogon muricatum, are well known. The demand for these 

 various species is, however, as yet too limited for any special 

 reference to be made here regarding the mode of harvesting them. 



