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. Itis 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 
aiaea r ; ; wire which is secured in notches 
210. The making of straw mats. — ¢ 16d into them. The other ends 
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. 
