THE LIME-TREE. 



171 



is full of sap^ branches or stems of from eight 

 to twenty years' growth, are cut and trimmed, and 

 the bark is separated from them from one end to 

 the other. This is easily done, by simply draw- 

 ing the edge of a knife along the whole length of 

 the tree or branch, so as to cut the bark to the 

 soft wood. It then rises on each side of the 

 wound, and almost separates of itself. If mats 

 are to be made immediately, the bark is next 

 beaten with mallets on a block of wood, and chil- 

 dren are employed to separate the inner bark, 

 which comes off in strands or ribands, while the 

 outer bark detaches itself in scales. If mats are 

 not to be made for some time, the bark is dried 

 in a barn or shed, and either kept there, or stacked 

 till it is wanted. It is then steeped twenty-four 

 hours in water, beaten as before, and put into a 

 heap, where it remains, till it undergoes a slight 

 fermentation. When this has taken place, the inner 

 bark separates in ribands and shreds as before. 

 With the shreds, cords of different kinds are 

 twisted in the usual manner; and mats are formed 

 with the ribands in the same way as rush mats. 

 The ribands which are to be used in forming 

 mats for gardens undergo a sort of bleaching for 

 the purpose of depriving them of part of their 

 mucilage, which would otherwise render them 

 too liable to increase and diminish in bulk by 

 atmospheric changes. The great advantage of 

 Lime, or bast mats, over all others in gardens, is 

 that they do not so easily rot from being exposed 

 to moisture." 



The superiority of Lime wood for the purposes 

 of sculpture, is confirmed by the fact that Gib- 

 bon, the celebrated carver in wood, preferred it 



