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ROBINSON. 
are kept lor three days in a cool place, spread ou-tj put in the sun for 
three more days, and spread for a night outside the houses. The midribs 
are then removed, a leaf furnishing about 100, approximately two-thirds 
the number required for an ordinary hat. They are graded as of three 
. classes, dark, less dark, and white. It is chiefly the - white ones that 
are used, as the others are rightly considered less attractive, although 
they furnish at least a part of the material for cheap hats. These 
midribs are split in two, the soft interior cut away, and the halves again 
split once or twice, according to size. These strands are made smooth 
and of the requisite thickness by passing them under the yuro , resembling 
a flat-bladed razor, and 1 are regulated in width by drawing them between 
two blades, the batacan. The material is then ready for weaving. It is 
very rarely boiled, as this is believed to weaken it. - 
Only the cheapest hats are single; the doubling being done as -with 
bamboo hats, although the joining is sometimes not as well executed as 
at Baliuag. In this operation an instrument, is used, called the socsoc, 
resembling an awl; the sensen, similar but coarser, being employed to 
press the strands together in weaving. A smooth piece of carabao horn, 
the lerler^ shaped like a boot-horn, is rubbed over the strands while the 
hat is being woven, to smoothen it and improve its appearance. The 
finishing is elaborate. The hat is washed, with and without soap, lemon 
juice is rubbed on, and one of the easiest ways to distinguish this type 
from that made from bamboo, is by the rice-flour and sulphur, with 
which it is treated. 
If selected hats of rattan, bamboo, Calasiao, Panama, Formosa, and 
sabotan were to be placed in the order given, the majority -of people 
would find it difficult to distinguish one kind from those placed next it, 
and even more so to state the basis for their decision. On the other hand, 
they could hardly go wrong between hats which are separated by one place. 
For example, the difference is considerable between rattan and Calasiao, 
bamboo and Panama, or Calasiao and Formosa or sabotan. Of all six 
varieties, rattan and bamboo are probably most distinct, and bamboo and 
Calasiao least. These three classes are most easily distinguished by the 
finish, the rattan hats having an exquisite satiny or silky appearance, and 
being very soft to the touch. The bamboo hats are likewise glossy, but 
less so than rattan, while the safest way to tell apart those of Calasiao 
is by the dull finish. Moreover, rattan hats are darker in color than 
either of the others, and practically always- ; contain strands of still darker 
material. Darker strands are also frequent in the cheaper Calasiao hats, 
but one of good quality should be uniform. These darker strands in the 
Calasiao hats are different from those of rattan, being yellowish or 
yellowish-brown, whereas in rattan they are rather a dark pink or 
pinkish-brown. 
Calasiao hats have long had a high reputation for beauty, excellence, 
