318 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April ll, 1903. 
merit of various other places in and a.bout Leicester. With 
the consent of the Abbey Park Committee and Council, he 
was called in to advise the Sanitaiy Committee of the cor¬ 
poration to prepare designs for the planting of various open 
spaces, including an important piece of ground known as 
Spinney Hill Park, which is now under his care. 
In addition to being superintendent of parks and recreation 
grounds he has the management of something like 16 miles 
of avenues in the borough. These avenues are planted with 
Poplars, Limes, Sycamores 1 , Planes, various ornamental 
varieties of Elms, Acacias, and similar trees for the adorn¬ 
ment of avenues and wide streets. 
The portrait of Mr. Burn is a recent one, and well represents 
him as he is to-day. Many of our readers have come in con¬ 
tact with Mr. Burn, either at Abbey Park or at flower shows in 
various parts of the country, for he finds intervals of time for 
travel, and enjoys great popularity with the fraternity, in¬ 
cluding those who exhibit at the Abbey Park Floral Fete, under 
his superintendence. 
-o- 
Panama Hats and the Materials of which 
they are made. 
Bt John lb Jackson, Esq. (late Keeper of the Museums at 
Kew). 
For some time past the Panama' hat has been gradually win¬ 
ning its way into use in England, so that, on the principle that 
“ imitation is the sincerest flattery,” the true Panama, lias suc¬ 
ceeded in being copied as nearly as possible in straw and other 
materials which could ensure lightness. Substitutes for real 
Panamas are now plentiful. The 1 shape of the Panama hat, as 
it comes from the maker has no doubt had some influence 
against its general adoption in centres of civilisation. It has 
Cakludovica pylmata, from the leaves of which Panama 
HATS ARE MADE. 
hitherto been the type of hat. for use in the more or less rough- 
and-ready life of a planter or colonial settler—a hat of much 
usefulness, but without gracefulness. The shape in which the 
hats are now blocked, added to their suppleness and adapta¬ 
bility to twist into any shape or to fold up, has perhaps given 
them a fresh impetus, for straw cannot be thus altered at will. 
The prices of' the ordinary Panama are, however, prohibitive to 
their very general adoption, and the veiy best quality at £90, 
£100, or even £120, places them within the reach of only the 
very few. 
The high prices of the hats, the peculiarities attending their 
manufacture, and the mystery surrounding the place of their 
production, as well as of the plant which produces the material 
of which they are made, all tend to surround the Panama- hat 
with a singular interest. It is this latter part of the subject 
with which our readers are more especially interested. 
Popularly the material is spoken of as “ straw," or the stem 
or leaves of a Palm or a “ rare sort of grass that grows in South 
America.” The fact is, that none of these statements are 
correct. The plant which furnishes this strong and very durable 
material lias a Palm-like habit, and is nearly related to the 
Pandaneae or Screw Pines, and it is from the finely-split leaves 
of this plant (Carludovioa palmata) that the best hats are 
made. Other species are probably used for the cheaper hats. 
Before splitting into' threads of different degrees of fineness, 
according to the quality of the hat required, the leaves are 
soaked in water to make them supple, which, of course, greatly 
facilitates the plaiting or weaving process. 
Some interesting information on this subject is given in the 
“ Strand Magazine” for September last, from which we make 
the following extracts :—“ The perfect Panamas are woven by 
the women of Ecuador and those that live in the two provinces 
of Tolima and Juarez, Colombia. The men can rarely be in¬ 
duced to' work, no matter how considerable the pay, and con¬ 
tractors have about ceased trying to galvanise them with 
energy, but the women are more industrious, and plod along 
week after week tearing the leaf with certain nicety, and then 
weaving in the shreds, one hat at a tune. The value of a hat 
depends entirely upon its texture and pliability. One that 
costs £100, for example, should be so- closely woven as to appear 
practically smooth to the naked eye. It is, of course, made in 
one piece, and if the owner has not been cheated he should be 
able to squeeze his hat through a finger-ring. But a hat 
capable of this treatment is- about as rare as a blue diamond.” 
The- writer further says that the name Panama is a mis¬ 
nomer, as it leads to the belief that- the fabric is manufactured 
in Panama, whereas Ecuador, Colombia, and Guaiaquil produce 
two-thirds- of all the Panamas in the market, the city of Panama 
being merely the shipping port from whence the hats are ex¬ 
ported to Europe and America, 
-o- 
“ Flora and Sylva.” 
Phis long-promised monthly has at last made its appear¬ 
ance, and will be welcomed by all who delight in fine illustra-' 1 
tions and comprehensive as well as up-to-date reviews of in¬ 
teresting and noble groups of plants clothing the earth's sur¬ 
face and at our disposal for the beautifying of British homes. 
The magazine, to be edited by Mr. William Robinson, and 
published at 17, Furnival Street, Holbom, London, is entitled; 
k lora and Sylva : a Monthly Review for Lovers of Landscape/ 
\\ oodland, Tree or flower; New and Rare Plants, Trees and 
Shrubs, Fruits and Vegetables, the Garden Beautiful, Home 
V oods and Home Landscape.” The writers in the first number 
are all specialists, each in their respective subjects. Lord 
Redesdale leads off with a chapter on “ Hardy Bamboos in 
England," and no one is more conversant with the subject, or: 
has done more to popularise Bamboos in this country. Miss 
F. W. Currey discourses on “New and Beautiful Daffodils.” 
A monograph of the genus " Magnolia ” has been prepared by 
Mr. George Nicholson, than whom no one is more conversant 
with the subject of hardy trees and shrubs. A beautifully- 
executed plate of Magnolia rustica florerubro has been painted 
by Mr. G. H. Moon. “ A Revision of the Genus Calochortus' 
has been made by Carl Purdy, of California, who is a specialist 
amongst bulbs in that region. A coloured plate also accom-. 
panies this 1 article. The woodcut representing the Corsican 
Pine is a fine example of this method of illustration The 
magazine is printed in very large and bold type on thick paper, 
quarto size, and will be published m monthly numbers at 
2s. 6d. e-ach, or post free for 33s. annually: 
