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STRAW and STRAW MANUFACTURES. Straw (from strew, as being used for strewing), is the See also:general See also:term applied to the stalky See also:residue of See also:grain-See also:plants (especially See also:wheat, See also:rye, oats, See also:barley). It forms the raw material of some important See also:industries. It serves for the thatching of See also:roofs, for a See also:paper-making material, for ornamenting small surfaces as a " straw-See also:mosaic," for plaiting into See also:door and table mats, mattresses, &c., and for See also:weaving and plaiting into See also:light baskets, artificial See also:flowers, &c. These applications, however, are insignificant in comparison with the See also:place occupied by straw as a raw material for the straw bonnets and hats worn by both sexes. Of the various materials which go to the fabrication of plaited See also:head-See also:gear the most important is wheaten straw. It is only in certain areas that straw suitable for making plaits is produced. The straw must have a certain length of " See also:pipe " between the knots, must possess a clear delicate See also:golden See also:colour and must not be brittle. The most valuable straw for plaits is grown in See also:Tuscany, and from it the well-known Tuscan plaits and See also:Leghorn hats are made. The straw of Tuscany, specially grown for plaiting, is distinguished into three qualities—Pontederas Semone being the finest, Mazzuolo the second quality, from which the bulk of the plaits are made, while from the third quality, See also:Santa Fioro, only " Tuscan pedals " and braids are plaited. The wheat-See also:seed for these straws is sown very thickly on comparatively elevated and arid See also:land, and it sends up See also:long attenuated stalks. When the grain in the See also:ear is about See also:half See also:developed the straw is pulled up by the roots, dried in the See also:sun, and subsequently spread out for several successive days to be bleached under the See also:influence of alternate sunlight and See also:night-dews. The pipe of the upper See also:joint alone is selected for plaiting, the See also:remainder of the straw being used for other purposes. These pipes are made up in small bundles, bleached in See also:sulphur fumes in a closed See also:chest, assorted into sizes, and so prepared for the plaiters. Straw-plaiting is a domestic See also:industry among the See also:women and See also:young See also:children of Tuscany and some parts of See also:Emilia. Tuscan plaits and hats vary enormously in quality and value; the See also:plait of a See also:hat of See also:good quality may represent the See also:work of four or five days, while hats of the highest quality may each occupy six to nine months in making. The finest work is excessively trying to the eyes of the plaiters, who can at most give to it two or three See also:hours' labour daily. The districts around See also:Luton in See also:Bedfordshire and the neighbouring counties have, since the beginning of the 17th See also:century, been the See also:British See also:home of the straw-plait industry. The straw of certain varieties of wheat cultivated in that region is, in favourable seasons, possessed of a See also:fine See also:bright colour and due tenacity and strength. The straw is cut as in See also:ordinary harvesting, but is allowed to dry in the sun, before binding. Subsequently straws are selected from the sheaves, and of these the pipes of the two upper See also:joints are taken for plaiting. The pipes are assorted into sizes by passing them through graduated openings in a grilled See also:wire See also:frame, and those of good colour are bleached by the fumes of sulphur. Spotted and discoloured straws are dyed either in pipe or in plait. The plaiters work up the material in a See also:damp See also:state, either into whole straw or split straw plaits. Split straws are prepared with the aid of a small See also:instrument having a projecting point which enters the straw pipe, and from which radiate the number of See also:knife-edged cutters into which the straw is to be split. The plaiting of straw in the counties of Bucks., Beds., Berks. and Herts. formerly gave employment to many thousands of women and young children; but now vast quantities of plaits are imported at a very cheap See also:rate from See also:Italy, See also:China and See also:Japan. The result is that, while the Luton See also:trade in the manufacture of straw and See also:fancy hats of every description has largely extended, the number of See also:English plaiters, all told, was not more than a few hundreds in 1907, as compared with 30,000 in 1871. The plaits are sewed partly by See also:hand and in a See also:special sewing-See also:machine, and the hats or bonnets are finished by stiffening with See also:gelatin See also:size and blocking into shape with the aid of See also:heat and powerful pressure, according to the dictates of See also:fashion. In the See also:United States straw-plait work is principally centred in the state of See also:Massachusetts. Many substances besides straw are worked into plaits and braids for bonnets. Among these may be noticed thin strips of See also:willow and See also:cane and the fronds of numerous palms. " Brazilian " hats made from the fronds of the See also:palmetto palms, Sabal palmetto and S. mexicana, are now largely made at St Albans. The famous See also:Panama hats, fine qualities of which were at one See also:time See also:worth £2o to £3o each, are made from the leaves of the See also:screw See also:pine, Carludovica palmata. They are now manufactured at See also:Dresden, See also:Strassburg and See also:Nancy, and can be See also:purchased at 3os. or £2. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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