Philippines. Bureau of Education

“ During the process of dyeing, the straw should be turned and moved about in the boiling water to insure an even color. The straw should never be boiled too long, or it will be cooked and become tender and weak. After the straw has taken on the shade desired, it is removed from the can and thrown on the ground. When the bundles are cool enough to be handled, they are untied and the straws spread out to dry, preferably in the shade. After it is thoroughly dried the material is rebundled and thus kept for weaving. ”

“ The cost of the dye in a Basey mat is no small part of the total expense of production. Consequently it is necessary to employ a cheap dye. For instance, one of the best commercial dyes known in Manila was used with great success on Samar mats, but the value of the coloring material consumed in making them was greater than their selling price. The dye used in making the cheapest of Samar mats costs the weavers about 10 centavos while the more elaborate products need as much as 65 centavos worth of dye to color them. ”

“ At Argao, Cebu, banana petiole mats are woven as a by-product of the sabá cloth industry. In obtaining the fiber, the outer skin of the petiole is pulled off for stripping, and the remaining portion, which is called “upag,” is dried and woven into very coarse mats by children. These are called “bastos”2 or “liplip,” and are disposed of to the tobacco balers in the town, or are shipped to Cebu and other towns for baling purposes. While sabá sinamay is produced in several of the districts in the Visayas, notably in Bohol, it is not known that the upag is used for mat weaving there. ”

“ Pandans are valued chiefly for their strong fibrous leaves, which are woven into mats, bags, and hats. Unless specially prepared, the soft plant tissue between the harder leaf fibers becomes dry and dirty and breaks in time; hence the ordinary pandan bag or mat can not be considered a durable article. However, when treated to a boiling process or when rolled, as explained for sabutan and the pandan of Majayjay, the leaves yield straw which is stronger and more durable than most palm or sedge straw used for the same purposes. ”

“ These men carry them to the towns of Bohol which do not produce mats, and to other islands, where they sell or exchange them at a good profit. When once the supply of mats on hand has been bought up in a mat producing town, several months elapse before the market there is replenished by a new supply. After completing a mat, the weaver has no immediate desire to begin another. It is quite probable that the output of mats could be increased considerably if the market and the price were better. It is estimated that the weavers earn not more than 20 centavos per day at the industry. ”

“ Full grown stalks sometimes reach 3 meters in height, but the average is 11⁄2 meters. In most places in Samar only very coarse tikug is found and this is especially true in the northern half of the island. The best material grows near the towns of Basey and Sulat, a circumstance probably due to the fact that most of these sedges are pulled up for weaving before they become old and coarse, for it is in these two towns that the mat industry of Samar is centered. All grades of tikug can be used in making mats ”

“ Basey mats are of two general kinds: those with plaid designs woven in and those on which the designs are embroidered. The former are the more difficult to weave; but as there is no decoration to be added, they are the cheapest mats obtainable, the prices for the ordinary grades ranging from ₱0.80 to ₱3 each. Some weavers turn out only blank mats of one color and do neither designing nor decorating. Straw used on these is usually dyed, very few mats of natural colors being made. They are worth from ₱0.50 to ₱2 each and are generally sold to girls who are skillful in embroidering designs. ”

“ Spines generally occur along the whole margin of the leaf, though in a few forms, especially in cultivated varieties, they may be present only at the tip or may be wanting entirely. The marginal spines usually curve forward and vary in size from small, hardly perceptible forms, to large sharp conical structures. At times they are set very close together; again they may be several centimeters apart. Those on the midrib most often curve backwards and may vary the same as the marginal spines. Generally the spines are green in color, though in some species they are pale-green, red, black or white. ”

“ In the Tagalog speaking provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, and in and around Manila, Pandanus luzonensis is called “alasas.” It is also called “pandan” but this name should be reserved for Pandanus tectorius. The former is restricted in its habitat to the provinces around Manila Bay, while the latter is found in most of the seacoast provinces of the Philippines as well as in other tropical parts of the world. Pandanus luzonensis attains a greater height than Pandanus tectorius, but has narrower leaves than the latter. ”

“ Much of the sabutan is in the sun from morning to night; some is shaded during all or part of the day. The suckers mature leaves in the third year9 but these are cut off and thrown away as useless and it is not until the fourth year that the lower leaves can be stripped into straw. Harvest takes place every four months, five or six leaves being obtained from a plant at each cutting. The plants are never irrigated but it is to be noted that the soil around Laguna de Bay is very moist and that the water table is close to the surface with a good seepage from the hills which are near the shore. ”

“ In the Philippines numerous varieties of pandan hats are produced, varying in grade from the fine and expensive sabutan to the coarse pandan.6
In some other places, as Burma, pandan leaves are woven or sewed into sails. In southern India they are utilized as umbrella covering. If no stronger material is obtainable, the leaves are placed on roofs as thatching, but they do not seem to lend themselves well to that purpose. In countries where they grow, they are often used instead of twine or made into ropes or hunting nets, or into drag ropes for fishing nets. ”

“ Pandan mats are important articles of domestic commerce in Malaysia, as it is estimated that four-fifths of the total population use them for sleeping purposes. In all places except where palms, like the buri or sedges occur, they yield the most suitable and most easily prepared mat material. Generally the whole leaf is utilized after removing the marginal and midrib spines. The coarsest mats are used in drying out copra, cacao beans, paddy, and such products. Pandan mats are made and used widely in the Philippines. ”

“ Pililla, Rizal Province, and in Mabitac, Laguna Province, and in all the towns along the lake shore as far as Paete, the suckers of the plant are set out in small plots of ground surrounding the houses of the people. These form patches which in several years (depending mostly on soil conditions) yield pandan leaves large and fine enough to be used in the manufacture of hats and mats. The ideal location for sabutan is along the banks of streams where it can get the benefit of the light shade of bamboo or plants that happen to grow in the vicinity. ”

“ The straws composing the bleached or dyed bundles of material are stiff and uneven; some are bent and others are round. The process of flattening them and making them more pliable is carried on during damp days, in the morning or evening, for if done in the open air on cloudless days, or at any time when the atmosphere is dry, the straw becomes brittle and breaks. However, climatic conditions may be overcome by wrapping the straw in banana leaves or damp cloth for an hour or more and then working it where no breeze can dry it out. No water should be applied. ”

“ Dyeing is usually done in a 5-gallon petroleum can two-thirds full of water, heated to boiling. If the artificial dyes are used the powder is stirred in and dissolved and the bundles of tikug are then pressed down into the liquid so that all the material is well covered. A stone is often laid upon the straws so as to keep them down in the boiling dye. It usually requires about twenty minutes to obtain the desired shade, which is nearly always a deep one. Where fresh dauda leaves are employed, about 2 pounds are placed in the water and boiled a few minutes before the tikug is put in. ”

“ In the year 1911 Basey produced about 9,000 mats and Sulat about 300. The latter town could have increased its production greatly, but its remoteness from the market and from the routes of commerce reduces the large demand which [93] might otherwise exist for the mats. Basey is better situated in these respects; moreover, the people have been forced to fall back on mat weaving as their chief means of support, for typhoons have destroyed their coconuts and abaca, and their rice crop is scant. Almost every night mat weavers are found at work in many of the houses. ”

“ Robert Clauson, supervising teacher, has determined the process of whitening buri straw in Arayat, Pampanga, as follows: The segments are separated from the midrib and rolled rather loosely, so that the water may pass between them, in bundles as large around as a plate. These are placed in a large can or vat containing tamarind leaves and alum (see bleaching agents) in water, and the whole is boiled until about one-half of the water has evaporated. During the boiling the buri must be tightly covered with tamarind leaves and not be allowed to project from the water. ”

“ Indeed, it is probable that sabutan, the Philippine pandan of greatest economic importance, is a variety which is the result of generations of planting, still closely resembling P. tectorius but differing from it in its leaves, which are thinner, longer, of finer texture and of greater strength. It is possible also that sarakat, the economic pandan of the Bangui Peninsula, Ilocos Norte, is a variety of P. tectorius. ”

“ Neither the wearing qualities of the straw nor the permanency of the dyes in buri mats are equal to those of tikug. If tikug floor mats become dirty they may be cleaned without injury if the dyeing was well done. They should be shaken to remove dust and dirt, laid flat on the floor and lightly scrubbed with a cloth, sponge or brush, using lukewarm soapsuds, after which cold water should be thrown on them. They are dried by hanging in the sunshine or the breeze. ”