Philippine Mats Part 5

The buri flowers and fruits but once and then dies. This is said to occur when the plant is from 25 to 40 years old. The individual flowers are greenish-white in color and only from 5 to 6 mm. in diameter. They are nevertheless perfect flowers, with calyx, corolla, and ovary showing plainly a division into threes, and stamens six in number. Thousands of these flowers occur on the large, terminal, much branched, pyramidal inflorescence which may grow to be 7 meters in height. The lower branches of this inflorescence may be as much as 3.5 meters long, the upper shorter, the highest about one meter in length.

From 10 to 12 months after flowering the fruits are mature. They are from 2 to 2.5 cm. in diameter and each contains an extremely hard seed 1.5 cm. in diameter.

Preparation.

Buri straw is prepared from the young, unopened leaf of the buri palm. The coa.r.s.est straw is made by separating the leaflets from the midribs and drying them in the sun. A higher grade straw results from boiling them in water. Such straws are suitable only for bayon manufacture and for weaving into coa.r.s.e mats for baling purposes.

Several methods of bleaching buri straw obtain in various localities. Any exact description of the processes is somewhat difficult, since the persons who produce the straw have no very definite idea of the proportions and quant.i.ties of various materials which they use, and often do not care to divulge what they consider trade secrets. In several cases, nevertheless, supervising teachers have succeeded in obtaining fairly exact data on the preparation of buri straw.

However, the same method carried out in different towns seems to result in different qualities of straw. These differences probably result from slight variations in the method of preparation. It has also been found that the age of the leaf, as determined by the length of the stem (petiole), influences the color of the straw produced. In some districts the unopened leaf is not taken if the stem is over two inches in length. In other places, leaves with stems about one foot high are considered ready to cut. It is probable, too, that the composition of the water in which the straw is boiled influences its color. Mauban, in Tayabas province, has the reputation of producing the whitest buri straw. Mr. John H. Finnigan, supervising teacher, attempted to introduce buri straw into the schools of Gumaca, Tayabas, where the buri palm is very plentiful. The work was in charge of expert weavers from Mauban, but only a poor quality of straw was produced. It was claimed that the water in which the segments were boiled, according to the process which is explained later, did not whiten them. It is a fact that in Mauban the water of the town fountain is used to produce the fine white straw. In the several years of his experience, Mr. Finnigan found no place outside of Mauban which produces straw equal in color to the Mauban straw, but he has noted that the second best straw comes from San Fernando, Gumaca, where there is an especially clear stream of water.

In fact, all reports would seem to indicate that clear, pure water is essential to the production of the finest white buri straw, and only such should be used in all processes of the various methods outlined here.

The Arayat Process.--Mr. 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 pa.s.s 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. After this process the rolls are placed in a jar full of clear water and left to soak for three days. The strips are then washed several times in the river during a period of three days, and they are then laid on the gra.s.s or along fences to dry after each washing. The oftener they are alternately washed and dried the whiter and tougher will the material be. After the final drying, which should be thorough, the strips are rolled very tightly into bundles.

The San Luis Method.--The method of whitening buri straw followed in San Luis, Pampanga, is described by Mr. James H. Ba.s.s, supervising teacher. The unopened leaves are brought down the Chico River in rafts. The segments are torn from the midrib and boiled for four hours in five gallons of water to which one liter of nipa vinegar, a lump of alum the size of an egg, a handful of tamarind leaves, and a handful of pandakaki leaves (see bleaching agents) have been added. Other steps follow as in the previous process.

The Mauban Process.--The following description is taken from Circular No. 27, series 1911, of the Division of Tayabas. Let the unopened leaves, cut from the stalk, stand in a cool shady place several days, until the sap has well run. Open the leaves and separate the segments from the midrib with a sharp knife. Put these carefully into a petroleum can or other suitable receptacle filled with a boiling solution of two-thirds water and one-third white nipa or coconut tuba vinegar (see bleaching agents). Keep the solution boiling until the segments are cooked so soft that folding them leaves no crease.

Spread the cooked leaves on clean gra.s.s in the sun to dry. The drying process may require one or two days. When the segments are quite dry, prepare a jar with clear soft water, and put them in this to soak over night. In the morning remove them from the jar, wash them thoroughly in clear running soft water and place them in the sun. At noon repeat the washing process until the segments open, then dry thoroughly in the sun.

It is customary to roll the buri into coils in order to make it more convenient to store. The dry leaflets may be made flexible for this purpose by laying them on the gra.s.s in the night air. After a few minutes they will be flexible enough to roll. Care must be taken to have the segments smoothly rolled. When used, they should be smoothed carefully and then split into the widths required.

The process can also be followed with rice vinegar (see bleaching agents) subst.i.tuted for the tuba vinegar.

Wash two chupas of rice and cook it in water until it becomes very soft and starchy. Put this in a clean petroleum can and add cold water until the can is two-thirds full, then cover the can and let it stand five or six days. This mixture will become very sour. Strain it through a piece of sinamay or other cloth. Cook the segments in this mixture instead of in the solution described in the first process, and then carry out all the other steps.

The Romblon Process.--In Romblon, great care is exercised as to the age of the unopened leaf taken for the production of straw. If it is intended to produce bleached straw, stalks having stems about two inches long are selected. In the following description, which was submitted by Mr. R. L. Barron, head teacher, one unopened leaf is taken as a unit. The midribs are removed and the segments are rolled into round bundles, say by fives. These are boiled in clear water for about three hours. The leaves are then placed in a mixture of half a liter of tuba vinegar (or three liters of vinegar made from cooked rice, or one-fourth liter of lemon juice) to which enough water has been added to cover the rolls of buri, and boiled for about five hours. The material is then spread in the sun for three days to dry, care being taken that it is not exposed to rain or dew. The segments are then placed in cool clear water for twelve hours and again placed out in the sun for two days to dry.

The Dyeing of Buri Straw.

Buri straw intended for mats is usually colored with the cheap imported coal tar dyes previously noted. It is expected that the new dyes for which the Bureau of Education has arranged will take the place of these. Romblon buri mats, which are the finest in point of workmanship and design made in the Philippines, are colored entirely by local vegetable dyes.

The methods used in the island of Romblon in dyeing buri straw have been carefully investigated by Mr. Barron, and are presented herewith. In each case the unit of material is one stalk of buri for each color. The process of whitening Romblon buri straw has already been described.

For red, unopened leaves having stems three feet long should be selected. The midribs are removed while green, and the leaves are rolled into bundles of convenient size, say by fives. These are boiled in clear water for about three hours, after which the segments are spread in the sun for three days to dry. Care should be taken that they are not exposed to rain or dew. They are then placed in a fluid made by boiling two gantas of kolis leaves (see mordants) in plain water for one hour. The buri leaves remain in the water and soak thus for three days and three nights. The buri leaflets are then placed in a vessel containing two gantas of sappan wood (see dyes), one-half liter of lime water, and one chupa of tobacco leaves. To this a sufficient quant.i.ty of plain water is added to thoroughly submerge the buri, and the whole is boiled for eight hours, being stirred at short intervals to obtain a uniform shade of red. The segments are then removed and hung in the wind for about six hours to dry, after which they are smoothed and rolled.

For yellow-orange, unopened leaves having stems about two inches long are selected and the segments are removed from the midribs and rolled into bundles. These are boiled in clear water for about three hours and spread in the sun for three days to dry, care being taken that the buri is not exposed to rain or dew. The material is then placed in a vessel containing one ganta of powdered turmeric (see dyes), one chupa of powdered annatto seeds (see dyes), one liter of lime water, and sufficient clear water to cover the buri, and is boiled in this mixture for five hours, with frequent stirring. It is then removed and hung in the wind for one-half day to dry, and is smoothed and rolled.

For green, an unopened leaf having a stem about two inches in length is selected. The segments are removed from the midribs, rolled into bundles and boiled in clear water for about three hours. After this, they are boiled in lye (consisting of ashes) for about two hours, the mixture of ashes and water covering the buri during the process. The bundles are then removed from the vessel, wrapped in a bayon, and put in a dark place for 48 hours. The segments are then taken out and hung in the wind for about three hours to dry, and are smoothed and rolled.

The preliminary steps in the production of "black straw" (a cold dark gray) are the same in the making of the green material. The segments taken from the bayon, as described above, are buried three days in black mud, in a rice paddy, for instance. The material is then washed in plain water until clean, and is then boiled for two hours in a mixture of one-half ganta each of the leaves of talisay, indigo, and tiagkot (see dyes), with a sufficient quant.i.ty of water to cover the mixture. The whole should be stirred at frequent intervals. After two hours the strips are removed and hung in the wind for five hours to dry. Then they are smoothed and rolled.

Types of Buri Mats.

The Bontoc Peninsula of Tayabas produces great quant.i.ties of baling mats and bayons. Bayons are also produced in large quant.i.ties in Capiz province. Other localities are of less importance.

Buri sleeping mats are made from the northernmost part of Luzon, in the Bangui Peninsula, to the Sulu Archipelago. For the most part they are woven in small numbers here and there, in the different towns, sometimes for use in the household in which they are made, often for local trade in the barrios or munic.i.p.alities. In nearly every province there is at least one town in which the production of buri mats reaches provincial commercial importance. A number of munic.i.p.alities produce them for a fairly extensive trade with neighboring provinces. In most cases these are ordinary products, usually decorated with a few colors in lines or checks of dyed straws, either woven in or embroidered on the mat.

In one region, however, buri mats have reached such a degree of perfection in their weaving and decoration as to have become a distinctive product known throughout the Islands. These are the Romblon buri mats, and they are produced throughout the islands of Romblon. Their central market is the town of the same name. They are distinctive because of the fine white and colored materials used, and of the designs which are woven in them. In the designing, not only checks and line borders but also plaids appear, and many of the effects produced by floating straws are employed. The Romblon mat, moreover, is most noticeable because of the fancy weave, making a sort of open work along the border, for which these mats are unique. Romblon exports great quant.i.ties of mats varying in price from P0.25, to over P10, and in size from small mats for stands to large decorative mats which cover the sides of rooms. [9]

Pandan Straws.

Description of Pandans.

Pandans or "screw-pines," as they are sometimes called, are readily recognized by their characteristic appearance. [10] The common forms occasionally planted in pots as house plants and in gardens, or more often found growing wild, have long and rather narrow leaves always supplied with more or less sharp spines which run along both their margins to the very tip. Another row of spines is present on the under surface along the midrib. Bearing in mind this middle row of spines it is impossible to mistake the leaf of the pandan for that of the pineapple or maguey, which it resembles more or less in form and shape. Another very prominent feature of pandans is the presence of air or prop roots which grow from the stem above the ground and are helpful to the plant in various ways. The veins of the leaves always run parallel and in a longitudinal direction. The leaves are never borne on a petiole, but are attached directly, in winding corkscrew fashion, in ranks of three, to the stem.

Pandans are true tropical shrubs or trees. Although also found in the subtropics of Australia, they never occur in other temperate regions except when raised as ornamental plants in greenhouses. Even their distribution in the tropics is limited, as they are found growing wild only in the tropical regions of the Old World, especially on the islands lying between the mainland of Australia and southeastern Asia. They are hardly ever cultivated, for where they do occur they are found in more than sufficient quant.i.ty for the purposes to which they are put. They are essentially seacoast or open swamp forms, generally found at low alt.i.tudes and appearing to find a moist, warm climate most congenial to their growth. In the Philippines they occur in all provinces, though not always in sufficient quant.i.ty to make them of commercial importance.

The structure of the pandans presents many exceedingly interesting characteristics well worth noticing. Some plants are very low with leaves not wider than a blade of gra.s.s, while others form large trees with leaves many meters long and several decimeters wide. 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.

Some forms seem to creep along the ground, while others, low and bushy and standing close together, form, with their numerous supporting prop roots, an almost impenetrable jungle. The high tree forms are very striking because of their peculiarly shaped crowns.

The first roots which the pandans develop soon disappear and their place is taken by others. Starting high above the ground, these grow at an angle from the stem and generally reach the soil. They serve the twofold purpose of supporting the stem and of supplying it with sufficient air. If, by accident, the underground roots die off, the plant relies entirely on these air and prop roots for support and food. The strong prop roots are generally of the same diameter throughout, though sometimes they thicken at the ends. Normally they never branch above the ground, but after reaching the soil very often divide. The tip of the roots is protected by a cap, while a layer of cork tissue prevents the drying out of the root body.

The pandan has two kinds of flowers, male and female. The male flowers are arranged in the form of a spike protected by a modified leaf called the bract. They are white in color, crowded together on the spike and consist of stamens which hold the pollen. The flowers do not have the showy colored bracts which forms so prominent a feature in those of many other plants. The female flowers consist only of the necessary parts. As the pollen occurs in enormous quant.i.ties and as the plants generally grow in groups, it is very probable that some flowers are pollinated by the wind. The fact that many pandans have very fragrant blossoms makes it almost certain that in the majority of cases insect pollination takes place. In a few forms that have a very disagreeable odor, pollination is effected by night flying insects.

The fruit commonly has the general shape of the female inflorescence, but as it matures it increases greatly in size. Pandans have a composite fruit made up of smaller fruits called drupes. The most common forms resemble the pineapple with its leafy fruit apex cut off. As is natural, variations from this type occur. Cylindrical, eggshaped, jackfruit-like forms are quite common. The largest may be 60 cm. long and weigh 25 kilos, the smallest only 7 cm. in length and 60 grams in weight. The fruit may occur solitary at the end of a branch, or in groups. The color is green, though some species change to a bright red before maturity is reached. The fruit may have drupes ranging from 12 mm. to 14 mm. in length and these may contain one seed or a number of seeds. At maturity the drupes separate and the fruit falls apart. If the plant occurs along the water, the seeds, when liberated, float about until they rest in a suitable place for germination.

Uses of Pandans.

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.

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 coa.r.s.est mats are used in drying out copra, cacao beans, paddy, and such products. Pandan mats are made and used widely in the Philippines.

Formerly, before gunny sacks came into general use, coffee was packed in pandan bags and where pandans did not grow they were introduced and cultivated for that purpose. Even to-day bags from pandan play an important part in transporting sugar, coffee, and other tropical products in and around southern Asia. Few pandan bags are made in the Philippines in comparison with the enormous quant.i.ty of bayons woven of buri straw and used to contain domestic rice and export sugar.

Pandans are used extensively for making hats in the Philippines as well as in other parts of the world. In several islands of the Pacific very fine ones are woven from straw consisting of the whole leaf cut into strips. In the Loochoo Islands imitation Panama hats of great strength are woven from the skin of a pandan, bleached and rolled into a straw. In the Philippines numerous varieties of pandan hats are produced, varying in grade from the fine and expensive sabutan to the coa.r.s.e pandan. [11]

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. They are said to be excellent paper-making material. In some islands the fibers are separated from the leaf and used by the inhabitants in the manufacture of belts and ap.r.o.ns.

The wood of the tree pandans is too spongy and soft to make a good material for the construction of houses. Still, on small islands, such as the Coral and Marshall Islands, the natives construct their huts from pandan wood. Generally, it is used only for rough, temporary work. In some localities the soft interior part is removed to make water pipes. Again, because of its lightness, the wood is used by the people on the many islands of the Pacific to buoy their fishing nets.

Pandan roots are employed for various purposes. If sufficiently thin they are used, after being cleaned, for making baskets. The roots may also be pounded out, cleaned and made into brushes for painting or whitewashing houses. They are sometimes so employed in the Philippines. They are also used for cordage. A medicinal oil is sometimes obtained from them.

The flowers of some pandans, especially those of Panda.n.u.s tectorius, are extremely fragrant. This plant is the most widely distributed of the pandans and is the most frequent pandan found along the seacoast and in low alt.i.tudes. Some botanists claim that the male flowers of this species have the sweetest odor known among plants. So powerful is their fragrance that by it sailors can often tell the presence of land before they actually see it. The natives in some places use the flowers in making an aromatic water, or, by distillation, a volatile oil, known as keura oil, which is used medicinally for rheumatism.

Certain pandan fruit is extremely oily and serves at times as a subst.i.tute for b.u.t.ter. The sap has the taste of sweet apples and is relished by the inhabitants in many islands. In some places it is even made into fruit jam.