Philippine Mats Part 6

The very young leaves, especially those surrounding the flowers, are eaten raw or cooked, and const.i.tute an important article of diet when a famine sweeps India.

Kinds of Pandans.

The Common Seash.o.r.e Pandan.

In a walk of half a mile or, at most, a mile along the beach of any of the seacoast provinces in the Philippines, one is almost sure to come across Panda.n.u.s tectorius. A map showing the distribution of this pandan would therefore be practically an outline map of the Islands. The species does not grow in nipa swamps, though immediately back of them it will be found well established. Neither could one expect to find it in localities where the cliffs come down abruptly to the sea, permitting only the existence of vegetable life of the lowest form.

Pandan is its usual name in the Philippines. In Zambales it is called "panglan" or "panglan babai." Another name is "pangdan."

The stem is not very strong, and reaches a height of from 3 to 6 meters. It is generally supported by aerial roots. The leaves are of medium thickness, on the average 1.35 m. long and 6 cm. wide. They are provided with strong sharp spines about 5 mm. in length. These are curved forward and are as much as one centimeter, or a little more, apart. The spines on the under surface of the midrib are shorter and farther apart, but bend in the same direction. The male flowers form a spike and these are surrounded by very fragrant leaves called spathes. The fruit is 20 cm. long, 18 cm. wide, and contains from 50 to 80 drupes, each about 5.5 cm. long and 2.5 to 3 cm. wide. The upper half of the drupes are free but close together. There are small furrows on the tops of the drupes, rather deep but not very distinct. When ripe the fruit has a fine red color and the drupes fall from the head.

Panda.n.u.s tectorius is of considerable importance in nearly all parts of the world where it grows, and it is devoted to most of the uses already noted for pandans in general. In certain places, large industries are founded on it. In India, the leaves are cut every second year and made into large bags. Hats are produced from it in the Pacific Islands, those from the Hawaiian group being especially well known. It is probable that the imitation Panama hats of the Loochoo Islands are also woven from a material (raffia) prepared from the common pandan. In the Marshall Islands it is recorded that forty varieties of this species have been evolved in the course of planting and cultivation for industrial purposes.

From the information submitted with the specimens received in the Bureau of Education, it is to be judged that the economic importance of the common pandan in the Philippines is of but little consequence. Though widely used, no large or even local industries are based upon it. A scattering production of hats, mats, and bags is reported in Abra, Union, Zambales, Mindoro, Bulacan, Rizal, Batangas, Sorsogon, Iloilo, Antique, Oriental Negros, Cebu, Leyte, and Sorsogon provinces. Near Badoc, Ilocos Norte, and along the Abra border the Tinguian people make mats from an upland variety for local trade. In Balayan, Batangas, the leaves are used for thatching. In Surigao they are also made into baskets. In most processes the preparation of the straw consists of cutting the leaves into strips and drying them. In Zambales, however, it is reported that the leaves are flattened, pressed, split, and rolled. In Mindoro, they are soaked in water and dried in the sun before being cut into straw. It is probable that much better material could be prepared from this pandan if such processes as are used in the making of sabutan straw and straw from the Majayjay pandan were followed.

Judging from the results obtained in other countries, it would seem that if suckers of the common pandan were taken, in the districts in which it grows, planted, and cultivated, varieties would result which would be much better adapted for industrial purposes than the parent stock. 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.

Varieties of the Common Pandan.

Sabutan.

Botanical.--It is a question among botanists whether the pandan known as sabutan is a variety of the common sea-sh.o.r.e pandan (P. tectorius) or whether it has sufficient distinctive characteristics to ent.i.tle it to be considered as a separate species (P. sabotan). Botanists have not as yet succeeded in securing a fruit of this pandan, which could settle the question, and it is very doubtful whether the fruit will ever be found. [12] Prof. Ugolino Martelli of Florence, Italy, an authority on pandans, considers sabutan to be Panda.n.u.s tectorius var. sinensis. This cla.s.sification is for the present accepted, as most evidence is in favor of such determination and in this paper sabutan is therefore considered to be a variety of the common pandan, the chief change in which, through generations of planting, has been in the production of a leaf stronger, thinner, and of finer texture than that of the parent stock.

The sabutan plant is never found growing wild, though after it has once been started and rooted it will endure neglect and even abandonment. It produces better and finer leaves, however, if it receives some care and attention. In the towns of Tanay and Pililla, Rizal Province, and in Mabitac, Laguna Province, and in all the towns along the lake sh.o.r.e 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. Ordinarily, good results are obtained by planting the suckers of sabutan in a loose and moist, but well drained, soil. Plants are set out one meter apart in each direction, as they spread considerably. They need some shade, especially when young, but not the heavy shade of an abaca or banana grove.

The plant grows to be from 2 to 4 meters high. The leaves are fine in texture, about 2 meters long and as wide as 6 centimeters. Spines occur on the margins and on the under surface of the midrib. The male inflorescence procured from Tanay by the Bureau of Education is similar in appearance to that of Panda.n.u.s tectorius and is about 27 centimeters long. At varying distances on the flower stalk are leaves (bracts), thin and fine, from 10 to 24 centimeters long and with fine spines on margins and midrib. The flowers have a pleasant, though not very strong, odor.

Status of the sabutan mat industry.--As an industry, the weaving of sabutan mats is confined to the towns of Tanay and Pililla, in the Province of Rizal. The beginnings of this industry go back beyond the memory of the oldest inhabitants or even of their parents. It is probable that, as the people state, mat weaving has been carried on ever since the towns were founded. Tanay is the older of the two and it would seem (though reliable historical data of this kind are difficult to obtain) that the town was the first to engage in sabutan mat weaving and is probably the mother of all the sabutan industries carried on around Laguna de Bay.

The present condition of the mat-weaving industry of these two towns, however, is precarious; it appears to be gradually dying out. The fabrication of sabutan hats has been introduced from Mabitac, Laguna Province, into Pililla, with the result that the younger generation is entirely engaged in making hats, and the relatively small number of mats produced is being woven by the older women who have not cared to learn the new art. As yet no hats are made in Tanay, but the work is being taught in the schools and from conversation with people of the town it is judged that they are becoming interested also.

The disappearance of the sabutan mat industry would be very unfortunate, for the products are the finest samples of the mat weaver's art produced in the Philippines. The mats are of fine straw; the natural gray of sabutan is pleasing; the designs used are good; and the colors are usually well combined. The favorite patterns consist of heavy plaids with some of the stripes containing sub-patterns produced by floating straws; the simplest ones have narrow border designs in straight lines. The most expensive mats are decorated with embroidered designs. The combination of colors in these is sometimes not pleasing and the designs themselves are not of special merit. However, if better ones are subst.i.tuted, these mats should be excellent for a foreign trade demanding expensive articles of this nature. Unlike most Philippine mat industries, this one has not as yet been affected by coal tar dyes, and only vegetable dyes, found locally in the town or in the forests, are employed. The straw dyes very well and as a consequence the colors produced are even throughout the mat; nor have any of the shades that brilliant effect or "off color"

which is so distasteful in certain fibers. The colors obtained are only fairly fast in the light, however, and it is probable that the new coal tar dyes will be faster and cheaper. In point of durability, sabutan mats would be superior to all others produced in the Islands if woven of double straws. In price they now vary from forty centavos to thirty pesos, the ordinary ones bringing from P1.50 to P2.50.

If the industry is to be preserved intact, however, something must be done to give it vitality, for the weavers know from experience of neighboring towns that more money can be made from weaving hats than in the fabrication of mats, and they will naturally change to the more remunerative article. Unlike most other weaving industries, the craft has not as yet been organized in Tanay. The production of mats has been more or less haphazard, with but little supervision by any person resembling the broker usually connected with household industries. The weaver on completing a mat sells it in the market or to some storekeeper. Up to the present time, the chief trade in these mats has been at Antipolo in May during the "romeria" or annual pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo. Certain persons in Tanay have made it a practice to gather up a store of mats and take them to Antipolo for sale there during the fiesta. A few of them are on sale in Manila and in neighboring provinces. Of late, however, persons have appeared who are taking up the industry more thoroughly as brokers and it is to be hoped that the workers will be organized into some better system for production than now exists. There is a large opportunity not only for supervision but also for division of labor. At present the men of the house cut the leaves, and each weaver (all the weavers are women) carries out the rest of the process. There would be a considerable saving of time if certain persons devoted themselves to the preparation of the gray straw, and the dyeing were left entirely to certain other workers. In this way the weavers of the mats would be engaged only in the actual fabrication of the article and much time would be saved to them. [13]

Planting, maturing, and yield of sabutan.--The plants from which the straw mats at Tanay are made are set out in plots near the houses of the workers. The suckers are planted in April at the beginning of the rainy season, and, while it is always stated that straw prepared from the leaves grown in the shade is best for weaving, yet the plants are never intentionally set out in the shade but are planted wherever an unoccupied plot of ground is obtainable. As a matter of fact, the patches to be seen in the sabutan towns grow in a semi-shade such as one would expect to find in yards where the usual ornamental and fruit trees and banana plants grow. 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 year [14] 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 sh.o.r.e. It is probable that the plants differ in their production of leaves because some have many more branches than others and the climatic and soil conditions affect the yield.

Preparation of the straw.--The best straw is prepared during the dry season, because at this time there is sufficient sunshine to produce a good colored material. As a consequence the workers prepare a large quant.i.ty at that season and store it in or under their houses, wrapped in mats.

The leaves used are about 2 meters in length and 6 cm. in width. The central thorns on the back of the leaves are removed by cutting away the midrib. Two lengths about an inch in width are thus produced from which the outer rows of thorns may or may not be removed, according to custom. The lengths thus obtained are left in the sunshine and wind for about half a day to render them more flexible, after which they are cut into straws. For this purpose there is used an instrument consisting of a narrow wooden handle about 2 1/2 cm. wide at the base, into which narrow sharp teeth, usually of steel, are set. Bra.s.s and even hard woods can be used for teeth. The point of the segment being cut off, the base is grasped in one hand, the inside of the segment being turned toward the operator. The comb-like instrument is forced into it about 4 cm. from the end of the base and the teeth are held against the first finger by pressure of the thumb. The leaf length is then drawn up by the other hand and is cut into straws depending in width upon the fineness of the comb used. If the leaves are too young they will break in this process. The stripped segments are then usually tied up into bundles as large around as the fist, and hung in some shaded place exposed to the wind. The length of time occupied by this process varies. In some places it is omitted, though it seems to be always carried out in Tanay. The bundles are then undone and the worker, holding the uncut base of each length in one hand, runs the straw between his fingers and the sharp edged ruler-like piece of bamboo held in the other. This is done several times and results in the removal of considerable moisture, the prevention of wrinkling, and greater pliability of the straw.

There are several variations in the processes followed for boiling sabutan. In the Province of Laguna a fistful of the stripped lengths with bases still attached are rolled up into a bundle and placed in fresh water in order to remove the coloring matter--in some places in clear, running river water, in other places in a can of clean, fresh water--for about twenty-four hours; the water is changed several times. In the last method the process is discontinued when the water remains clear. Bundles are then placed in cold vinegar, water or lemon water to which green tamarind fruit has been added to make the color of the straw lighter and to toughen it; the water is brought to a boil. Bamboo is used as fuel, as that fire is not so hot as a wood fire. The length of time required for cooking differs. One good authority states that it should be stopped when the odor of sabutan can no longer be detected in the vapor, which occurs after about fifteen minutes boiling. This authority also states that the straw should be removed when it takes on a reddish hue. Many women put the straw into clear boiling water to which nothing has been added. After this process the straw is allowed to cool, is washed several times in clean, fresh water and is spread in the sun to dry, whereupon it a.s.sumes a gray color. If there is no sun the cool straw must be kept in fresh water which is changed every twelve hours until the sun appears. If a greenish shade is obtained the process has not been correctly carried out. Straw from dark green, thick, old leaves, or from those grown in the sun, is often reddish brown in color.

The boiling processes noted are those used in the preparation of straw for mats. The process followed in Tanay has been described by Mr. Amado Simpoco, princ.i.p.al of the Tanay Central School. The stripped lengths, after being wilted and drawn over the sharp edged piece of bamboo, are made up into fist bundles, tied at the middle and placed in a large copper pot 61 cm. in diameter and 84 cm. in depth and containing about 25 bundles. The pot is filled with water and the sabutan is boiled for 24 hours, care being taken that the straw is always covered. After boiling, the bundles are removed and untied and the strips are hung in the shade or in the house to cool; afterwards they are placed in the river for a day and are then washed carefully and dried thoroughly in the sun. The gray straw thus obtained is stored in bundles, still attached to the uncut bases, and is left in the air for three or four nights before it is woven into mats.

Dyeing sabutan.--Mr. Simpoco has also made a careful study of the methods used in Tanay in dyeing sabutan straw, and the results of his efforts are presented here.

Red orange: For the production of red orange straw the gray material, prepared as outlined above, is first treated by steeping in water containing kolis leaves and twigs. The leaves and chopped twigs are pounded in a mortar and are placed together with the sabutan in a large receptacle capable of containing from 25 to 30 bundles, filled with water. The material is allowed to remain in the receptacle for four days. Early in the morning of the fifth day the straw is removed and hung in a shaded place until dry and is made up into bundles tied tightly at the larger end.

The dye fluid is carefully prepared. Chips of sappan are boiled in a large copper pot for one day. A quant.i.ty of turmeric roots and annatto seeds are pounded separately in mortars until they are reduced to a very fine state. These are then separately treated with water and pressed, the result being a turmeric water and an annatto water. These two are mixed and poured into the boiling sappan. After about 25 minutes the bundles of sabutan are placed in the pot and the whole is allowed to boil until every part of the fiber is uniformly colored. After having been boiled sufficiently, the bundles are removed and placed in a large basket, later to be dried in the shade. They are left in the night air for three or four nights and are then rolled up in coa.r.s.e mats. The shades procured vary with the proportions of the dye materials used. Some are a decided orange, others are light yellow.

Yellow: Yellow straw is produced in the same manner, using turmeric and annatto only.

Red: In the production of red straw the bundles are treated with kolis leaves in the same manner as in the preliminary process for red-orange straw. In a pot capable of holding 25 fist bundles of sabutan, four gantas [15] of finely chopped sappan are placed. Over this are placed 15 bundles of the straw, which in turn is covered with one ganta of chopped sappan. The remaining 10 bundles are then added and covered with still another ganta of sappan. The pot is filled with water and set over a fire for from twelve to fifteen hours. Care is taken that the bundles are always kept under the water and that all parts of the material are uniformly colored. The loss by evaporation is counterbalanced by adding water from time to time. When well colored, the straw is removed from the pot and placed in a large basket for a day and is then hung in the sunshine to be dried. It should be allowed to remain in the night air; when thoroughly dried it is rolled in coa.r.s.e mats.

Black: Black straw, a warm dark gray, is prepared from the red material. Buds of bananas, leaves of kabling, talisay, camagon, and the castor plant are pounded in a mortar and are mixed with fine particles of black clay such as can be obtained from rice paddies. Sappan water, made by boiling sappan chips, is then added to the mixture and the entire ma.s.s is placed in a large receptacle for a day. Red straw is put into this mixture and allowed to remain for two days. It is removed on the third day and again returned to the mixture on the fourth day. On the fifth day the straw is finally removed and placed in the sun, being kept in the air at night.

Coal tar dyes are used in the production of green and purple straws. These are purchased from the Chinese stores. The prepared gray fiber is also employed with these dyes. The usual method of boiling in a tin can until the desired shade is obtained, is followed. The straw is dried in the sun and kept in the night air. Colors produced are not so uniform or so satisfactory as the others described and are seldom used.

Weaving the mats.--Before weaving the mat the worker runs the straw over the ruler-like piece of bamboo as already explained, and removes the uncut base to which it has been attached during the various processes of preparation, bleaching, and dyeing. One side of the mat is first woven the entire length, and is finished by having the edges turned in. This edge is then placed in a slit made in a narrow stick of wood and is tied in place with strips of sabutan straw running around the stick and through the mat. The mat is allowed to remain attached to this stick until it has been completely woven. As weaving proceeds, the finished part is rolled up on the stick, thus being out of the way of the weaver. This arrangement also serves to keep the mat in position during weaving and prevents it from getting out of shape. Single straws are used and consequently the mat has a right and a wrong side. [16] The most expensive mats, which are seldom made, are double and of very fine material.

The extension and cultivation of sabutan.--For a number of years there has been an increasing interest throughout the Philippines in the propagation of sabutan. Teachers in various places have procured suckers from the towns along the east coast of Laguna de Bay, and have planted them out with the idea of having their own industrial material close at hand. Many of these attempts have been failures, since not enough information had been obtained concerning the soil and moisture conditions necessary for the cultivation of the plant. The Bureau of Education has therefore gathered as much information as possible on the cultivation of sabutan, based upon the experience of various persons who have attempted planting it.

It has been found that, in those regions having a dry season, the suckers should be planted early in the rainy season so that they may become well rooted before the rains stop, or else water should be provided through irrigation ditches. In nearly all cases it has been reported that the loss of plants resulted from lack of water at the planting period.

It is reported that difficulty is found in making the suckers live if planted in the sun, but that, when well established, those so planted grow and produce suckers better. As has been previously noted, no special attempt is made to set the plants out in either the sun or shade in the towns around Laguna de Bay, but all weavers state that leaves grown in the shade are the best for industrial purposes.

Sabutan plants need a moist but well drained soil. They should be set out about a meter apart each way (that is, the rows one meter apart and plants one meter apart in the row), since they spread out considerably when they become older. Where sufficient moisture does not exist, irrigation should be provided. If it is decided to shade the suckers, plants such as the papaya, having long roots rather than surface roots, are best. No sabutan plants should be planted within 6 feet of the papaya.

It is probable that with cultivation the plants will yield leaves suitable for straw in from one and one-half to two years, the time to mature depending upon the conditions noted in the preceding paragraphs. [17]

Sabutan types.--In several places in the Philippines there are pandans which yield leaves similar to those of sabutan. It is probable that none of these are the true sabutan. The most important one is that growing along the northeastern sh.o.r.e of Tayabas Province. Mats are made at both Casiguran and Baler, and enter to a small extent, the interprovincial trade with neighboring provinces. It is stated, however, that these regions abound in the species of pandan from which the mats are made. Sabutan type mats are also reported made at Palanan in Isabela Province, and a trade is carried on in them with neighboring towns.

Other pandans reported under the name of sabutan and resembling it more or less have no commercial importance.

Sarakat.

Sarakat is a distinctive pandan of the Bangui Peninsula of Ilocos Norte. The climate of this region differs from the rest of Ilocos Norte in that it has rainfall practically throughout the year, receiving as it does the benefit of the northeast monsoon which is cut off from the country to the south. It has not as yet been determined whether sarakat is to be described as a new variety of P. tectorius or is to be designated as an entirely new species.

From mats submitted to this office, it is to be judged that sarakat straw is as fine as sabutan. In fact, the material is so thin that even though the mats are woven of double straws they are no thicker, and are a good deal more pliable than all other commercial pandan mats, sabutan excepted, produced in the Philippines. The upper surface of pandan straw is glossy, and the under surface is rough. In making the double straw, the two rough surfaces are placed together so as to expose both glossy ones. Hence, unlike the sabutan, both sides of sarakat mats are similar in appearance. The material, however, is not so strong as sabutan. [18]

The mats are not decorated either by weaving in colored straws or by embroidered or border designs. In price they vary from about P1 to P2.

Mr. Petronilo Castro, formerly Supervising Teacher of Bangui, has stated that that town supplies most of the mats used by the people of Ilocos Norte. Some buri mats and a few "pandan" mats (probably from the common seash.o.r.e variety) are made. The sarakat mats exceed those of pandan in numbers and in commercial importance and are more beautiful and stronger. The demand for the mats is great and many people are engaged exclusively in their fabrication.

The Pandan of Majayjay. [19]