STRAW MANUFACTURES. Straw forms the raw
material of some not unimportant industries. It serves for
the thatching of roofs, for a paper-making material, for
ornamenting small surfaces as a “straw mosaic,” for plaiting
into door and table mats, mattresses, &c., and for weaving
and plaiting into light baskets, artificial flowers, &c. These
applications, however, are insignificant in comparison with
the 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 head-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 “pipe” between the knots, must possess a clear delicate golden colour, and must not be brittle. The most valuable straw for plaits is grown in Tuscany, and from it the well-known Tuscan plaits and 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, Santa Fioro, only “Tuscan pedals” and braids are plaited. The wheat-seed for these straws is sown very thickly on comparatively elevated and arid land, and it sends up long attenuated stalks. When the grain in the ear is about half developed the straw is pulled up by the roots, dried in the sun, and subsequently spread out for several successive days to be bleached under the influence of alternate sunlight and night-dews. The pipe of the upper joint alone is selected for plaiting, the remainder of the straw being used for other purposes. These pipes are made up in small bundles, bleached in sulphur fumes in a closed chest, assorted into sizes, and so prepared for the plaiters. Straw plaiting is a domestic industry among the women and young children of Tuscany and some parts of Emilia. Tuscan plaits and hats vary enormously in quality and value; the plait of a hat of good quality may represent the 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 hours' labour daily. The exports of plaits and manufactured hats from Leghorn average in value £480,000 annually, about one half of the goods going to America.
The districts around Luton in Bedfordshire and the
neighbouring counties have, since the beginning of the
17th century, been the British home of the straw-plait
industry. The straw of certain varieties of wheat cultivated
in that region is, in favourable seasons, possessed of
a fine bright colour and due tenacity and strength. The
straw is cut as in 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 joints are taken for plaiting. The pipes are
assorted into sizes by passing them through graduated
openings in a grilled wire 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 damp state, either into
whole straw or split straw plaits. Split straws are
prepared with the aid of a small instrument having a projecting
point which enters the straw pipe, and from which
radiate the number of knife-edged cutters into which the
straw is to be split. The plaiting of straw in the Luton
district formerly gave employment to many thousands of
women and young children; but now vast quantities of
plaits are imported at a very cheap rate from Canton in
China. The result is that, while the Luton trade is
extending, the number of persons it there gives occupation
is greatly diminished. In 1871 about 50,000 persons
were employed in the straw industry, and in 1881 the
number was only about 31,000. The plaits are sewed
partly by hand and in a special sewing-machine, and the
hats or bonnets are finished by stiffening with gelatin
size, and blocking into shape with the aid of heat and
powerful pressure, according to the dictates of fashion. The annual output of the straw-plait industry in England is estimated to amount in value to about £4,000,000.