obtained for making the straw. Several workers sometimes have a patch
in common and the few weavers who do not own pandans themselves must
purchase. The leaves are sold on the tree, the purchaser cutting them
off with a bolo. The price is from 20 to 30 centavos per hundred,
depending upon their size, softness, thickness, and imperfections. The
longest, thinnest, darkest green leaves, with the fewest imperfections,
are considered the best and cost the most. In Cavinti, where the leaves
are imported from Luisiana and Majayjay, the price of the best leaves
is 50 centavos per hundred. The estimates of the number of leaves
yielded by a plant in a year differ considerably. By some it is stated
that on the average one leaf is produced per month; others report
that from three to five leaves are gathered in from three to six weeks.
The thorns are removed from the edges, and the midrib is cut away,
thus reducing the leaf into two halves, each of which is again
divided. These strips are placed in the sun for half a day. The
unique process in the preparation of this pandan straw is the rolling
which occurs at this point. While it is probable that any roller with
sufficient weight could be used, that employed in the pandan districts
of Laguna is the primitive "iluhan" by which sugar-cane and copra are
also crushed. It consists essentially of three heavy wooden horses, in
the grooves of which a log, heavily weighted with stones, rotates. The
pandan lengths are placed in one of the grooves underneath the log and
so rolled. The object of the process is to make the material thinner
and more pliable. Straw is stripped from the lengths thus prepared
by the use of the gauge. [20] The straw is then further dried in the
sunshine and is ready to be woven. Sometimes the lengths are stripped
before being rolled, hence the straw is left in the sunshine for
another half day and then placed under the log in the iluhan.
Mats are woven in Majayjay and Luisiana only, the weavers of
Cavinti devoting their entire time to the fabrication of hats. The
mats are woven of single straw, but they are fairly thick and not
at all limber. The number produced per week runs probably into the
thousands, of which about 75 per cent are made of coarse straw and are
intended for use in drying palay, copra, etc. These mats are known as
"bangkoan," a word having about the same significance as "bastos;"
that is, coarsely or poorly made. The finer and better made mats are
intended for use as sleeping mats and for the floor. They are decorated
with colored buri straw, usually in some shade of red produced by
mordanting with kolis leaves and boiling with sappan wood as explained
for buri straw. Occasionally, other colors are used, produced from
the imported coal-tar ("Chino") dyes, but in all cases the shades
produced are not very pleasing. The decorations are embroidered in,
and consist of simple borders in straight lines with an open center
design of somewhat the same pattern. When first woven, the mats are
usually of a dark green color. Before being sold, they are placed in
the sun, which changes them to a grayish color somewhat resembling
sabutan. After long use, however, the final shade is yellowish green.
There seems to be but little division of labor in the production of
these mats. Usually the whole family goes out into the patch and cuts
the leaves, removing the thorns before bringing them home. Only women
weave the mats. In Majayjay a few workers color their own buri straw
used in decorating the mats, but for the most part this material is
obtained from dyers, one a Chinese, the other a Filipino, who prepare
it for sale.
The weavers are independent of advances by brokers and sell their
product to Filipinos or to the representatives of Chinese merchants
in Pagsanjan and Manila. A few weavers take their mats to Lukban,
whence they are distributed over Tayabas Province, but many more are
gathered up by these brokers and sold in the market at Pagsanjan. The
mat market there usually occupies one whole sidewalk running the
length of the market building.
The pandan mats of Majayjay and Luisiana are notable for their strength
and durability, and are excellent for the floor or bath. In price they
range from P0.50 to P5.00. The usual price of the decorated mats is
P1.50. The demand continues brisk and prices have recently risen. The
weakest point in the mat at the present time is in the colored buri
straw used to decorate it, for this tears long before the pandan shows
signs of wear. If colored sabutan straw is substituted for the buri,
a much stronger and probably more pleasing article will result. [21]
Karagumoy. [22]
The pandan P. simplex, known as "karagumoy" or "carogumoy," is the
economic pandan of the Bicol peninsula in southern Luzon. It is usually
found growing in well drained soil under the shade of banana and abaca
plants and areca palms. It needs this protection because the leaves are
easily broken or ruined by hard winds. The leaves are generally longer
than those of sabutan (they are 2 meters to 3 1/2 meters in length)
and are but from 6 cm. to 10 cm. wide. They are very thick, being
practically as coarse as the leaves of P. utilissimus. They bear stout
spines on the midrib and along the margins, from two centimeters to
three centimeters apart. A fungus disease often attacks them, causing
dry hard patches, and not only spoiling the color but also making
the material so brittle that it breaks in the preparation of the straw.
The plant is propagated by means of suckers in patches seldom over a
half hectare in extent and often consisting of a few plants back of
the house. The suckers are set out in rows and are probably one year
old when the first leaves are taken, though the workers disagree on
this point. At a specified time, from eight to fifteen leaves are
cut from the plant each year; at other periods, two or three may be
taken from the same plants. Most of the leaves are harvested during
the rainy season. Karagumoy leaves have a commercial value in many
of the places in which the plant occurs. In Tabaco, Albay, women cut
the leaves and carry them in large bundles to the market, where they
are sold at prices usually varying from 8 to 12 centavos per hundred.
Throughout the Province of Albay mats are made from karagumoy, and in
some towns the industry is of considerable importance. For instance,
in the barrio of San Lorenzo in Tabaco, mats may be found in the making
in nearly every house. In Sorsogon, too, the industry is widespread
though not so important commercially. In Balusa the production is
large enough to supply the local demand and leave a surplus for export
to neighboring towns. In the Bicol provinces karagumoy is considered
the best of all straws for the production of mats. In price the mats
vary from thirty to ninety centavos, according to fineness.
In preparing the material, the spines and midrib are first removed
and the leaves are divided into four strips of about equal width. The
straw is prepared from these with the knife and gauge; it is dried
in the shade for a few hours and drawn several times over a piece of
bamboo as explained for sabutan in order to make it more supple and
smooth. The mats are woven in the early morning and at night, the straw
being more pliable then. Attempts have been made in the schools to
dye karagumoy but no success has yet been attained. The mats are plain.
Bariu.
The stem of this plant, P. copelandii, grows from 4 to 9 meters
high. The leaves have an average length of 2.1 meter and a width of
8 cm. [23] Spines occur along the entire margin. Near the base they
are comparatively coarse and from 3 to 4 mm. long. Towards the apex
of the margins and midveins, the spines are short and close together
like the teeth of a fine saw. From 3 to 5 heads generally form on the
fruit stalk, each of them from 7 to 12 cm. long and 5 to 7 cm. across,
at first pale yellowish in appearance but soon turning red. Their
drupes are 14 mm. long and 3 to 4 mm. in diameter. This pandan is
found in Cagayan, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, Samar, Bohol, Occidental
Negros, Capiz, Surigao, Davao, and other provinces. [24]
This pandan is not of economic importance in central and southern
Luzon. In the Bicol provinces it is used to some extent but it is
considered inferior to other materials. In parts of the Visayas,
such as Bohol, Capiz and Samar, it is utilized to a considerable
extent, but cannot be considered of commercial importance. It is the
economic pandan of Surigao, but even there its commercial importance
is local only.
Table showing comparative measurements of certain Philippine pandans.
P. Sabutan. P. P. P.
tectorius. utilissimus. simplex. copelandii.
Height of trunk 3 to 6 m 2 to 4 m 4 to 8 m 6 m 4 m.
Leaves:
Length 1.35 m 2 m 5 m 2 to 3.5 m 2.1 m.
Width 6 cm 6 cm 20 cm 6 to 10 cm 8 cm.
Thickness Medium Fine Thick Thick Medium.
Fruit:
Length 20 cm 60 cm 9 cm 7 to 12 cm.
Thickness 18 cm 20 cm 9 cm 5 to 7 cm.
Drupes--
Length 5.5 cm 7 to 8 cm 3 cm 14 mm.
Thickness 2.5 to 3 cm 2 cm 1 cm 3 to 4 mm.
Number in head 50 to 80 Many Many Many.
Pandans of Minor Utility.
The species P. radicans is reported as olango from Leyte, wañgo in
Bohol, owañgo in Surigao and uyagño in Sorsogon. It is usually found
growing along rivers and in marshes. The trunk reaches a height of
8 m. and its largest leaves may be 6 m. long and 12 cm. wide. There
are from 6 to 10 dark brick red fruits in a cluster. The fruit is 14
cm. long and 8 cm. wide and contains 100 or more drupes. Each drupe
is 2.5 cm. in length and 12 mm. in diameter. The leaves are made into
straw from which coarse mats are woven.
Taboan is the name given to Pandanus dubius in Surigao while in
Bohol it is known as bacong. It is a rare species. It is said to be a
heavy, clumsy appearing tree with stem about 8 m. high, wide spreading
branches near the top, and soft, pulpy and stringy wood. The flowers
are grouped into an inflorescence. The male inflorescence, about
60 cm. long and partly covered by creamy yellow bracts, is erect
and occurs at the end of the branches. The leaves are deep green in
color on both sides, with an average length of 2.25 cm. and a width
of 20 cm. The drupes of this pandan are from 8 cm. to 13 cm. long and
from 5 cm. to 8 cm. wide. The plant is utilized to a small extent in
making mats.
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. The male flowers
are borne in a fleshy, much-branched inflorescence from 20 to 30
cm. long. Each branch is partly surrounded by a broad thin bract,
8 cm. wide. Each individual flower has from 4 to 9 stamens. The whole
fruit is about 20 centimeters long and contains from 30 to 60 drupes,
yellowish red in color when ripe. Each drupe is from 3 to 4 cm. long,
2 to 2.5 cm. thick, and contains from 6 to 10 seeds. The straw from
this pandan is of inferior quality, though it is said to be used in
Bulacan for mats.
Unidentified Pandans.
Besides the pandans, the identity of which has been explained above,
there are several unidentified specimens or varieties from which mats
are made. It may be that some of these will be found identical with
those already discussed when sufficient botanical material has been
gathered to determine them.
In Isabela Province, a pandan known as "langu" having long, strong,
thin leaves, is made into mats in Santa Maria, Delena and Bolasi.
Mats are made along the coast of Cagayan Province, in the Ilocano
barrios of the towns of Claveria and Sanchez Mira, from a pandan
known as "pataga." These are very coarse and thick and have an
unusually shiny surface. According to Mr. Otto Harwood, the leaves
vary in length from 10 cm. to 35.5 cm. and in width from 7.5 cm. to
15 cm. The straw is made by cutting the leaf into strips and drying
them in the sun. Although the industry is yet small, it is developing.
A species of pandan is employed in the towns of Camalaniugan, Aparri,
Gataran, and Lal-loc in Cagayan Province for making mats. Locally
they are valued at from 40 to 50 centavos, but in Isabela Province
to which they are exported they sell for as high as a peso and a half.
The only municipality in Pangasinan province in which the making
of mats has reached provincial and interprovincial importance is
Bolinao. The species of pandan employed is not known. The mats are
shipped to towns along the seacoast of Ilocos and Zambales Province
by sailing vessels, and are sold in the local markets or to local
merchants.
In Mindoro the town of Subang makes pandan mats which are shipped to
Batangas, Cavite, and Manila.
Two pandans, called lingo and baring were sent to the General Office
of the Bureau of Education from Guindalman, Bohol. It was impossible
to identify them as no fruit was included. They probably represent
two new species. Lingo has a leaf 2.9 m. in length and of an almost
uniform width of 5.5 cm. At 80 cm. from the tip, it is 4.5 cm. wide,
then gradually becomes acuminate. The marginal spines are 2 mm. long,
curved forward, from 6 to 8 mm. apart near the stem, but closer
together at the distal one-third of the leaf. Spines of 1 mm. or
less in length and 4 mm. or less apart, curved forward and extending
throughout the length of the leaf, occur on the lower surface of the
midrib only. The surface of the leaf is smooth and shiny. The leaf
of baring is 72 cm. long, 2.8 cm. wide, apparently spineless, smooth
and fine in texture. Both of these pandans would probably yield good
industrial materials.
In Iloilo, the town of Banate has a pandan mat industry of
interprovincial importance, whose product is an article of commerce
as far as Negros. The mats sell at about 50 centavos each.
There is a large export of pandan mats from Dao, Antique, to the
province of Iloilo.
Pandan mats are exported from Cuyo Island in Palawan. Some are sent
to the mainland of Palawan and others to Antique.
The Moro pandan mats are the most richly colored of all those
produced in the Philippines. At this writing, information is not at
hand to determine the method of preparing the straw or the species
of pandan from which they are made. Mats which have been exhibited
at successive Philippine expositions have undoubtedly been dyed with
imported coloring matter. The designs are of the general effect of
the mat reproduced on page 84. The colors are often well combined
and the effect is very striking. The Cottabato mats are double;
the under portion is woven of thick, heavy, uncolored straw, and the
upper portion is of finer material; the two parts are spliced together.
Sedge Straws.
Kinds of Sedges.
Botanical.
The sedges which form the family of Cyperaceae are grass-like or
rush-like herbs, with solid, jointless, usually triangular stems,
while the grasses (Gramineae) are mostly herbs, usually with hollow
stems closed and enlarged at the nodes. The former play an important
part in the manufacture of mats because of their length and freedom
from nodes. The family includes several genera of importance; viz.,
Scirpus, Cyperus, and Fimbristylis.
Of these the Fimbristylis is the most important, for two species of
Fimbristylis have a fairly large commercial use; they are therefore
taken up separately.
Of the genus Scirpus, the species S. grossus, known as "balangot" in
Ambos Camarines and Capiz, "bagaas" in Occidental Negros, "tiquio"
in Rizal, and "bagui-bagui" in Capiz, and S. erectus, are used for
mats. S. grossus is not a very suitable material for industrial
purposes, its distinctly three-cornered stalk being too coarse
in texture and too large to permit of weaving even a fair grade
article. S. erectus is much better. The stalk is about as fine as
tikug and grows to a height of 60 cm. The flowers sometimes occur in
a solitary cluster, but more often from 2 to 5 clusters of spikelets
are found on the side of the stalk near its top. The plant is widely
distributed in the Philippines and inhabits open grass lands. It bears
some flowers throughout the year. As yet only coarse mats are made
from it, but its general appearance would warrant experiments along
the lines of the processes by which tikug is treated. The only native
names noted are "tayoc-tayoc" and "tikug" by which names the plant is
known in Occidental Negros. These names, however, are more properly
applied to other plants. Scirpus mucronatus is somewhat like S. erectus
in general appearance. The stem of S. mucronatus is more robust and
coarser in texture and attains a height of 80 cm. Its dried stem has
an average width of 4 to 5 mm., while that of S. erectus measures
from 2 to 3 mm. The flowers of S. mucronatus appear in a very dense
head on the side of the plant from 2 to 9 cm. from the top. Each head
is made up of from 5 to 20 spikelets. These spikelets are from 6 to
15 mm. long, while those of S. erectus are never more than 1 cm. in
length. The coarser stalk of S. mucronatus makes it a less desirable
mat material than S. erectus. In the Ilocos provinces a very coarse
round sedge called tiker (Scirpus lacustris) occurs. It may be of value
if split and dried in the sun so that it curls up into a round straw.
The genus Cyperus includes a number of economic plants, among them
the Chinese matting sedge. The species most used in the Philippines
is C. malaccensis. This plant has an underground stem which, as it
continues its growth, sends out new stalks. The plant lives for
a number of years and when fully grown is from 0.5 to 1.5 meters
high. The stem is stout and three-sided in shape. It has few or no
leaves, and when present the leaves are not more than 3 cm. long. From
2 to 5 leaf-like stems (bracts) not more than 20 cm. long occur under
the inflorescence. The spikelets which make up the inflorescence
are somewhat crowded together; they are very narrow, from 1 to 2
cm. long. The plant occurs in the Philippines in brackish swamps
and along tidal streams. It is also found in tropical Africa, Asia,
the islands of Polynesia, and Australia. It is usually in flower
from July to December. It was formerly made into mats and hats and
is even now utilized in rare instances in weaving them, but it is
most important as a material for slippers, and possibly for matting.
Of the 125 species of Fimbristylis found only in warm regions, two are
of economic importance in the Philippines, while one more might perhaps
be tried out as a mat material. All the species of Fimbristylis have
tufted, fibrous or woody stems. The leaves occur near the base. The
inflorescence consists of a great number of flowers grouped closely
together to form one or more spikelets. The spikelets themselves may
be either solitary or clustered. The individual flowers are covered
by glumes and are arranged spirally on the axis. As the fruit matures,
the glumes of the flowers become the "chaff" of the grain.
Tikug.
This sedge (Fimbristylis utilis) grows usually more than a meter
long and has tufted stems which are shiny and smooth in appearance
and average about 4 mm. in diameter. The stems may have long leaves
at the base or may be entirely leafless, and are usually four- or
five-sided immediately under the inflorescence. The general appearance
of the stalk is round. The plant has few or no underground root-like
stems. The flowers are densely clustered together to form spikelets,
dusky brown in color, measuring 6 mm. by 3 mm. In the Visayas it is
generally known as tikug. In Agusan and Surigao it is called "anahiwan"
and in Bukidnon "sudsud". Sometimes it is called tayoc-tayoc in
confusion with the smaller sedge more properly known by that name,
which much resembles tikug. A specimen from Pampanga was labeled
"muta".
Tikug grows in greatest profusion and reaches its highest economic
importance in parts of Mindanao, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar. To a less
degree, it is found and utilized on Negros and Panay. While it is
found in Cebu, it is not used there. As a recognized industrial
plant, therefore, its distribution is confined to the Visayas and
Mindanao. Its appearance in Pampanga would indicate that it may be
found in other regions in which its value in hand-weaving and in the
making of matting is not understood. [25]
Tikug is utilized in making hats, mats, matting, slippers and various
minor articles.
Samar Mats.
Gathering the Straw.
The best known tikug mats are produced on the Island of Samar,
where the sedge grows wild. [26] It has never been cultivated
there. Different grades are recognized in the height and width of the
straw. The finest is 1 1/2 mm. in diameter while the largest straws
are fully four times that width. Full grown stalks sometimes reach 3
meters in height, but the average is 1 1/2 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; but as the
straw cannot be split into finer pieces, it is only from the narrower
material that the fine mats are made. The map on the distribution of
tikug shows the regions in Samar in which this sedge occurs. [27]
Bleaching.
In some parts of Samar rough mats are made from tikug dried in the
shade. In Basey and Sulat bleached straw is used. In the bleaching
process only the sun is used, the bundles being spread out where
there is neither grass nor shade. The straw must be kept perfectly
dry at all times, for if it becomes wet or damp it will mildew and
turn an unsightly black or brown. In the morning it must not be put
out until the ground is dry and in the evening it should be taken in
before dew is formed upon it. The best results are obtained by drying
the material in a place where there is no grass, as the turf generally
holds considerable moisture and retards the process. With proper care
clean white straw can be obtained in about one week under the most
favorable conditions. Sometimes, but not often, the above process
is preceded by boiling the straw for ten or twenty minutes in plain
water. Several bleaching experiments have already been made with tikug,
but as yet none has been entirely successful. In one experiment straw
was boiled in alum, but the resultant material was not so white as
that obtained by simply drying it in the sun. Boiling green tikug in
water containing acetic acid from the juice of limes and lemons was
unsatisfactory. The best straw obtained was that produced by simply
boiling the green stalk for a few minutes in water and rinsing it
well and then drying in the sunshine for several days.
The straws are of different lengths and diameters; after bleaching
they must be sorted. The seed clusters are removed and the bunches
are tied in a big bundle which is laid on the floor with root toward
the worker. The longer straws of small diameter are then pulled out
and placed in small bundles, the process continuing until the several
different grades are thus separated and nothing remains but a few short
thick straws which are kept for embroidering designs. Each bundle
is then trimmed by cutting off the roots and ragged tops and the
straw is ready for storing, dyeing, or flattening. If tikug remains
in a damp place it will mold and become worthless. It is easily kept
during the dry season, if frequently exposed to the sun. During the
rainy season it should be wrapped in a blanket or cloth.
Dyeing.
Very few uncolored straws are used in Samar mats. The dyed material
is more durable and does not mildew as readily as the uncolored
straws. Tikug dyes easily and this is probably one of the reasons why
the mats of Samar have so much color. 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. A common mat containing 15 centavos worth of dyestuff
sells for about a peso. [28]