of shades and tints than those produced by any other workers in the
Philippines on tikug or any other mat material. The shades and tints
depend upon two considerations: (1) The amount of dyestuffs used and
(2) the length of time the boiling process is continued. Four dyestuffs
are used. Yellows are obtained from turmeric; greens and reds are
obtained from coal-tar dyes; and a red-orange from deora. The leaves
of the latter plant are crushed and the pulpy mass thus obtained is
boiled to yield the dye fluid. By combining these four dye materials
in different proportions, by using varying amounts of the material,
and by boiling varying lengths of time, different colors, shades and
tints are obtained.
The method of dyeing is as follows: The bunches of tikug are coiled
and placed in a can of hot dye, where they are boiled from two to
ten minutes, or until the desired intensity has been secured. The
more the straw is boiled, the more nearly permanent will be the
color and the greater will be its intensity. Care must be taken to
see that the dye fluid is not too strong; otherwise the color will
be too intense. In order that the material may be evenly colored,
the tikug is submerged in the dye so that it is well covered and is
turned over several times during the process. After the coils are
removed they should be laid upon the ground or floor, allowed to cool,
and then hung in the shade to dry.
Flattening.
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. The workers employ the usual blunt-edged,
ruler-like piece of wood; between this and the thumb the straw is
drawn by the free hand. This process flattens the straw and makes it
pliable so that it does not split during weaving.
The Weaving of Samar Mats.
Up to three years ago tikug was but little used in Samar except for
weaving mats. Commercially, mat weaving was confined to Sulat and
Basey. Since the American occupation it has been widely done and
the work has been introduced into most of the schools. Not only have
methods been greatly improved but new uses have been found for the
material. To-day the sedge is woven into floor and wall mats, hats,
table mats, slippers, book-bags, hand-bags, necktie cases, pencil
holders, pencil cases, and pillow and cushion covers. Recently the
weaving of matting on looms has been undertaken in the schools and a
fine product, similar to the matting of Japan, has been produced on
the ordinary loom adjusted to the straw.
The chief use of tikug in Samar is in the weaving of mats in the towns
of Basey and Sulat. Since time immemorial tikug mats have been woven in
Samar. At Palapag, Oras, Dolores, Taft, Balangiga, Santa Rita, Gandara,
Oquendo, and Catarman, a few rough ones, the product of unskilled
workmen, were made, but they were of no commercial importance, since
the people did not weave enough to supply their own demand. As far
back as can now be traced, the people of Basey and Sulat have been
making mats for the provincial and interprovincial trade. Since 1907
the people of Dolores, Oras, Santa Rita, and Balangiga have improved
in weaving and are now producing a few mats for the market. Their work
is much inferior to that of Basey and Sulat. 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
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.
Several years ago, when American soldiers were stationed in the
vicinity of the town, there grew up a great demand for mats, and the
weavers, taking advantage of their need and their little knowledge of
values in the Philippines, demanded exorbitant prices and received
them. Most of the Basey people spent their time producing mats,
and to a great extent sacrificed quality for quantity. The grade
of mat that sold for P18 several years ago can now be bought for
about P8; that which sold for P3 two years ago can be bought to-day
for P2. Lately there has been a rise in price owing to increased
commercial demand. Mats made to order, particularly special mats, cost
more than those bought already woven, the price depending upon the
size of the article, the character of the design, and the fineness of
the straw and the weave. A mat two meters by one meter, made of the
finest grade of tikug, would require several months for completion
and would probably cost between P30 and P40. There is hardly a limit
to the size of the mat which can be woven. Three years ago one having
dimensions of 10 meters by 12 meters was made for a church, as many
as 30 women working on it at the same time.
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 P0.80 to P3 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 P0.50 to P2 each and are generally sold to girls who
are skillful in embroidering designs. These girls decorate the mats
and sell them for from P2.50 to P6 each, the price depending upon the
original cost of the mat and the amount of decoration put upon it. The
ideas for the designs on Basey mats are usually obtained from pictures
or textiles. The straws, both bleached and dyed, are split in two
for embroidering purposes. This makes them thinner and more pliable.
The time necessary for making a plaid mat sold for two pesos was
found to be as follows, an eight-hour day being used as the basis of
a day's work:
Days.
Gathering tikug 1.00
Dyeing tikug .25
Flattening tikug .25
Weaving mat 3.50
----
Total time 5.00
The selling price of the mat was one peso, the cost of the dye 15
centavos, which left the weaver a balance of 85 centavos for five days'
labor. The plaids used in Basey mats are simple, but the embroidered
designs are extremely intricate. They consist for the most part of
foliage, flowers, and animals. Weavers are often given a contract to
make a stated number of mats in accordance with a design furnished
them. A few are capable of reproducing almost any pattern presented,
[29] but if they are not told exactly what colors to use they employ
every shade, color and tint they can secure. The Basey mats are
distinguished by the multitude of colors used. In general it may be
stated that the chief criticism of this product is the gaudy effect
produced by the colors used. In some cases the colors are well toned
and harmoniously combined, but the majority of the mats produced
contain vivid colors which are not all harmonious. Through the schools,
efforts have been made to reduce the number of colors and to modify the
gaudy and complicated floral designs. An improvement is seen each year.
The ordinary mat is usually about 2 meters by 1 1/2 meters, though
smaller and larger ones are made. During the past three years
the weavers have been encouraged to make mats about the size of an
ordinary cot and to use no more than two colors in weaving them. A
few mats suitable for placing under dining tables are also made.
Sulat weavers produce fewer mats than those of Basey but make them of
fine, closely woven straw. Most of the mats with a woven-on border
come from Sulat. These people, while able to produce a fine, soft,
pliable mat, can not embroider decorations on them nearly so well as
do the people of Basey.
Samar mats wear well. Wall mats last indefinitely and sleeping mats
are used from two to ten years or more. [30]
The Marketing of Basey Mats.
The port of Tacloban, Leyte, due to its proximity to Basey, is the
chief center for the distribution of Samar mats. As soon as the mats
are completed the weavers take them across the straits to Tacloban,
where they are sold to Chinese brokers, transients and residents,
both American and native. Few ships leave Tacloban that do not carry
away from 5 to 20 mats; often they take away as many as 50, the amount
generally depending upon the number of passengers aboard the boat. Some
of the ship's employees are regular customers of the weavers and buy
mats at stated prices to sell them again at a reasonable profit at
Manila and other ports of call. Besides, there is quite a sale of mats
in the towns of Samar, Leyte, and Cebu through vendors, residents of
Basey, who secure the mats in their home town at low prices and sell
them at a profit. These persons usually deal only in the mats, and sell
them for cash, not trading for other articles. Plaid Basey mats are
on sale in nearly all the Chinese general merchandise stores of Manila.
As yet there is little supervision by brokers in Basey. The
mat industry there needs but the introduction of some system of
supervision by brokers to regulate the size, quality, design and
color scheme of the mats, and a foreign market to become a much more
extended industry. The schools have already done much toward improving
workmanship and design; it must remain for individual enterprise,
however, to get in touch with foreign demand and supervise the weaving
of mats to suit it. [31]
Bohol Mats. [32]
Tikug mats are made in large numbers in Bohol. The straw for the most
part is finer than that used in Samar and the patterns are chiefly
stripes and checks. Very little embroidering is attempted.
Bohol mats are used principally for sleeping purposes. In northern
Bohol there is scarcely a family that has not three or more large
mats, which are rolled up and laid away during the day time and are
unrolled upon the floor at night for a bed. They are durable and
last for years. Large sleeping mats may be purchased in quantities
as high as 40 to 100 during the Sunday market day in Talibon or on
the Saturday market day in Ypil, a barrio of the same town. In price
they range from one to three pesos each.
The second use of Bohol mats is for decorating walls, tables, and
floors. Those so employed are smaller than the sleeping mats, usually
square, but sometimes round. More care is exercised in their weaving
and only fine young straws are used. The preparation of the straw
and the dyeing are done with great care. Mats of the best quality
are quite difficult to secure and the schools have recently been
encouraging their production.
As in other regions, the tikug from which Bohol mats are made, grows
wild in the rice fields after the harvest. It is found in abundance
in northern Bohol in the municipalities of Getafe, Talibon and Ubay,
and sparingly in other towns of the island (see map). The straws
are gathered from the field by pulling them, thus breaking them off
at the roots, and they are tied into bundles about 3 decimeters
in circumference and sold in the market. The largest market for
such bundles is found in the barrio of Ypil in the municipality of
Talibon. The price is usually about 10 centavos per bundle. From two
to four of these bundles are required to make a mat.
The tikug is not kept in the original bundles longer than one or
two days, for it will turn black. The material is usually separated
into two parts, one to be dyed, the other to be bleached. That to be
dyed is spread in the sun and thoroughly dried for one or two days,
care being taken that rain does not fall upon it and blacken it. The
other part is boiled in a solution of acetic acid for twenty minutes,
after which it is thoroughly dried in the sun and thus bleached.
The natural dyes used in Bohol for coloring tikug are dauda and
turmeric. The former produces permanent colors, the latter fugitive
ones. The artificial dyes bought at Chinese stores are also used
in producing shades and tints of green, violet and ruby which are
satisfactory. In general, those in crystal form have proven more
satisfactory than the powder dyes. Before dyeing, the sheath-like leaf
is pulled from the bottom of each straw and the material is looped
into small bundles. Often the straws are dampened with water. 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. If dried leaves are used about one
pound is soaked in cold water for a few minutes and the whole mass
is then added to the boiling water. Turmeric roots are pounded in a
mortar and then added to the boiling water, after which the tikug is
added. All the dyes noted are combined to produce other colors and
varying shades.
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.
Before weaving, the straws are flattened by drawing each one separately
between the edge of the knife and the heel of the weaver's foot or
the sole of the chinela. Damp days are best for this process. Weaving
is done under the house or under trees. Evenings and nights are
most suitable for this work on account of the dampness of the
atmosphere. The embroidered mats of Bohol are decorated with split
straws.
The mats of Bohol are bought by traders who exchange cloth and other
goods for them. 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.
Other Tikug Mats.
Tikug also grows in large quantities in Leyte. Its chief use there
is in the weaving of matting on a crude loom, an adaptation of the
common textile loom.
Tikug is apparently generally used throughout Surigao in making
mats. The best mats of this region come from the upper Agusan and the
island of Dinagat. They are usually made for local consumption, though
the people of Dinagat exchange their mats with Bohol traders. The
sedge grows in great abundance in the lake of Talacogon near the town
of the same name in Agusan.
Tikug is also found in many parts of the Moro Province. It abounds
in the swamp lands of the Lanao region, from which mats are exported
via Iligan. If it is to be colored, the straws are soaked in water
for about two days, after which they are cooked in the boiling
dye. Bleached straw is prepared by exposing it to the sun, after
which the material is polished and flattened at the same time by
rubbing the stalks with ashes, between the fingers.
The Cultivation of Tikug.
The question of the cultivation of tikug is one of considerable
importance. It is a well known fact that the finest Leghorn hat
straw is produced in Italy by sewing wheat closely and reaping the
straw before the grain ripens. The best mat straws of China and
Japan are produced from cultivated sedges. The Bureau of Education
is therefore encouraging experiments in the cultivation of tikug,
but as yet these have not been extensive enough to determine whether
the sedge can be propagated for industrial purposes. There are no
data as to cost. A quantity of seed was procured and forwarded to
various parts of the Islands in which tikug had not been reported
as growing. These were sent out to various persons with the idea of
determining (1) soils suitable to the plant, (2) whether it could be
cultivated in the rice paddies between harvest and planting, (3) how
closely the seeds should be planted, (4) how old the plants should be
at harvest. [33] No results have as yet been obtained from the seeds
so sent out. Fair results, however, have been realized in Samar, where
approximately 5,000 stalks were grown to the square foot in very rich
soil fertilized with manure secured from the military stables. The
straws obtained were 3 meters long. It was found that the thicker
the seeds are planted the finer and longer are the straws obtained.
Reports differ as to whether tikug should be considered a pest or
not. In Leyte it is stated that it grows in the rice fields along with
the rice crop and appreciably diminishes the crop. There it is a weed
pest; in Samar it is not so considered. In Bohol one teacher states
that the plant is not a pest as it will not grow in dry localities,
and hence does not interfere with crops. Where it is found in the
rice paddies, a covering of earth will easily destroy it. It does
not scatter quickly, for, while the roots will grow if transplanted,
the sedge is mostly propagated by seeds and these are distributed
principally by water and not by wind. No great chances are taken in
planting tikug. On the other hand, some teachers state that the seeds
are scattered by the wind and that the roots impede the plowing of
the fields.
It is probable that where the tikug obtains a good foothold on
irrigated rice land it proves a considerable annoyance to farmers;
but its growth as a pest can be regulated by plowing.
Tayoc-Tayoc.
This plant, F. diphylla, one of the most widely distributed of all
sedges, is found at all altitudes up to 2,000 meters throughout the
warm regions of the world. The stems may be smooth or hairy and the
leaves one-third to two-thirds as long as the stem. F. diphylla
is generally smaller than F. utilis. Its stem is only 2 mm. in
diameter. The flowers, densely clustered into spikelets, are generally
of two colors--straw and brown. They reach 1 cm. in length and 4 mm. in
diameter. Below the spikelet the stem has from 3 to 5 sides. The
roots are fibrous; underground stems may occur, but they are never
more than 2.5 cm. long.
This plant is known as tayoc-tayoc in Iloilo, Capiz, and Occidental
Negros. It is reported from Pampanga and is called "tab-tabin"
in Zambales.
The straw produced by tayoc-tayoc is much finer but considerably
stiffer than that from tikug, and cannot be considered so good an
industrial material. Nevertheless, it is used to some extent in the
production of hats and mats, especially in the provinces of Iloilo
and Capiz. In Dumalag, Capiz Province, hats are of considerable
importance. Mats of tayoc-tayoc are reported as made in Banate and
Janiuay, Iloilo Province, but this has not yet been verified.
As with tikug, seeds of tayoc-tayoc were obtained and distributed
among various provinces to determine whether the propagation of the
straw was practicable and if the cultivation of the plant would result
in a better material. As yet no definite results have been obtained.
A Rush Straw.
But one rush straw has been brought to the attention of the Bureau
of Education; it is the Japanese matting rush, Juncus effusus. This
species is distributed over a large part of the globe, being the
candle rush of Europe and the common plant of wet ground in the United
States. In Japan it is made into beautiful mattings, the handsomest
and most costly produced. The pith is also employed for lamp wicks,
and probably the "timsim" imported from China and used in oil lamps
in the Philippines is obtained from this plant. Juncus effusus has no
native name in the Philippines. It is found throughout the Mountain
Province and in the Apo region of Mindanao. It attains a height of
almost 2 meters where soil and moisture conditions are favorable. The
stalk is cylindrical and at the end tapers to a point. It is from 2
to 3 mm. in diameter. The flowers grow in a bunch on the side of the
stalk near the top and are light brown in color. At the present time
this rush is not utilized in the Philippines, though it is probable
that it can be used in the weaving of many articles. If split, a flat
straw is obtained by removing the pith.
EMBROIDERED MAT DESIGNS. [34]
It is better not to decorate a mat at all than to have the design ill
fitting. Design is the pleasing arrangement of all spaces unfilled
as well as filled. Decoration is for beauty wholly. If all the spaces
are not well arranged, the design is not beautiful. If the design is
startling or gaudy in color, it is not beautiful. If the arrangement of
colors is inharmonious, the design is not beautiful. All mats cannot
be in the same proportion and suitable for all designs. Plate LXV,
for instance, shows a long design; it requires a long mat, and would
not look well on a square one.
All mats here considered are about 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch in width of
straw. Some of the designs are used exactly as they are, counting
a straw for a square which represents a straw in the design; the
others are double in size and contain four times as many squares
in the weave as in the design. In such cases twice the count of the
design will always give the right number for the weave.
In circular mats the directions are given in inches. The sizes of
the mats should be taken into consideration, but a variance of a few
inches will not matter if that variance always makes the mat larger
rather than smaller. In these mats more is left to the judgment of
the weaver than in rectangular mats. Designs should never be crowded
on circular mats. Repeated groups should always be made exactly alike.
In the color notes, a series of colors set off by commas indicates
that each series may be used alone for the whole design. Often the
deep colors, especially No. 1, have been left out, as the effect of
a very dark color on a very light mat is often startling. Designs on
mats or hangings should not be more conspicuous than the mat itself,
but should rather present a complete and harmonious appearance when
both mat and design are considered as a whole.
Circular Mats.
Design A.
The straws of a circular mat cannot be counted and then divided
equally by numbers, as straws are continually added at irregular
intervals as the circumference is being reached. Hence, the only way
to place designs on a mat of this kind is by dividing the whole mat
with a diameter through its center.
Fold the mat and make a crease at the edges or mark a diameter
through it with a pencil; at right angles to this diameter draw
another through the same center, and the mat will now be divided into
equal quadrants. The quadrants may again be divided and subdivided,
and marked by pencil or with strings.
In Design A the mat is about 57 inches in diameter. In a mat of
this size there would be 48 units in the circle with a margin of
1-1/2 inches from the outer edge of the outer border line to the
circumference of the mat. Divide the mat into halves, quarters,
eighths, and sixteenths, and measure with strings. Each sixteenth
contains three units. Divide this space into three equal parts.