The straw used in Tuscany is that of Triticum turgidum, a variety of bearded wheat, which seems to differ in no respect from the spring wheat grown in the vale of Evesham and in other parts of England. It is grown in Tuscany solely for the straw, and not for the grain ; and the upper joint of the straw is that chiefly used for platting. The straw is pulled while the ear is in a soft milky state ; the corn having been sown very close, and consequently produced in a thin, short, and dwindling condition. It is then dried by spreading it thinly upon the ground in fine hot weather, and afterwards tied up in bundles and stacked, for the purpose of enabling the heat of the mow to drive off any remaining moisture. After remaining in the mow for about a month, it is spread out in a meadow, and exposed to the action of dew, sun, and air, in order to bleach it. The straw is frequently turned during this operation ; and after it is completed, the lower joint of the straw is pulled off, leaving the upper joint, with the ear attached to it, for use. This part is then subjected to the action of steam, and to fumigation with sulphur, in order to com plete the bleaching, after which it is ready for use. It is tied up in bundles, and imported to England in this state.
Bleaching the straw with sulphur fumes is commonly practised in this country, and Dr. Ure states that a solution of chloride of lime may be used for the purpose. Straw may be dyed, for ornamental purposes, of many different colours. • The splints, or pieces of split straw, being curved in -a way which would impede the operation of platting, require to be flattened between rollers. These, as well as the whole
straws used in other kinds of plat, are moistened with water to render them easy to work. It need hardly be observed that cleanliness is indispensable to the beauty of the plat.
In the kind of straw-platting above de• scribed, the plat is formed into a narrow strip or riband, which must be formed into a spiral coil, or united edge to edge, to form a hat or bonnet: but in 1831 Mr. T. B. Smith, of St. Alban's, devised a mode of applying Brazilian plat to the manufacture of hats and bonnets of split straw. This kind of plat is not formed in strips, but is at once platted or woven into the required form and size. One advantage claimed for the method is that either the glossy or the dull surface of the split straw may be placed entirely on one side of the plat.
The British straw plat district comprises Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Bucking hamshire ; these counties being the most favourable for the production of the wheat straw commonly used for English plat. The manufacture is also followed in a few places in Essex and Suffolk ; but very little in other counties. The principal markets are Luton, Dunstable, and St. .Albans.
In 1817, 1,376 lbs. weight of chip hats were imported, and 7,117 lbs. of straw hats; together with 35,530 lbs. of chip-plat, and 13,420 lbs. of straw-plat, for making hats and bonnets; and 892 ewts. of straw-platting.