Philippine Mats Part 9

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 princ.i.p.ally 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 quant.i.ties as high as 40 to 100 during the Sunday market day in Talibon or on the Sat.u.r.day 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 munic.i.p.alities 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 circ.u.mference and sold in the market. The largest market for such bundles is found in the barrio of Ypil in the munic.i.p.ality 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 ma.s.s 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 quant.i.ties 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 j.a.pan 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 quant.i.ty 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 princ.i.p.ally 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 alt.i.tudes 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 cl.u.s.tered 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 j.a.panese 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 j.a.pan 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 s.p.a.ces unfilled as well as filled. Decoration is for beauty wholly. If all the s.p.a.ces 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 circ.u.mference 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 circ.u.mference of the mat. Divide the mat into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths, and measure with strings. Each sixteenth contains three units. Divide this s.p.a.ce into three equal parts.

Now embroider in each third one exact unit. In weaving in the unit, always commence on its outer edge; then if any slight variation of s.p.a.ce has occurred, the irregularity will not be noticeable, as it will be in the line work of the unit, and not in its solid part. Each unit made in working as suggested from the outer edge inward will begin the other half of a solid figure already commenced. Notice the part of the design which has been marked off as one unit, and adhere to that arrangement.

This design may be placed on a mat 57 inches in diameter, or 114 inches in diameter making each figure with twice as many straws as in the first.

In ticug mats of natural straw, this design may be done in the following colors:

No. 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, or 16. (12 and 16 should not be used on sabutan.)

No. 14, with a solid diamond and outer border line in No. 3.

No. 3, 6, 9, or 10, with outer border line extending to edge of mat.