ste of materials
and a constant littering of the floor.

For stripping sabutan leaves, the mat weavers of Tanay, Rizal, use
a kind of comb which is discussed under the heading "Sabutan." The
leaves are pulled over this comb before being dried. As sabutan is
parallel veined it is very easy to strip it thus, the teeth of the
comb following the leaf fibers. The comb produces several uniform
straws with one stroke.

The object of contriving the stripping machine illustrated and
described here was to furnish a quick means of preparing palm and
pandan straws with uniform widths and clean cut edges. Forms of it
have been in use for some time and the model noted here has been tried
out for a year. By its use one pupil can prepare materials for the
whole class, or else the teacher can have all the materials prepared
beforehand if it is so desired. This is half the problem of teaching
the weaving of hats or mats.

This stripper is made wide enough for inserting teeth three widths
apart, so that without adjusting these teeth three widths of straw
may be cut. By changing the teeth in the adjustable gums, any width
desired may be obtained.

It is best to make this apparatus of hard wood, especially the piece
represented by Fig. A. A is a block of wood 23 cm. by 4 cm. by 4 cm.,
containing the groove XY. This groove is the size and shape of C,
being 2.5 cm. wide at the top, 1.5 cm. at the bottom, and 3 cm. high. C
is one of the blocks which slides in the groove XY. These blocks are
made of different thicknesses, about 2, 3, and 4 mm., and are of hard
wood or metal. The rod B passes through these blocks and tightens
on the block D or X by means of a thumb screw. Z is a wooden roller
19 cm. long and 1.5 cm. in diameter. This should extend 2 mm. below
the level of the main surface. It is placed in a groove made in a
separate piece of wood from the principal block and is fastened into
the principal block by means of screws.

The teeth (see C) are made of clock springs or other thin sharp
metal. They are 3 cm. long and 1 cm. to 1 1/2 cm. wide. The two
upright pieces at both ends contain grooves on the inside in which
the block-head slides up and down.

To operate this device, the block-head containing the teeth is
raised by the handle; the leaf is placed under the teeth, and the
block-head is dropped. The teeth pass through the leaf into a groove
underneath. The leaf is now pulled through by the hand as illustrated
in Plate VI.