rranged will take the
place of these. Romblon buri mats, which are the finest in point of
workmanship and design made in the Philippines, are colored entirely
by local vegetable dyes.

The methods used in the island of Romblon in dyeing buri straw
have been carefully investigated by Mr. Barron, and are presented
herewith. In each case the unit of material is one stalk of buri for
each color. The process of whitening Romblon buri straw has already
been described.

For red, unopened leaves having stems three feet long should be
selected. The midribs are removed while green, and the leaves are
rolled into bundles of convenient size, say by fives. These are boiled
in clear water for about three hours, after which the segments are
spread in the sun for three days to dry. Care should be taken that
they are not exposed to rain or dew. They are then placed in a fluid
made by boiling two gantas of kolis leaves (see mordants) in plain
water for one hour. The buri leaves remain in the water and soak
thus for three days and three nights. The buri leaflets are then
placed in a vessel containing two gantas of sappan wood (see dyes),
one-half liter of lime water, and one chupa of tobacco leaves. To this
a sufficient quantity of plain water is added to thoroughly submerge
the buri, and the whole is boiled for eight hours, being stirred
at short intervals to obtain a uniform shade of red. The segments
are then removed and hung in the wind for about six hours to dry,
after which they are smoothed and rolled.

For yellow-orange, unopened leaves having stems about two inches long
are selected and the segments are removed from the midribs and rolled
into bundles. These are boiled in clear water for about three hours
and spread in the sun for three days to dry, care being taken that
the buri is not exposed to rain or dew. The material is then placed
in a vessel containing one ganta of powdered turmeric (see dyes), one
chupa of powdered annatto seeds (see dyes), one liter of lime water,
and sufficient clear water to cover the buri, and is boiled in this
mixture for five hours, with frequent stirring. It is then removed and
hung in the wind for one-half day to dry, and is smoothed and rolled.

For green, an unopened leaf having a stem about two inches in length
is selected. The segments are removed from the midribs, rolled into
bundles and boiled in clear water for about three hours. After this,
they are boiled in lye (consisting of ashes