and longest. The two-rowed barley, hordeum distichon, L. possesses all these desirable qualities. It differs from the common or square-eared barley, in its head being flat, long, and having only two rows of grains; its beards and stems are rough to the touch.

At the approach of the season for gathering it, and when the heads are formed, they visit the fields where it is grown, and select the finest straw, of a yellow colour; they then cut it with scissars, near to the ground, deprive it of its leaves, and examine whether or not it be spotted. The mists and the rain in the spring, produce black spots, which it is impossible to remove; and we must therefore give the preference to those parts of the country where the straw has least suffered from this defect. Before collecting. it, an agreement is made with the proprietor of the field, for leave to cut it carefully, provided that the heads be given to him, and which must also be cut off with scissars.

The stems are also separated into lengths with the scissars, by cutting them above and below the knots, which are rejected as useless, as are likewise the sheaths, and the small stems at top, which have too little width to be of any The most beautiful tubes are those which are the size of an ordinary writing quill, thin, and free from spots.

use.

When the straw has thus been deprived of its useless parts, the tubes are selected according to their lengths, and placed in boxes, divided into compartments.

On Bleaching the Straw.

When the selection has been made, it is necessary to bleach the straw, and especially that which is intended to be dyed of delicate colours; as we cannot be ignorant, that, in any ordinary dyes, we cannot procure fine colours, unless the matters intended to be dyed approach near to a perfect whiteness. And, although the straw is generally yellow,, yet it is not difficult to give it a fine white appearance. We employ the liquid chlorate of lime for this purpose, in a similar manner to that used in the ordinary bleaching

processes; but it is blanched much more easily than linen, and even than cotton.

We need only take this trouble for the most delicate colours, such as a light rose colour, flesh colour, a tender lilac, a pale yellow, celestial blue, or azure, &c. For the less delicate colours, the bleaching of the straw by means of sulphur, is sufficient.

On bleaching the Straw with Sulphur.

The vessel most commonly employed for this operation, is a hooped cask, about three feet high, and open at both ends. About the middle of this vessel, a net, strained upon a hoop, is lodged, the hoop resting upon several nails, driven into the sides of the cask for that purpose. The straw, in handfuls, bound round with thread, is laid upon this net, and crossed with other similar bundles, till the vessel is full. It is covered with a lid, similar to that of a snuff-box, the inside of the rim of which has woollen list nailed around it, in order to cause it to perfectly close the top of the vessel. The whole is also enclosed within a woollen envelope. We must also not forget, either to nail or glue paper all over the inside of the vessel, in order to close all the crevices, which might otherwise suffer the sul

phureous acid gas to escape through them.

All being thus disposed, we place underneath the vessel, a chafing-dish, full of burning charcoal, over which we have placed a sheet-iron pan, containing a layer of sulphur. The sulphur, on being heated, inflames; and the sulphureous acid gas disengaged, fills the inside of the vessel, and bleaches the straw. Three or four hours are sufficient for this operation. Care must be taken that the sulphur is thinly spread over the bottom of the iron pan, as, should it be laid in too great a quantity, it would unite, and form a flame, which might reach too high in the vessel, and tinge the straw with an unchangeable blackness. This operation should always be performed in the open air.

When we no longer perceive the odour of the sulphureous

acid straw.

gas, we uncover the vessel, and remove the bleached

On the preparation of the Straw before dyeing it.

There are certain colours which the straw will not well take, unless it has been previously opened. This operation used to be a tedious one, but we have considerably shortened it by an instrument of our invention.

The straw must not be in a perfectly dry state, when we proceed to open it, as then, on seizing it at one end, it would break, and be unfit for use. We therefore let it lie all night on the flagged pavement of a ground-floor; this communicates a humidity to it, and damps it sufficiently to enable us to open it readily, and to dress and flatten it.

Formerly, we used a taper wooden spindle, to open the straw with; and, taking the tube of straw in the left hand, with the right hand we introduce the smaller end of the spindle into the bore of it, and, by inclining the spindle in a proper manner, we form a cleft, which we extend the whole length of the tube, by quickly pushing the spindle along in the direction of the cleft. The straw is then spread open upon the spindle, by rubbing it with a bone or ivory polisher, formed in the shape of a folding-knife. The flattening of the straw is then completed by rubbing it forcibly with the polisher on its bright side, whilst it is laid upon a strong and smooth plank of apple tree. This operation, which is to be performed upon each tube of straw, we think is too tedious; and we have, accordingly, substituted the following in place of it.

We employ a pair of cylindrical rollers, mounted in a frame, in a similar manner to those commonly used in the manufacture of straw-plait to flatten it; and, in front, we affix to the cheeks of the frame, by means of screws, a steel instrument, made in the form of a snipe's bill, which is pointed at the front end, and spreads or widens towards the rollers; the underside of this instrument is made flat, and its upper side is angular, its sides being formed into

sharp edges. This instrument serves both to open the straw, and to guide it beneath it between the rollers. This construction being understood, the following is the manner of using the machine. We take the moistened straw in the left hand, and cause the pointed end of the snipe's bill to enter the tube of it, and thrust it forwards; the straw rends, and we continue to push it forwards, at the same time turning the rollers, by the right hand, applied to the winch or handle of them, until we see that the straw is seized between the rollers. We then loose hold of the straw, and continue to turn the handle, until the straw has passed through the rollers, and falls completely opened and flattened, at the back of the rollers. We can thus prepare as many as ten thousand straws in a day; whereas before we were only able to prepare about a hundred! The straw thus prepared is now ready to be dyed.

On the process of dyeing the Straw.

Blue. We take an ounce (thirty grammes) of fine Guatimala indigo, in powder, and place it, in a medical phial, upon a sand-bath; we then add to it two ounces (sixty grammes) of the sulphuric acid of commerce. When the effervescence has ceased, we add fifteen grammes of pure potash. It is then left in digestion for twenty-four hours.

This composition serves to dye blues of various shades. To use it, we put into a proper boiler, placed over a fire, the necessary quantity of water to completely cover the straw which we would dye. When the water boils, we then add the prepared sulphate of indigo, by the help of a wooden spoon, fastened at the end of a staff, and by small portions at a time, until we see that the bath has attained the shade we desire. We then remove the boiler from the fire, and throw the straw into it, but which, however, has not previously been opened or fattened. We keep the straw immersed, and when it has received the proper tint, we withdraw it, wash it in cold water, and leave it to dry.

Sky-blue or azure.-Prior to receiving this delicate co

lour, the straw must be opened or flattened; it must then be arranged in layers, in a square vessel of glazed earthenware, the layers crossing each other. We then take a portion of the remaining part of the blue dye, put it into another vessel, and add warm water to it; also stirring it to complete the mixture, as well as also adding more water, until we have obtained the required shade; when the bath is thus prepared, we pour it upon the straw, disposed as above mentioned, and with pieces of wood placed in the vessel, and bent in the form of a bow against its sides, we force the straw to continue immersed in the dye. When it : has received the proper tint, we wash it, and leave it to dry.

Yellow. This colour is prepared with curcuma, in powder, which we boil in water, until it has received the shade we desire; we then throw into it the straw, in its entire state, not opened, and let it boil, until its tint is satisfactory, when we treat it as directed for the blues.

We dye with the residue of this bath the pale yellow shades upon unopened straw.

Green. The straw dyed of these shades of yellow, when plunged into baths more or less blue, affords greens of different hues.

Red. We must use for this colour, and all its shades, straw which has been opened and flattened in the manner above described, for receiving the sky-blue or azure dye; and it must also be disposed in a similar manner, in glazed earthen vessels.. So likewise the finest straw, perfectly free from spots, must be chosen. The following is the composition of the bath.

We must procure from the dry-salters the dyed woollen threads, in skains, tinted with a red colour, approaching to scarlet; and boil them for several minutes in water, which holds a little alum in solution; the wool gives up nearly all its colour to the water, and when it has attained the required shade, we pour it upon the straw, and suffer it to remain till cold. The dyed straw must then be washed and dried.