Note 22 — Mat Materials.

In pulling up tikug the whole stalk can generally be obtained by grasping it a short distance below the top. It is made into small bundles and tied a short distance below the seed heads. Each bundle contains from forty to sixty straws. In all towns except Basey the weavers gather the stalks they use. At Basey, however, where weaving of mats is a recognized industry, the straw is obtained from country people who make it a business to gather and sell it. These tikug vendors carry the bundles of green straw to the town, where they sell for from forty centavos to one peso per hundred bundles, depending upon the length of the straws.