Note 28 — Mat Materials.

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 Japan 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 quantity 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.28 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.