are then tied up carefully into bundles of about 5 ins. in diameter, and are ready for the plaitter. In Italy, where the straw is grown solely for plaitting purposes, the process before sorting is a little different. The sowing of corn (_Triticum turgidum_, or _Triticum oestivum_, which is a species of rye) is done very thickly, so as to produce thin and short stalks. It is gathered when the ear is in a soft, milky state before the final stages of ripening. It is then thinly spread over the ground in fine, hot weather, and afterwards tied in bundles and stacked, so that the resultant heat may drive off all moisture. After remaining stacked for about a month, it is spread out and exposed to the action of dew, sun and air, in order to bleach it. During the exposure, which varies according to necessity, the stalks are frequently turned. When the bleaching process is sufficiently complete, the lower joint of the straw stripped of its outside thin sheath is divided from the upper one, which is still allowed to retain the ear. This process provides the _punta_ and the _pedale_. The straw is then subjected to the action of steam and the fumes of sulphur. When this bleaching process is complete the assortment into sizes by sieves takes place, and the graded straws are then ready for use. From this stage for making plaits of the whole or unsplit straw, the processes adopted by both England and Italy are in the main identical; Italy, however, has not generally adopted the splitting processes for plait making on account of the fineness of her straws. But the British plaitter reserves the sulphur bleaching of the straws until the plait is actually made, for, with the excellent colour of the straw, in many cases this can be dispensed with until the need for hat making arises. The first processes of plaitting, either of hats or of braid, were undoubtedly of the unsplit stalks, and all “English whole straw” plaits were so made. It has been shown how and why the splitting of straws arose. The plaitter, having determined on the variety of plait to be made, acquired a sufficiency of suitable sized _pipes_. With the _splitter_, the point of which, inserted in the end of the straw, and pressed downwards, the tube of straw coming against the radially set cutters, the _pipes_ were divided into _splints_ of equal widths of a fineness according to the plaitter’s requirements. These were then wetted so as to render them a little tougher and more amenable for manipulation and bending. The plaitter, with a bundle of splints under the left arm, and generally a few in the mouth, through the lips of which they are drawn to keep moist, commences operations. Any description of all the methods of plaitting would be tedious, all the operations consisting of a constant under and over locking of the splints, but in the split straw making of the “Patent Dunstable” the plaitting, instead of being of either one straw or splint, is of