Some plaits are of one colour throughout, but are made with straws that have been previously dyed. Generally speaking, especially for straws, the effect is not so good as where the plait itself is dyed. There are, of course, one or two exceptions where the fibre used is very delicately plaitted into some loose design which would not retain its crispness of outline under the weight of water in dyeing and the necessary handling. Other plaits known as “Speckled,” must, from their nature of mixed colours, be plaitted from dyed straws. Of these there are coloured and natural, coloured and white, and mixtures of various colours. The dyeing of straws follows in the main the dyeing of plait, but the preparation is somewhat different. The straws, cut into equal lengths, are tied up in bundles about 5 ins. in diameter, and are carefully placed in the vat or copper in an upright position with as little pressure as possible, and when dyed are dried still in the bundle. At one time a new dyeing effect on straws was introduced, which consisted of standing the bundles upright and allowing strong dye to run through the “pipes.” This, of course, dyed the interior and some parts of the exterior, which not touching another straw allowed the dye to do its work. Water was then passed through the “pipes,” and the result when dry was a pretty mottled effect. Another fancy method of dyeing was the production of “Ombré” colours. This novelty, introduced by the French dyers, consisted of two or more colours on the same plait. It was done by means of a fine spraying machine, which vaporized a powerful dye on to an already dyed piece of plait of some lighter tint. Messrs. Lye & Sons brought out a novelty on straw plait, particularly effective on the Japanese wide patterns, which produced the same iridescent effect that is obtained on “shot” silk. This, however, was bath-dyed and not sprayed. These various bases of double tones were utilized to their undoing, for it was no uncommon sight to see manufacturers of the lower grades of hats endeavouring to produce multicoloured effects on chip plaits by pouring the prepared dye over the plait from finely nozzled watering cans! The resultant crudeness of such arrangements brought a beautiful thing into disfavour. The shade requirements of to-day include many colours that are termed “Pastel.” These are delicate, pale shades, and can be obtained only by submitting straw plait to a bleaching process previous to dyeing, but the finished article is a thing of extreme beauty, not only on the question of colour, but in its intense purity and softness. A method for dyeing plaits, which obtained considerable magnitude in Paris, but has never been a favourite in Great Britain, is that known as “Cold Dye.” It enjoyed only a small measure of success on straw, but on chip and hemp braids very beautiful results have been achieved. In 1877 Mme. Deuxbouts, of Paris, was dyeing chip plaits in this manner, which