Another method of stiffening these susceptible plaits is by some mixture of a resinous nature, preferably that of shellac dissolved in spirit. This method has, of course, several variations which are jealously guarded by the inventors, but the foundation of all of them is on the above lines. In these cases the “stiffening” or really “proofing” (for it is, of course, waterproof) is applied with a brush and care has to be used not to clog the interstices of the fabric. There are many disadvantages to the use of this medium, and its use is not general. Cotton fibre plaits are generally stiffened with a gelatine solution similar to the viscose method, but another process was evolved for black cotton hats, by which a resinous solution after application was burned off in a blocking machine, combining at the one time the dual processes of stiffening and blocking. This, however, can only be taken advantage of when the particular variety of machine, with spelter male and female blocks, was available. (This will be described under the head of Blocking.) These, in the main, are the “stiffening” methods in use in the straw hat trade as it is to-day, when the materials used for hats are prepared to their final appearance stage before being sewn, but in the early days of the trade when the finished plait was quite crude as compared with that of this century, some methods were utilized during stiffening to alter or improve the colour of the hat or bonnet. The earliest attempt in this direction was the production of a white colour on straw. It has been shown in previous chapters that the early bleachings simply improved the natural colour of the straw, and did not remove its yellow tinting. But it was found possible during the stiffening to carry the improvement a stage further. This was done by the mixture of some acid, such as oxalic, sorrel and other similar chemicals, in the gelatine bath. These had a dual effect, they kept the gelatine from returning gradually to its pristine browny-yellow tint, and when the hat was stiffened the chemically treated “stiffening” was more easily affected in the bleaching by the fabrics of sulphur. (Incidentally one may remark that the addition of a similar chemical action to that produced by the above-mentioned acids, will materially improve the colour of even the darkest tinted gelatine.) But even under all these improvements, plait could not be made as white as fashion demanded sixty or seventy years ago. Attempts were made to produce the required article by making plait similar to “twist” or “Luton” with the straws plaitted inside out, that is the two splints used for each straw were laid with the outsides of the straws together, leaving the inside of the straw, or “rice,” which is much paler in colour, on the outside of the plait. This, when bleached, was materially whiter than that with the silicate outside, but it did not come up to the required standard. A method was introduced called