The latest craft to be definitely taken in hand in
the West is the plaiting of morass grass, a material almost peculiar to Anglesey. This tall tough grass, growing in else uncultivated places, is harvested in good quantity in September, and plaited during the autumn and winter into mats and bands, The work—as I saw—goes very quickly, so quickly that it has been found cheaper (as well as better) to thatch stacks with lengths of this matting sewn together than to employ a thatcher. It has been used too as rope for tying bundles and sheaves. The strength of this grass and the wear in it are altogether surprising. How can its quality and the skill of the Anglesey women be best put to use ? That is the problem. One good idea may save a whole industry. Among the later uses are very efficient and quite comely mats for the table ; and since the disappearance of the Victorian tablecloth such mats become more necessary. All information about the products of this industry may be had from Mrs. Parry, Baron Hill, Newboro', Anglesey. These Anglesey mats reminded me nearly of some I bought on the way back to the ship from the natives of Fiji. So closely do native crafts resemble one another without imitation or collusion.
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