1978. Covering materials are straw, reeds, haulm of any sort, spray, &c. They may either be used loose, which, when the weather is dry and calm, is the most effectual way of excluding cold; or drawn, that is, with the stalks or spray arranged in parallel lines in the manner of thatch, by which means the rain runs off, and then they exclude cold both in dry and wet weather. Sometimes straw and reeds are so prepared in frames, or rails suited to the size of beds in the manner of the reed, or spray, or wattled hurdle (1949.). Sometimes they are covered with mats; but as the latter readily admit rain, this mode is much inferior to that of arranging the straw or reeds in the manner of thatch.
