The above operation of detaching the bast layer from the stem is
technically known as "retting," and a good type of retting or
steeping place is an off-set of a run, branch, or stream where the
water moves slowly, or even remains at rest, during the time the
plants are under treatment.

The disintegration of the structural part of the plant is due to a
bacterial action, and gas is given off during the operation. The
farmer, or ryot, and his men know what progress the action is making
by the presence of the air bells which rise to the surface; when the
formation of air bells ceases, the men examine the plants daily to
see that the operation does not go too far, otherwise the fibrous
layer would be injured, and the resulting fibre weak. The stems are
tested in these examinations to see if the fibrous layer, or bast
layer, will strip off clean from the wood or stem. When the ryot
considers that the layers are separated from the core sufficiently
easy, the work of steeping ceases, and the process of stripping is
commenced immediately. This latter process is conducted in various
ways depending upon the practice in vogue in the district.


In one area the men work amongst the water breaking up the woody
structure of the retted plants by means of mallets and cross rails
fixed to uprights in the water; others break the stems by hand;
while in other cases the stems are handed out of the water to women
who strip off the fibrous layer and preserve intact the central core
or straw to be used ultimately for thatching. The strips of fibre
are all cleaned and rubbed in the water to remove all the vegetable
impurities, and finally the fibre is dried, usually by hanging it
over poles and protecting it from the direct rays of the sun.