REED, a term in the west of England for the straw used by thatchers, which is wheat straw finely combed, consisting of stiff, unbruised, and unbroken stalks of great length, carefully separated from the straw used for fodder by the thresher, and bound in sheaves or niches, each of which weighs 28 lb. and are sold from 21s. to 31s. per hundred niches, according to the season. This is a great improvement in the art of thatching, as it gives a finish to the work which cannot be attained by straw, rough and tumbled together, without any separation of the long and short: it is also a readier mode of working.