Vien ae es ey ee ae ee to ae Meee Se ee ee ee, 4 rn Fae? oo, 
ea aiid Ba 
Cr 
1078 
PHILIPPINE BAMBOOS. 
The two most important and widely distributed Philippine bamboos 
are the common, thick-walled variety (Bambusa blumeana), and the 
thin-walled dwarf bamboo, also known as cana-boho (Bambusa  lu- 
mampao). ‘he former is almost exclusively used for building purposes, 
because of its strength and durability; it is grown as a crop along the 
river bottoms of Pampanga Province and in many other regions ; cuttings 
are set out in rows 2 to 3 feet apart and merchantable sizes are produced 
in ffom one to two years. 
Dwarf bamboo is the variety in general use throughout the Islands 
for the manufacture of the sauale, quisame, and amatong, which are woven 
products used for lining or filling the walls, ceilings, floors, doors, and 
shutters of nipa houses.. This bamboo is found almost entirely within 
the forested regions and forms one of the most damaging influences to 
forest growth, it being almost as undesirable as clearings. In parts of 
Bataan Province immense tracts of this plant are annually cut and rafted 
to the market. This species is never cultivated. 
“Qana-boho, probably Bambusa lumampao, is a characteristic form on the 
Lamao forest reserve. The clumps are composed of 15 to 20 culms, 12 to 18 
meters in height and set on an average of 3 to 4 meters apart; not infrequently 
these clumps grow so close together that it is difficult to wedge a way between.” * 
CHEMICAL COMPARISON WITH OTHER GRASSES. 
The fibers of graminaceous plants exhibit a certain resemblance in 
form and appearance. Manifestly, papers made from these substances 
should possess very similar properties: ‘The grass-like character of 
bamboo is further shown by the similarity of its chemical composition 
with that of other grasses; this will be understood by a study of the 
following table: 
TABLE I. 
Struc- 
Dwarf 
Wheat Rye tural 
eee Bamboo." straw. straw. | bam- | Lag 
Per cent. | Per cent | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. 
Cellulose = Ss NF yaaa a ; Soe 50.13 46. 60 47.69 53. 94 55. 75 
PAE bee War ost eee Ns 78 1.49 1.98 . 96 1.03 
Aqueous extract ---------......---------------- 10. 56 8.07 9.05 4,98 4.69 
Noncellulose or lignin faba Ate E 24, 84 28. 49 26.75 24, 25 31; 27 
Water eer week Ey. - 8.56 9, 85 11. 38 12, 40 11. 20 
| << (ih eee eee 5.18 5. 50 3.20 3.47 6.03 
*H. N. Whitford: The Vegetation of the Lamao Forest Reserve. Phil. Journ. 
Science (1906), 1, 386. 
® Hugo Miiller: Pflanzenfaser, Leipzig (1873). 
” Analyses made by Mr. Mariano Vivencio of this laboratory. It is also advis- 
able to compare the above analyses of bamboo with those of the perennial grasses, 
esparto and cogon, given on page 458 of Phil. Journ. NSeience (1906) 1. 
