69S 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April i, 1884. 



THE SQUARE EARIBOO. 



One of the chastest and most elegant ornaments pro- 

 vided by Chinese ingenviity for the library or study con- 

 sists of bamboo boards, the ground being elaborately 

 carred in fretwork and inscribed with characters, generally 

 quotations from the classics, cut from the wood of the 

 same plant. They are to be obtained from the Chinese 

 in Shanghai, and are valuable by reason of the peculiar 

 character of the material from which they are made. 

 Bamboos are divided into a large number of species, and 

 well repay the study of those who take an interest in 

 obtanical researches. There is one sort of a remarkably 

 unique character, called the " square " bamboo, specimens 

 of which have, we understand, been forwarded by Dr. 

 Macgowan at Wenchou to the United States Consul- General 

 at this port, together with a sample of the ornament 

 above described, the device in this instance, however, con- 

 sisting of a representation of the bamboo itself. Some of 

 the plants received from the Doctor are destined for the 

 Park at San Francisco, while others of the same nature 

 are intended for the Public Garden at Shanghai. The 

 following desci'iption of this novel-shaped product of the 

 vegetable kingdom will, we think, be found of interest 

 by our readers. 



There is no x>lant except cereals proper which has re- 

 ceived so much attention as this graceful grass. Early 

 Chinese botanists enumerate seventy varieties of the bam- 

 boo, but if quest were now made in local gazetteers that 

 number would be found greatly augmented. They describe 

 the bamboo as dicecious. Pre-eminence is assigned to the 

 square variety of this most useful as well as ornamental 

 plant, which has been a favourite in Imperial gardens 

 whenever its acclimatisation has been effected in the North. 

 The Emperor Kao Tsu once inquired of his attendants 

 who were planting bamboos, concerning the various Irinds. 

 In reply he was informed respecting several remarkable 

 species. Chekiang in particular furnished one that was 

 an extraordinary curiosity, in that it was square, and for 

 that quality and its perfect uprightness was much estoemed 

 by officers and scholars. They also told him that it was 

 used for many pm'poses of decoration and utility, includ- 

 ing, among others, that of being made into iuk-slabs. Sub- 

 seqaeutly specimens were obtained, polished, and sent to 

 His Majesty, who thereon signified his respect tor the 

 article by rubbing ink with his own hand on the ink- 

 -^taud, and inditing an essay on the curiosity. In 650, 

 A.D., the reigning Emperor sent a ennuch to Ohekiang 

 tu obtain specimens for the Imperial Park. Besides being 

 famished from scattered portions of this province, it is 

 iound in Honan, Szechuen, Yiinnan and Hunan ; in the 

 latter province it appears to present its peculiar characteristic 

 in a marked degree, being as square, with corners, and 

 as well defined, as if cut. *vith a knife. The Chckiang 

 species have slightly rounded corners, and moreover they 

 are more slender, being used only as pipe-stems, whereas 

 the western kind is large enough to serve as staves for 

 the aged. In its early stage of growth the square bamboo 

 is nearly round, assuming the anomalous figure it after- 

 wards j)resents as it advances toward maturity. Like 

 several other kinds of bamboo it is thorny, abounding in 

 small spines. If we may credit accounts which have 

 reached China from "Westorn Turkestan (Ta-yuen) there 

 is or was produced in that region a square bamboo which 

 is a curiosity of a curiositv. The Prince of that country 

 ])0ssessetl and highly prized a square bamboo, on the faces 

 of which were eyes, beard and teeth. Art no doubt 

 contributed to the production. There are considerable 

 varieties in the colour of bamboo — white, yellow, reddish, 

 pui*ple and black. Besides being ornamental it is useful, 

 very pretty chairs being made of it. A native wi-iter says 

 of this plant that it " injures its mother,'' which means 

 that its shoots must not be planted near the parent clump. 

 In mentioning these curious bamboos we must not for- 

 get the useful description of all. We refer to what is 

 eenerally known as the "hair'" bamboo, the shoots of 

 which constitute an excellent esculent which is largely ex- 

 ported from the neighbourhood of "Wc-nchou ; the bearded 

 appearance of the shoots giving it the hirsute designation. 

 It is not like square bamboo, which is adapted to limited 

 areas only, but it will flourish almost wherever there is 

 a due amount of heat, moisture, and a fertile soil. 

 The use.s of this kind of bamboo have been often de- 



scribed, but there is one purpose to which it is applied, 

 and at Wt;nchou only, and therefore but little known. 

 It is rendered plastic by being boiled half a day in 

 potash and Urao ; the alkahes having done their work, a 

 slit is made in the cylinder (which is of any required 

 length, usually a foot), and it is then pressed out into a 

 sheet form by heavy stones. These sheets of bamboo, 

 which are sometimes a foot in width, are then carved, 

 cutting them through, and in this way are formed re- 

 presentations of flowers, birds, various forms of characters 

 in verse, and the like, which, glued to dehcate fihigree work 

 of bamboo, and framed, make the unique and elegant 

 pictures to which we have referred above. — *V. C. Herald. 



KITCHEN GARDEN: LAYING OUT A GARDEN. 



There is not much ai'tistic taste required in laying out 

 a cabbage-garden, nor is there much poetry in culinary 

 vegetables — except perhaps in the sympathetic onion, over 

 which we often shed tears when it is sacrificed to the 

 requirements of the savom-y stew or the toothsome stuflSng. 

 Still, in laying out a plot of ground for a kitchen garden 

 it needs a little thought to arrange the beds and paths 

 in the most convenient manner. There are uo meandering 

 paths wanted, but it is needed to go straight from point 

 to point without deviation. Then there is necessity for 

 oue path at least being wide enough to accommodate a 

 wheelbarrow, and probably the weeds that may be thrown 

 otf the beds dm-ing the process of cultivation, for in a 

 properly made kitchen garden it will be strange indeed 

 if there are no weeds growing on the deeply dug and 

 richly manured beds. It is not meant that these weeds 

 are to lie on the wide path, but that they may perhaps 

 be thrown there until they can be gathered up into the 

 barrow and wheeled into the corner kept expressely for 

 the weeds and rubbish to be stacked, where in time tlie 

 heap becomes a most valuable manure. Suppose the plot 

 to be only forty yards long by twenty. It would not be 

 worth while to make three paths down it, so we should 

 make one path down the centre about four feet wide, 

 and across the middle of the plot there should be another 

 path of the same width, leading at one end to an empty 

 space upon which the rubbish heap should be kept, and 

 at the other end to the tool shed. The rubbish heap space 

 would need to be at least 15 feet long by 10 feet broad, 

 and the space for the toolhouse would require about the 

 same area of ground, because it would most likely be thought 

 desirable to grow some Idnd of creeping plant over the 

 toolhouse, and it would need that there should be some 

 kind of a foot}>ath outside. These main paths should be 

 raised a Uttle abov3 the level of the beds, and sloped on 

 each side, so as to throw the rainwater off quickly. 



The reason for having the rubbish heap and the tool- 

 house near the centre of the garden will be obvious, for 

 that is the most central spot, and therefore nearest to all 

 parts, either for depositing rubbish, obtaining manure, or 

 obtaining or putting away the tools. Wherever the rub- 

 bish heap is stationed it is only decent to try and hide 

 it, and this can be done by the erection of a rough enclosure, 

 to be shortly covered with sorad kind of climber — by pre- 

 ference something suitable for the kitchen garden, such 

 as the Cape gooseberry, which likes a rich soil, and does 

 well amongst rough brush. 



The beds should be trenched to a depth of about two 

 feet ultimately, but there is uo necessity for doing it all 

 over to that depth before commencing to utilize the garden. 

 A commencement may be made by ijloughing or digging 

 it all over as deeply as may be convenient, and making 

 the soil as fine as circumstances will permit. Put on a 

 good deal of manure, unless the ground is already pretty 

 rich. 



"SYhen the whole of the ground is dug over, except the 

 central and cross paths, it should be laid out into buds 

 of four feet in width, with paths a foot wide, running 

 across from the main central path to the boundary on each 

 side, which will divide the whole garden into thirty-two 

 beds, the greater number of which will be 2S feet long 

 by 4 feet in width. Such beds as are to be devoted to 

 deeply-rooting vegetables must be dug deeply, and in most 

 cases the manure wUl need to be buried at the bottom. 

 Thus carrots, parsnips, salsify, chicory, yams, asparagus, 

 celery, beets, and rhubarb should not be grown upon ground 



