Vol. XI. No. 259. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



103 



BAMBOO LEAVES AS FODDER 

 AND LITTER. 



An article giving consideration to the emi)loj'ment of 

 the leaves of species of bamboo for forage and litter for ani- 

 mals, written by the Director of the Jardin d'Essai, Algiers, 

 appears in the Journal dC Agriculture Tropicale for November 

 30, 1911. In this, it is pointed out that the large kinds of 

 bamboo, or true bamboo, as they are called, give the greatest 

 quantity of leaves, and these are relatively long and broad. 

 The collection of the leaves from the plant is, of course, not 

 thought of, on account of the great height of the latter, and 

 the unapproachable nature of the branches which bear them. 

 One must therefore be content to gather the leaves which 

 fall, and these are often found in large quantities, but have 

 naturally become dry. Such fallen leaves are most accept- 

 able to animals, after the removal of the dust and earthy 

 matters that they have collected from the soil, and when they 

 have not yet acquired the mouldy smell and taste which they 

 are likely to develop through resting on the earth for a long 

 time. 



The large true bamboo, and nut the species of Phyllo- 

 stachys, bear leaves in the greatest quantity. The best known 

 type is that usually described as Barubusa arutiduiacea — a.n 

 erroneous name under which the large species BnnJjusa macro- 

 culmis, A, Riv., is known; for B. arundittacea is only a syno- 

 nym of B. spinosa, so well characterized by its strong spines. 



Even at the limit of the area in which it grows, B. ma- 

 croculmis, which appears to lie the most resistant among the 

 large species, flourishes with vigour, and the fall of its leaves 

 is almost constant. It has been remarked, however, that, on 

 the coast of Northern Africa, for example, the fall is most 

 sudden and most abundant at the commencement of summer, 

 especially at the time of the sirocco. The advance of the hot 

 weather causes the branches to form leaves, so that those 

 which are older lose the leaves near their base, while the 

 branches themselves are actually lengthening. This fall of the 

 leaves is sometimes considerable, and an example is afforded 

 by experience at the Jardin d'Essai, Algiers, where species of 

 B. iitaa-oculmis, over 45 feet in height, shed their leaves at 

 such a rate that these have to be taken away in carts several 

 times a week. 



It is suggested that some attention should be given to 

 the utilization of the large amount of organic matter supplied 

 in this way, especially as analyses conducted at the Jardin 

 d'Essai have shown that the nutritive vakig of the dry leaves 

 is at least double that of wheat straw. In ordinary cases, 

 animals to which bamboo leaves are fed have to be gradually 

 accustomed to their inclusion in the food. Animals rais- 

 ed under harder conditions, however, and without any great 

 choice of food, will eat the leaves readily, notwithstanding 

 their comparatively small digestibility in the dry state. 



The leaves of the large bamboo are usefully employed as 

 Utter, but the best plan is to mix them with other materials, 

 such as straw or leaves of diU'erent kinds, because thej* possess 

 a tendency to stick together and produce layers. Nevertheless, 

 they show an absorptive power which makes them go to form 

 good manure, particularly on account of the relatively large 

 amounts of potash and phosphoric acid that they contain. 

 There is the circumstance, however, that a manure made in 

 this way decomposes slowly, because of the fibrous and sili- 

 ceous structure of the leaves; this is not a disadvantage when 



they are required to help to cover the ground for certain 

 crops, or when they are employed to protect the soil from the 

 rays of the sun. At the Jardin d'Essai of Algiers, the leaves 

 have been used specially for the purpose of making manures 

 which were not required to decompose quickly; in such cases 

 a good compost has always been obtained. 



In another connexion, even if the leaves of such bamboos 

 do not possess the size and elasticity of maize husks, they 

 none the less constitute useful material for making mattresses 

 and couches, under conditions of urgency, such as the influx 

 of a large number of agricultural labourers, when lodging for 

 these has to be found. 



The question still remains if all these advantages, pos- 

 sessed by the material from the bamboo in countries where 

 it grows .spontaneously, would still obtain in conditions where 

 it would have to be grown specially, and where labour is not 

 very cheap. As is stated in the article, further observations 

 and eni|uiries are needed, before definite information concern- 

 ing the matter can be obtained. 



METHODS OF PLANTING TREES. 



An account of experiments conducted at the Wobum 

 E.xperiinental Farm, on methods of planting trees, was 

 given in the Aijricultuml News, Vols, VIII, p. 101, 

 •ind IX p. 2()1 ; a record of experience in India in regard 

 to the methods is also given in the same journal in 

 Vol. IX, p. 180. Since this time, experiments similar 

 to those at Woburn have been conducted at several of 

 the Botanic Stations in the Lesser Antilles, and accounts 

 of these have been presented in the West Indian 

 Bulletin, Vol. XI, p. 50, and in Annual Reports on the 

 Botanic Stations issued during the past two years. In 

 continuation of the same subject, the Journal of the 

 Board of Agriculture for February 1912, p. 951, gives 

 the following abstract of a paper dealing with the 

 matter, which appears in Scientific Bulletin No. 2, 

 1910, of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester: — 



An experiment was made to ascertain whether the 

 results obtained at the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm in 

 the planting of fruit trees would be borne out in the case of 

 forest trees. The land used was old pasture, with a deep 

 and somewhat heavy soil. Twenty four-yearold trees were 

 planted of each of the following kinds : oak, ash, beech, 

 spruce, Corsican pine, and Scots pine, and the planting was 

 carried out as follows : ten trees of each kind were planted in 

 pits, every care being taken to give the roots enough room; 

 the finer soil was placed round the roots, and the whole 

 carefully and firmly trodden down. The other ten trees were 

 planted in very shallow pits, into which the roots were 

 merely pushed anyhow, the soil placed on the top in thin 

 layers, and well rammed with a heavy iron rammer. No 

 care was taken not to injure the roots. The trees were 

 lifted and weighed after two years, but the number was too 

 small to give reliable averages It is noted, however, that 

 no more of the rammed and carelessly planted trees dieJ ihaa 

 of the others, and in general appearance the two sets could 

 not be distinguished. An examination of the roots con- 

 firmed Mr. Pickering's former conclusions that great care in 

 digging holes and carefully spreading out the roots is not of 

 much importance, as in many cases the old roots do not 

 throw out new roots to any extent, while it is important to 

 see that trees are put quite firm in the ground, although 

 ramming would be too expensive for ordinary planting. 



