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of ornamental plants the various species of these giant grasses to the 

 open ground in semitropieal countries like Florida and southern Califor- 

 nia. Many of the smaller species — for example that known in nursery- 

 men's catalogues as Bambusa violacea — may be grown in a climate as 

 mild as that of Washington, and form very attractive clumps in summer. 

 But the same plant transferred to moist ground in Florida runs riot and 

 becomes a veritable pest. Its subterranean stems penetrate even into 

 quicksand, and at a depth of 3 or 4 feet below the surface soil, and send 

 up shoots many yards away from the parent, often breaking forth in the 

 very midst of other shrubbery, which is soon overgrown and destroyed. 



The unarmed bamboo of Bengal, Bambusa vulgaris, has none of the 

 bad qualities of the intractable species which spread in leaps and 

 bounds by underground stems. It forms symmetrical clusters, which 

 increase regularly by the addition of new stems on the outside. 



The experience of the past fifteen years proves that it is admirably 

 adapted to the soil and climate of Florida, and that it grows there 

 under suitable conditions to a greater height than is recorded for this 

 bamboo in any other country. In Florida its culms rise to a height of 

 72 feet in a single season, growing at the average rate of more than a 



foot a day. 



Seed has never been produced in Florida. In its native home, also, 

 it is said to bloom and set seed only at intervals of many years. Prop- 

 agation of the plant is readily made either by roots or by cuttings of 

 the stem. Offsets from the roots may be taken in early summer, when 

 one of the large buds, with its surrounding rootlets, may be separated 

 from the mass. Such a young plant will weigh from 40 to 50 pounds. 

 When transplanted it will send up the first year, not the giant culm ol 

 maximum size, but several smaller canes of the size of fishing poles. 

 These will be followed by larger and larger canes. The crop of each 

 successive season will exceed their predecessors about 1 inch in diame- 

 ter and 10 feet in height for five years, provided no exceptionally severe 

 frost retards their development. 



Plants of more manageable size may be obtained from cuttings. The 

 readiest method of securing a strong plant in this way is to cut in 

 May or June from a one year-old stalk one of the nodes, or divisions of 

 the stem, with its wand-like branch, and place this in water in a cool, 

 shady place. During the summer roots will be produced at the node, 

 and it may be planted in moist, shady ground in the fall. Later on, 

 when it has made stronger roots, it may be transplanted to open ground. 

 This species of bamboo will not thrive in saturated soil, although it 

 requires a constant supply of moisture. If cared for when young, 

 mulched with leaves and watered carefully, it may be grown anywhere 

 in Florida, and even on sandy hills will attain a large size. Its powerful 

 roots will after a few years reach water even at a depth of 30 or 40 feet, 

 alter which the plant will ask for nothing of the cultivator. 



