20 JAPANESE BAMBOOS. 



Potash and phosphoric acid are, very important elements in the for- 

 mation of a strong-, tough wood, and although their use in fertilizers 

 does not make so much difference in the rapid growth of the culm as 

 that of nitrogen they are quite as important. 



A well-drained soil is just as necessary for bamboos as for man}*- 

 trees, for although these plants require much moisture they are not 

 swamp plants, like canes or reeds. Land which is occasionally over- 

 flowed can be planted to advantage with bamboos, according to Mr. 

 Tsuboi, if they are set on low mounds or ridges; but stagnant pools of 

 water will kill the rhizomes if allowed to stand over them for many 

 weeks. Embankments of canals, the borders of ponds, and river 

 banks arc suitable situations, especially in dry regions. Large clumps 

 are growing along the canals in "Egypt, and Algiers has many varieties 

 growing in her trial gardens which are watered only by irrigation. 

 There are in California, Oregon, Texas, and throughout the Gulf and 

 Southern States thousands of suitable locations. The banks of small 

 streams, the deltas of rivers, low, irrigated islands, like those in the 

 San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, would produce big forests of 

 these valuable plants, while the banks of irrigation canals, wherever 

 such occur in mild climates, could be made beautiful by them. Any 

 soil which has a large admixture of gravel in it does not prove satis- 

 factory, as the gravel prevents the rapid spreading of the underground 

 stems. Such compact soils as the gumbo soils of the Southwest will 

 probably grow the plants well, but they will presumably not spread 

 as rapidly on such stiff ground as they would upon a lighter loam. If 

 it is the object to produce a large number of big culms, the best soil 

 is one with a fair admixture of vegetable humus. The rhizomes 

 spread rapidly in such humus and produce a tine crop of new shoots. 

 As the roots of the forest species penetrate 3 feet into the soil, the 

 writer is assured that a clay subsoil at this depth is a desirable soil 

 condition. In the cultivation of the edible bamboos (Phyllostachys 

 mitis) a lighter, more sandy soil seems to be preferred to that deemed 

 suitable for the timber kinds, /'. quiUoi and J\ h&nonis. Most bam- 

 boos will not withstand much drought without losing their leaves, but 

 they are not so dependent upon a moist atmosphere as most people 

 imagine. If they are supplied with plenty of water at the roots their 

 leaves will keep green in a fairly dry climate. They must not be con- 

 sidered, however, as drought-resistant plants, but as suitable for irri- 

 gated land or regions in which there is at least a moderately regular 

 rainfall. AtNiles, Cal., Mr. Rock has bamboos 20 feet high which are 

 watered only twice a year with about 2 inches of water each time 

 (PI. Y11J). 



