22 JAPANESE BAMBOOS. 



hand, if left standing too long the wood becomes too brittle and loses 

 in value, and the forest besides is benefited by the cutting out of the 

 four-year-old stems. The crop of new shoots is larger. This thinning- 

 out process should be so done that as few gaps as possible are made in 

 the forest and the semiobscurity below the mass of foliage is main- 

 tained. 



The crop of new shoots varies in size every alternate year. A poor 

 crop would mean «! to 7 per cent of new shoots and a good crop 12 to 

 14 per cent. As there are commonly 10,000 culms in a hectare" (or 

 4,545 in an acre) of properly planted grove ten to fifteen years old, 

 this would mean the production of 600 to 700 culms per hectare for a 

 light crop and 1.200 to 1,400 for a heavy one. These figures were 

 very kindly furnished the writer by Dr. T. Shiga, chief of the impe- 

 rial forest management in Tokyo. 



The experience of Mr. Tsuboi has been that some kinds of forest 

 trees if standing in a grove prevent the growth of the bamboos near 

 them. Oaks and chestnuts, he declares, are especially objectionable 

 in this respect, while persimmons do not seem to affect in the least 

 the production of new bamboo shoots. ' The effect of weeds in a forest 

 is undesirable, and although comparatively few species are able to live 

 in such a deep shade these should be dug out as from any cultivated 

 field. Attention to these various details makes a great difference in 

 the amount and quality of timber produced. A grove is not to be 

 looked upon as merely a thicket and left to take care of itself, but as 

 a plant culture which requires attention. Plates II and III show the 

 effects of different methods of treating parts of the same grove. 



One important element in the culture of this peculiar timber plant 

 is the fact that a whole forest may bloom and die in a single season, 

 and that it is not possible— as yet— to tell beforehand when this bloom- 

 ing will take place. The intervals between these periods are, however, 

 so long that they are not taken into consideration by the Japanese 

 farmer when he buys a bamboo grove. Little accurate information 

 is obtainable regarding the length of lite, of the various Japanese 

 species, but Phyllostachys henonis has the reputation in Japan of 

 blooming oftener than either P. <]iul!<>/, P. mitis^ or P. mgra,-the 

 other three important timber species. A small grove near Kawasaki 

 which bloomed this season (1902) was reported by the owner to have 

 once bloomed about sixty years before. As there always remain in 

 the field a number of living rhi/omes, after the death of the forest, 

 these renew the latter in a few years, so that the actual loss to the 

 owner does not include the cost of replanting. This is the case at 

 least with the Japanese bamboos. As culms which have bloomed an 1 

 poor in quality, the practice is followed of cutting them as soon as 

 possible after they show signs of blooming. 



« About 2\ acres. 



