Di? PHILIPPINE BAMBOOS 
TABLE 7.—Number of shoots produced and yield of mature living canes 
from 5 clumps of Gigantochloa levis at Division of Investigation, 
Bureau of Forestry, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippine Islands. Data 
from report by Ranger Oro. 





New shoots. 
Total babe : r WAT) 
number | | | | Per- Per- 
of Total Total Total | centage | centage | 
mature | number | number | number | living. yield. | 
canes. | of oO of | 
| shoots. dead. | living. | 
| | 
22 36 25 | 11 31 50 
16 39 27 | 12 31 75 
| 12 26 19 | 7 27 58.5 | 
10 14 | 10 4 | 28 40 
60 72 | 45 | 27 | 37.5 45 
| 
Average 2.5. sous. Jean aaa a se | 31 54 


The death of the young shoots is due to various causes; some 
of them are attacked by insects or rats; others are broken by the 
wind; while still others die without any very apparent reason, 
but probably because under the existing conditions more shoots 
are produced than can be matured by the clump. This may 
be due to scarcity of food, water or other causes, but con- 
cerning this point we have no information. 
The culms of Bambusa spinosa and Bambusa vulgaris start 
to grow during the latter part of the dry season, but make 
very slow growth until the rainy season. Gigantochloa levis 
starts to grow about the beginning of the rainy season. The 
period of rapid growth is in the latter part of the rainy season. 
Bambusa spinosa, Bambusa vulgaris, and Gigantochloa levis 
reach about full height in approximately five months. This 
means that for this period there is an average daily growth 
in large culms of Bambusa spinosa of about 17 centimeters, 
in Bambusa vulgaris of about 13 centimeters, and in Gigantochloa 
levis of 13 centimeters. 
Beginning with 1912 and extending up to the present time, 
measurements of the rate of growth of bamboos have been 
taken by the Division of Investigation of the Bureau of Forestry 
at Los Bafios, Laguna, by means of a measured stick. The most 
extensive series of measurements of large culms was made by 
Ranger Oro in 1915. From this series we have selected for 
presentation in the following tables all shoots of Bambusa spinosa 
which reached a height of more than 20 meters, and of Bambusa 
vulgaris and Gigantochloa levis which reached a height of more 
than 12 meters. This selection has been made so as to repre- 
sent the growth of only large commercial culms. 
In Table 8 are given the measurements of the rates of growth 
of Bambusa spinosa. The first measurement was taken on June 
