22 THE BAMBOO GARDEN CHAP. 
Bamboos on being planted should be cut down. The latter 
even advises that the branches should be shortened back. 
The Encyclopedia Britannica, without, however, giving any 
authority, says: “ Various expedients are followed (by the 
Chinese) to obtain good Bamboos, one of the most usual 
being to take a vigorous root and transplant it, leaving only 
4 inches or 5 inches above the joint next the ground. The 
cavity is then filled with a mixture of horse litter and 
sulphur. According to the vigour of the root the shoots will 
be more or less numerous; they are destroyed at an early 
stage during three successive years, and those springing in 
the fourth resemble the parent tree.” It may seem pre- 
sumptuous to question such high authorities. Still, difference 
of soil and climate must count for something, and it must 
be borne in mind that plants in an enfeebled condition after 
a long journey may require different treatment from that 
which is suitable for those which are being propagated in 
their full vigour upon the spot. Certain it is that I have 
never cut down an imported Bamboo stem without having 
reason to regret it. In 1893, the Royal Gardens at Kew and 
myself imported a number of the same plants (Bambusa Mazeli 
or Quilioi) from Genoa. They were fine stems, about 10 feet 
high. My plants were cut down, the Kew plants were not. 
Although mine had if anything the advantage over the 
others as regards soil, they all died save two, which are 
feebly struggling for life, while their fellow-travellers at Kew 
are arching high overhead in all the pride of strength and 
beauty. Lord de Saumarez, who, like myself, has had ex- 
perience in the cultivation of Bamboos both at home and in 
Japan, writes to me as follows: “In transplanting I have 
