III CHOICE OF POSITION, SOIL, AND CULTURE 23 
never followed the recommendations of Rivicre to cut the 
plants down, but have never yet lost a clump from omitting 
the precaution.” On the other hand, I have lost several 
clumps by adopting it, and on the whole I have come to the 
conclusion that what may be very suitable in China, in 
Algiers, or even in the South of France, is not advisable in 
this country, nor where it is a question of coaxing sickly 
plants into vigour. 
Above all things I would warn my readers against 
planting out imported Bamboos in their permanent places 
before they have recovered from the effects of the journey. 
I have myself lost many fine specimens in this way. Now 
that a sad experience has taught me how to treat them, I 
rarely lose one. The plants should only travel during the 
period when they are at rest. They will be received, there- 
fore, during the late autumn or winter. If they have come 
from abroad, the balls of earth round the roots should be 
thoroughly soaked ; they should then be potted and placed 
in a cool house for the winter; the leaves, or bare culms if 
the leaves be lost, should be copiously syringed twice a day, 
but the roots should not be kept too wet. In this way many 
species will keep their leaves as green and fresh as if they 
had never been disturbed. One consignment which I received 
from Japan had made growth on the voyage, and the leaves 
were blanched as white as paper; but in a few days, under 
the action of light, they became as brilliant in colour as 
their out-door neighbours. Those that lose their leaves, will 
early in February show signs of flourishing. The tiny buds 
in the axils of the branchlets will swell and fatten, leafy 
fronds will soon be developed, and in a month or six weeks 
