IIL CHOICE OF POSITION, SOIL, AND CULTURE 25 
how near the top the new shoots may be ; and the usual plan 
of dancing an Indian war-dance on the roots in a pair of 
hob-nailed boots may destroy a year’s growth. It is best to 
consolidate the plants by watering freely, which thus serves 
a double purpose. Bamboos planted according to these 
simple and very obvious rules, and protected, as I have 
suggested above, by a good warm jacket of dried leaves lined 
with cow manure,-will during the summer make strong 
roots and good growth, and will lay in a stock of health 
before having to face the miseries of an English winter. 
As regards the transplanting of established clumps from 
one part of the same garden to another, not for sending them 
on a journey, this is an operation which is best undertaken 
in May or June, when the new shoots first show signs of life. 
Mr. Bean, writing to the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 10th February 
1894, says: “From October to March is the worst time; 
July is even better than February. Last summer I shifted 
three large clumps of Arundinaria Simoni in July, which 
never showed the least check.” Here, at Batsford, we have 
moved large plants of Phyllostachys aurea in July, August, 
and September. Great care was taken to secure good balls. 
The holes into which the plants were transferred were well 
watered, and the roots were mulched with cow manure and 
leaves. The growth of the canes was not arrested, and new 
shoots, the existence of which was not suspected, continued 
to appear. Our greatest disaster was sustained in March 
1892, when we had the audacity to plant out a consignment 
of mitis, Quilioi, viridi-glaucescens, nigra, and Narihira, all 
good hardy sorts, but very few survived the fierce attacks of 
the next six weeks. Another mistake made was in im- 
