Vili THE BAMBOO GARDEN 
to me their experiences of Bamboo cultivation in various 
parts of these islands. M. Latour-Marliac, of Temple-sur- 
Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, France, the greatest European importer 
of these plants, has always been most amiably ready to 
furnish me with the results of his observations. To all of 
these gentlemen my thanks are due. 
Messrs. Riviere’s beautifully illustrated book, Les Bambous, 
and the late General Munro’s monograph, published in The 
Transactions of the Linnean Society, 15th November 1866, 
are respectively the French and English classics upon the 
subject. I have not hesitated to draw largely upon such 
rich storehouses of knowledge; but since the publication of 
those works many new species have been discovered, and 
they are therefore not up to date, otherwise there would be 
no reason for any further book treating of Bamboos. 
One attraction, at any rate, I may claim for my book in 
the admirable drawings so kindly furnished by Mr. Alfred 
Parsons, whose life-long devotion to the portraiture of plant 
life found a new scope in the flora and landscape of Japan, 
of which his transcripts by pen and pencil have charmed 
the reading and the artist world of England and America. 
24th February 1896. 
