BAMBOO — McCLURE 397 



Stones used in the construction of dams and in the repair of dykes 

 are held in place by being confined in cylindrical baskets of bamboo 

 (pi. 2, fig. 2) of the same general pattern as the pig crates and tree 

 protectors mentioned previously. 



BAMBOO MATTING 



Bamboo matting is woven in a great variety of shapes and patterns 

 and is employed in many ways in the Orient. One sort, of incredible 

 fineness and flexibility, is used in China as the equivalent of bed 

 sheets and pillow cases during summer weather. Long narrow strips 

 of a sturdy tight- woven form are used by itinerant duckherds for 

 corralling the fowls at night, and by farmers for making demountable 

 grain bins. Fruits and other products which would be spoiled by 

 contact with the soil are spread out to dry on squares or rectangular 

 pieces of coarse bamboo matting. Similar mats are used as overnight 

 covers or during showers to protect farm produce being cured or 

 dried in the sun. Bamboo mats are made in various sizes and weaves 

 for use as a covering for the walls and partitions of bamboo dwellings 

 (pi. 3, fig. 1) and more temporary structures. Matting of open weave 

 serves to reduce the light to an intensity suitable for orchid culture, 

 while sunshades and windbreaks of close-woven bamboo mats are 

 often erected for the protection of other delicate horticultural crops. 

 On certain types of water craft, bamboo mats serve as shelters against 

 the elements and on occasion as emergency sails. The "sea anchors" 

 employed to harness the current for steadying boats engaged in fish- 

 ing or dredging are made of bamboo matting. Fences made of coarse 

 bamboo matting may also serve as windbreaks or screens for privacy. 



Most matting is uncolored and depends for its ornamental appeal 

 upon the weave pattern. Sometimes, however, interesting color pat- 

 terns are produced by using dyed strips of various hues. Stage set- 

 tings are sometimes composed of scenes painted on bamboo matting. 

 Plain bamboo matting is effectively used as a background for the 

 display of paintings and objects of art. 



The Institute of Science and Technology, at Manila, has recently 

 conducted successful experiments in the use of fine bamboo matting 

 as a stress skin for airplane fuselages. The bamboos used are re- 

 ported as Bambusa s-pinosa and B. vulgaris. 



In Japan and the temperate parts of China various species of 

 Phyllostachys yield the strips used for matting. In southern China, 

 Bambusa textilis is the matting bamboo par excellence. In the Phil- 

 lippine Islands matting is made principally from the culms of 

 Schizostachyum spp., while in the more southerly parts of Asia and 

 in Indonesia and adjacent islands those from Bambusa, Dendroca- 

 lamus, Gigantochloa, Melocanna, and Schizostachyum are used. 



