408 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1957 



a certain stimulus which would explain the use by the rhizomes of a 

 greater vertical range of the soil strata, a condition evident in hillside 

 cultures. This postpones the competition between rhizomes which 

 soon becomes apparent in plants grown on level land. 



Culture of bamboo exhibits a great range of care. One extreme 

 is represented by complete neglect of the grove other than harvesting 

 the shoots at the appropriate time or cutting the culms when they 

 are mature. One degree of improvement comes with selection of those 

 shoots that are to be allowed to reach maturity, and the intelligent 

 choice of culms to remove, looking to the maintenance or increase of 

 the productivity of the grove. A further improvement is represented 

 by removal of weeds and bush from the grove once a year. When the 

 careful farmer sees that the soil has become choked with an accumula- 

 tion of old rhizomes, he renovates the grove or shifts its location. 



In addition to being grown as a farm crop, bamboo is extensively 

 used throughout the Orient to form living hedges, barriers, and wind- 

 breaks. While these are usually informal, they are sometimes trimmed 

 and restricted rather systematically. Bamboos of the clump type are 

 preferred for these purposes in areas where they are sufficiently 

 hardy. Unlike bamboos of the running type, they form rather com- 

 pact tufts, spread slowly, and do not encroach upon adjacent land. 

 For small, formal or informal, ornamental hedges in tropical and sub- 

 tropical areas, varieties of Bambusa multiplex are generally used. In 

 more temperate regions dwarf species of Phyllostachys, Sasa, or some 

 of the other related genera are employed. For the protective barriers 

 about villages so commonly seen in the more tropical parts of the 

 Orient, large spiny-branched bamboos of the genus Bambusa are 

 employed. The shoots of Bambusa sinospinosa and B. blumeana are 

 edible after parboiling. In China the former are usually dried for 

 consumption during the winter season. The latter are used to a very 

 great extent as an esculent in the Philippine Islands. 



BAMBOO IN THE PREVENTION OF EROSION 



Although the potentialities of bamboo as a means of preventing 

 erosion on steep slopes have never been fully exploited in the Orient, 

 the plant has been consciously used to excellent advantage for this 

 purpose on levees and dikes. Bamboo groves of the spreading type on 

 mountain sides incidentally serve this very important function to a 

 much greater extent than is generally realized. 



USES OF BAMBOO CULM SHEATHS 



Bamboo culm sheaths are husklike structures which completely 

 clothe and protect the young culm or shoot. The base of each sheath 

 is attached to the culm at a node. In most bamboos the sheath falls 



