BAMBOOS 



OF the large number of hardy plants remarkable for 

 their elegant habit, nobility of aspect, or the distinctive 

 colouring of their foliage that were brought into pro- 

 minence during the last thirty years of the nineteenth 

 century, but few are more deserving of the attention 

 of the planter than the bamboos, of which there are so 

 many beautiful kinds in cultivation. Unsurpassed in 

 elegance of growth, they are so vigorous in constitution 

 as to soon become established and develop their dis- 

 tinctive characteristics, and with a few exceptions they 

 are sufficiently hardy to withstand the effects of the 

 severest weather experienced during the British winters. 

 They are indeed so beautiful and also so distinct from 

 all the other hardy plants, whether herbaceous or 

 shrubby, that it is not unreasonable to assume that 

 some of the more formal objects usually met with in 

 gardens and pleasure-grounds will be replaced by the 

 feathery growths of the bamboos as they become better 

 known. They have not, it must be admitted, proved 

 so satisfactory in every instance as could be desired, 

 but this has in a large measure been due to the conditions 

 under which they attain their highest degree of develop- 

 ment not being fully understood. Cultivators were 

 aware that several of the finest species grew luxuriantly 

 in certain parts of Japan, where in the coldest season 

 the temperature falls so low as to justify the belief that 

 they would withstand the effects of the winters in this 

 country without injury. 



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