901 



"You would think yourself in Berlin now to ride into 

 the heart of Tokyo on elevated tracks and descend by ce- 

 ment staircases and tiled tunnels to the great domed 

 balmhof. I liked it better the old way." 



Mokanshan, Chekiang Province, China, Mr. Frank N. Meyer 

 writes Aug. 5, 1915. "Concerning this bamboo, Phyllostachys 

 picbescens , I can say this: The 'Mao tsoh' delights in shel- 

 tered situations on mountain and hill-slopes; it, wants a 

 rich, porous clayey soil to reach greatest perfection. In 

 this latitude, 31, it seems to thrive best at elevations 

 between 1000 and 2000 feet above sea-level. The height of 

 canes varies from about 20 feet, on poor, exposed places, 

 to about 80 feet in rich, moist gullies, in diameter of 

 stem from 2 inches to 5 inches, and in circumference of 

 stem from 6 inches to 16 inches. The canes sell locally 

 at 4 cash per catty (=about ^ of an American cent for 1-g- 

 lb.). A cane often weighs up to 80 catties but the average 

 is probably about 30 catties. At Dongsi, Mr. Kennedy in- 

 formed me, they receive about 20 Chinese copper cents for 

 a cane of about 40 ft. long; (which is about 8 cents U. S. 

 gold, but the rate of exchange influences prices consider- 

 ably, when American currency is used). As regards cutting 

 of this bamboo, the best time is from the end of October 

 until the beginning of February. Concerning periodical 

 cutting, the following advices were obtained. Do not cut 

 canes less than two seasons old, as it weakens the plants 

 very much and the canes themselves do not last long, being 

 not fully mature. Do not allow canes to stay on the ground 

 for longer than 7 years, as the wood becomes too hard and 

 too brittle to handle, except for exceptional purposes. 

 The ideal is to cut in a bamboo grove every two years all 

 of the canes that are three years old and over, but should 

 the grove not be very vigorous, be careful in not removing 

 too many canes and especially no young ones. Canes of one 

 season's growth should, at the approach of winter, have 

 their tops cut out, so as to minimize the danger of such 

 canes being broken by the snows and the storms of the cold 

 season; these tops are in general 5-10 feet long, depend- 

 ing upon the length of the cane; they are used, when cut 

 up and arranged suitably, as brooms and they are very last- 

 ing, cheap and efficient and of special value in f a^ni-yards , 

 in sweeping grains and seeds together on threshing floors. 

 When transplanting this bamboo or when starting a new 

 grove, the aim should be to obtain young, strong rhizomes 

 of considerable length, with as many roots attached as 

 possible, and to transplant them from the middle of Febru- 

 ary until the end of March; leave no large piece of cane 



