902 



attached to the rhizome. (This Is Chinese advice of course, 

 because the Chinese here do not know the success one can 

 obtain with bamboos, when growing them with confined 

 roots!) As regards the monetary returns per acre per year, 

 this we find a very hard matter to get cleared up. One 

 fellow said that a neighbor of his had sixty mow of land, 

 (about 10 acres) with Mao tsoh and after having let them 

 grow for four years, he received last winter $200 Mex. 

 for the lot, that is, for every cane that was two years 

 old. He had to pay, however, 10$ taxes, so he got $180.00 

 Mex. clear money; which is $18.00 Mex. per acre for 4 

 years, or $4.50 Mex. per acre per year. And his bamboos 

 were very fine indeed, added our informant. This is cer- 

 tainly a small return for a crop, according to an American 

 point of view, but then - these bamboos grow on mountain 

 slopes where it is very hard to grow other crops, with the 

 exception of tea, and they need very little looking after, 

 while the cut-off tops and the culm sheaths (for packing) 

 -bring in an additional small income. 



"Here are a few fundamentals of working bamboos: 

 never split canes which are perfectly dried out, always 

 have your canes as moist as possible. Straighten your 

 canes by means of a hot flame and bend gently, while ap- 

 plying hot pieces of cloth to the stems. When wanting 

 curves and abrupt bends, saw out a piece and bend above a 

 hot flame. Employ sharp instruments of hard steel. Split 

 bamboos from top to bottom. 



"When wanting the partitions of a large cane pierced 

 through, so as to use it for a water pipe, take a thin, 

 hard cane and ram it through. 



"If building long irrigation pipes, fit the top end 

 of one cane into the base end of the other, and take fiber 

 with clay to make the joints tight; they do not stand a 

 great pressure, however. Later on, when having seen more, 

 -I may be able to say more but now I think I am safe in 

 saying this: 



"Bamboo culture in the Gulf sections of our Southern 

 States and in parts of the Pacific Coast States will become 

 successful within the next few generations. It probably 

 will prove to be quite remunerative when taken up by in- 

 dustrial schools and as a home industry. One of the quick- 

 est ways to make bamboo culture popular, would be by hav- 

 ing a travelling exhibit of bamboo ware and photos, etc., 

 and showing such things to people in those sections of 

 the U. S. where bamboo groves could be established." 



