BAMBOOS 



Propagation 



THE INDIAN BAMBOOS 



Sporadic or 

 Gregarious. 



Association with 

 Famine. 



Propaga- 

 tion. 



By Seed. 



By Cuttings. 



Paper 



Material. 



the plant continues to flower as a perennial, while some bamboos are 

 entirely annual, flowering and dying down to the ground every year. 

 With all the larger species the flowering stage is reached after a prolonged 

 period of vegetation, variously stated at from 25 to 50 years, and is almost 

 regularly followed by the death of the whole stock. But the most curious 

 circumstance in the flowering of bamboos may be said to be that while 

 certain species are sporadic, others are gregarious. That is to say, a few 

 plants here and there flower in the one instance, and all the plants of the 

 same species flower simultaneously in the other. In the alphabetical 

 enumeration above the reader will find occasional mention of this feature. 

 According to some writers the gregarious flowering is due to specific 

 maturity being attained at a certain age, when flowering ensues on all the 

 plants derived from the same stock. According to others, flowering is 

 directly a result of climatic conditions. Both opinions may be true, and 

 this is probably the wiser solution of the phenomenon in other words, a 

 bamboo may not flower before it has attained a certain age, but its flowering 

 may be retarded or accelerated by climatic influences. It is an undoubted 

 fact that the flowering of the bamboo is decidedly influenced by the causes 

 which bring about famine, for the providential supply of food from this 

 source has saved the lives of thousands of persons during several of the 

 great famines of India. Sleeman (in 1836) suggested that it might save 

 the complete destruction of the bamboos of a district to introduce seedlings 

 obtained from the same species found in remote localities. Whether or 

 not this would have the desired result cannot as yet be stated. But it 

 appears certain that it is immaterial whether cuttings are taken a few years 

 or many years before the flowering ; the parent as well as plants raised 

 from it by cuttings, will flower and die simultaneously. Indeed it has 

 been shown that cuttings taken a year or so before the flowering, if unable 

 to produce flowers, nevertheless die with the rest. [Of. Brandis, Ind. For., 

 1900, xxv., 10-25 ; Bean, Kew Bulb., 1907, 228-33.] 



Propagation of the Bamboo. This may be effected : /. By Seed. 

 The slowest but most satisfactory process. Some species germinate while 

 the seed is still attached to the plant, the young seedlings dropping from 

 the parent when about 6 inches in size. Nothing is known as to the 

 period of vitality of the bamboo seeds, but if carefully collected and 

 matured in the usual way, they may be sent from one part of India to the 

 other in good condition. But this, of course, applies only to those which 

 fall from the plant before germinating. Seedlings, however, require 10 to 

 20 years to attain a growth sufficient to admit of full cropping, the period 

 varying slightly according to the species grown and the locality of 

 production. 



2. By Cuttings. This is the process most frequently adopted in 

 artificial production. The lower part, say 3 feet in length, of a growing 

 half mature stem is placed in the ground shortly after the commencement 

 of the rains. This is most frequently cut off so as to leave, if possible, a 

 portion of the rhizome attached. The cutting should be made a little 

 below one of the nodes and buried so as to include two nodes. Sometimes 

 the cuttings are laid lengthwise along the ground on a specially prepared 

 soil, and the sproutings at each node with their rootlets are afterwards 

 severed and transplanted to their final positions. 



Fibre as a Paper Material. " Of all the fibre-yielding plants known 

 to botanical science, there is not one so well calculated to meet the 



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