42 THE IDYL OF THE SPLIT-BAMBOO 



fiber, and elasticity, like our native bamboo. It 

 would make beautiful cases for rods, however. It 

 may be, too, that bamboo from a locality which ex- 

 poses the growing stalks to frequent bending in the 

 wind will develop superior elasticity; and strips from 

 the side of an individual stalk that was most exposed 

 to the weather may have a preferable steely quality. 

 Of the numerous varieties of the Indian bamboo, 

 it would appear that the particular one known bo- 

 tanically as Dendro calamus strictus would be the 

 best for rod-making, though it has been stated that 

 the Bambusa arundinacea is the Calcutta cane often 

 used for the purpose. The former is described as 

 follows, by J. S. Gamble, in an article on the Bam- 

 buseee of British India, Annals of the Calcutta Bo- 

 tanical Gardens, vol. 7, p. 79. We quote directly 

 from a pamphlet issued by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, captioned: "Seeds from a Bamboo 

 from Calcutta, India, presented by Mr. William 

 Bambower, Collins, Ohio " 



A very useful and strong bamboo of India, formerly used uni- 

 versally for spear shafts. The plant flowers frequently and does 

 not die down after flowering as in the case with so many bam- 

 boos. The culms are said to sometimes reach a height of one- 

 hundred feet. This is the most common and most widely spread 

 and most universally used of the Indian bamboos, and is commonly 

 known as the " male " bamboo. Its culms are employed by the 

 natives for all purposes of building and furniture, for mats, baskets, 

 sticks, and other purposes. It furnishes, when large culms are 

 procurable, the best material for lance shafts. In Burma, when 

 large culms are obtainable, they are much in request for mats 

 [masts?] for native boats. It flowers gregariously over large areas, 



