212 ARUNDINARIA 



years. I have been informed that the lives of bamboos (or of some of 

 them) may be saved by cutting off all the stems close to the ground 

 as soon as ever there is any indication that they are about to blossom 

 I cannot guarantee the efficacy of this plan, but it is worth trying. A 

 curious circumstance in connection with the flowering of bamboos is 

 the simultaneous flowering of all the plants of one species, although 

 spread over great areas and growing under different conditions. Instances 

 have been known where plants grown in English hothouses for many 

 years have flowered (and died) during the same season as plants of 

 identical species growing wild in the tropics. Hardy species in our 

 gardens have behaved in the same way, flowering simultaneously all over 

 the country ; but the period of flowering appears to be longer and less 

 clearly defined than in the case of wild species, and may extend over four 

 or five years. 



CULTIVATION. After a quarter of a century's experience with hardy 

 bamboos, I am inclined to believe that the most important item in the 

 cultivation of the group as a whole is the provision of good shelter. Few 

 plants we grow are less adapted to' withstand cutting blasts from north 

 and east than these. They need some position protected from those 

 quarters, but open to the south and west. Nothing in our gardens is 

 more lovely in form than a well-grown bamboo from midsummer to 

 Christmas, but with the January and February frosts and the biting winds 

 of March, many of them become seared and brown, and anything but 

 pleasant objects. Adequate shelter from cold winds does much to 

 prevent or defer this disfigurement. 



As regards soil, they appear to thrive best in an open loam of fair 

 quality ; neither so sandy as to be poor, nor so clayey as to be heavy and 

 cold. They also succeed well on a peaty formation. Being gross feeders 

 they need abundant moisture, and are benefited by occasional mulchings 

 with manure. 



TRANSPLANTING AND PROPAGATION. In the absence of seed a very 

 uncertain product in this country propagation is effected by division. 

 All disturbance at the root, whether for propagation or transplanting, 

 is best deferred until May, or until the unfolding of new leaves indicates 

 that root action has begun. Early autumn is also a good time, but 

 from late autumn to early spring is the worst time to transplant. In 

 order to divide some clumps of the tufted sorts it may be necessary to 

 use a pickaxe, so hard and matted does the root system become; but 

 from the running sorts pieces can be easily taken. To get a big stock 

 quickly, a clump should be broken up into comparatively small pieces, 

 which should be potted or planted thickly in a warm, moist greenhouse 

 until re-established. In this case it is advisable to cut down the stems in 

 proportion to the sacrifice of roots. Imported plants are safer if estab- 

 lished in heat in this way before planting in the open ground. 



For districts where the success of bamboos is problematical, the 

 following sorts are the best to experiment with: Arundinaria anceps, 

 fastuosa, japonica, nitida, palmata, and Ragamowski; Phyllostachys 

 Henonis, nigra, and viridi-glaucescens. 



ARUNDINARIA. The most obvious distinctive characters of Arundin- 



