t 490 



CHAPTER LXXXII. 



THE BAMBOO (BAMBUSA ARUNDINACEA), 



ALLUVIAL loam is best adapted for the growth of this 

 plant. There are various jats of bamboo, solid and 

 hollow thick and slender, strong and brittle, fast-growing and 

 slow-growing. The right variety should be chosen. Holes 

 are to be dug in May, 20 feet apart, and rotten cattle-manure 

 put in the holes. In June or July, bamboos with roots are to be 

 dug up and planted, slantingly, in the holes. In the first year, 

 in the dry season watering will be necessary from time to time, 

 but afterwards only an application of silt or ashes, once a year, 

 in April or May, is all that is required to be done to keep the 

 clumps in vigour. Cutting of ripe culms can begin from the 5th 

 year, two or three being cut out of every clump the 5th year, 

 and the number gradually rising to 8 or 10 per clump per 

 dntium. A clump of bamboo may go on yielding for 40 or 50 

 years, 8 or 10 bamboos a year, if the annual application of silt 

 continues. An acre of bamboo forest may yield a gross in- 

 come of Rs. 200 per annum, after 10 years, and Rs. 100 per 

 annum after 5 years. Young shoots of bamboos are boiled 

 and cooked like vegetable. 



CHAPTER LXXX1II. 



ORANGES. 



HPHE four principal localities in which oranges are regular- 

 ly cultivated in plantations, are, Sylhet, Sikkim, Delhi, 

 and Nagpur. We get four different varieties of oranges from 



