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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
Photo by Crandall 
LIVING PLANTS OF THE INDIAN BAMBOO, FROM WHICH THE SPLIT BAMBOO FISHING 
POLES ARE MADE, AS THEY ARRIVED AT THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
As there are many species of bamboo which produce seed only once in 40 years, the only 
way to get them into this country is by means of special shipping cases, called Wardian 
cases, which are in effect miniature greenhouses, in which the plants are permitted to grow 
during the voyage, being watered on the way. 
plum, and there are delicious sorts the 
fruits of which are six pounds in weight. 
In India, where the wage of a coolie is 
not over 10 cents a day, there are varie- 
ties which sell for $6.60 a hundred, and 
the commonest sorts bring over a cent 
apiece. 
The great mango trees of India are 
said to reach a height of 70 feet, and are 
so loaded down with fruit that over $150 
worth has been sold from a single tree. 
These fine varieties, practically as free 
from fiber as a freestone peach, can be 
eaten with a spoon as easily as a canta- 
loupe. Train-loads of these are shipped 
from the mango-growing centers of 
India and distributed in the densely 
peopled cities of that great semi-tropical 
empire; and yet, notwithstanding the 
great importance of this fruit, the agri- 
cultural study of it from the new stand- 
point has scarcely been begun. I believe 
that it has never, for example, been 
tested on any but its own roots. 
