904 
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
Photo by David Fairchild 
BLANCHED SHOOTS OF THE JAPANESE UDO 
This is a new vegetable, with a unique flavor. 
It has been pronounced delicious by a 
great many people; and, because it can be grown throughout a wide range of territory in 
the United States, is one of the earliest in the spring, and can also be blanched in the 
autumn, it has attracted the attention of one of the largest growers of asparagus in the 
world, Mr. W. H. Meeks, who has planted several acres of it on the lowlands of the 
Sacramento River, California. 
importance of the bamboo as a new crop 
for the South. He was so firmly con- 
vinced of its importance that he offered 
to purchase and send as a gift to the 
country 2,000 plants for trial. Unfortu- 
nately, the offer was not accepted, and it 
was not until several years later that the 
large shipment was made which is now 
establishing itself in northern Florida, 
where the first commercial grove of these 
remarkable plants is to find its home. - 
“Of what practical use is the bamboo?” 
is the question of the Occidental, and it 
must seem to the Oriental as singular as 
his question would be, “Of what use is 
the white pine to the American?” For 
there is no plant in the world which is 
put to so many uses as the bamboo, and 
in the regions where it grows it is appar- 
ently the most indispensable of all plants. 
In this country I predict it will be used 
earliest for barrel hoops, for cheap irri- 
gating pipes, for vine-stakes and trellises, 
It is as easy to grow as asparagus and yields a crop sooner. 
for light ladders and stays for over- 
loaded fruit trees, for baskets and light- 
fruit shipping crates, and for food. As 
wind-breaks and to hold canal banks and 
prevent the erosion of steep hillsides, 
there are species which excel all other 
plants, while for light furniture and 
jalousies it is sure to find a market when- 
ever the green timber is available. 
Unlike the forest trees, the giant bam- 
boos are true grasses. They send under- 
ground stems long distances through the 
soil, binding it together with hard, flint- 
like rhizomes. They send up from this 
network of roots and rhizomes the most 
rapid - growing shoots of any plants 
known; and, like giant asparagus stems, 
these shoot at the rate of a foot a day 
into the air. So fresh and tender are 
these shoots that they can be snapped off 
with the hand, and when cooked they 
form one of the great vegetable delicacies 
of the world. 
