879 



The cultivation is comparatively easy, by seeds or division 



ol the root stocks — this perhaps being the more common, owing 

 to the rarity in some species of seed production. The growth 

 at times is remarkable — Bambusa vulgaris in the Palm House 

 at Kew," grew at the rate of 3 ft, in a single week (Routledge 

 (1875) I.c). In Ceylon it has been found that '* growth is 

 always more rapid by night than by day, the average hourly 

 growth between 7 a.m. and '5 p.m. (day) was 6 mm., between 

 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. (night) 16 mm. at heights of 3-12 metres, 

 the most rapid grow^th recorded at night was 23 mm. per hour 

 (Lock, seq, p. 265), and in Trinidad the giant bamboo has been 

 observed to make a growth of 12 in. in 24 hours or ^ in. per hour 

 at the early period of the season of growth; but this rapidity 

 gradually lessens as the stem reaches its normal height, 60-80 ft. 

 (Bull. Roy. Bot. Gdns. Trinidad, Jan. 1907, p. 179). Some big 

 figures have been given accordingly, purporting to show the 

 possible production of pulp-material over a certain area in a 

 given time ; but whilst admitting without doubt the rapidity of 

 growth in well-established clumps, the calculations for large 

 areas are liable to some uncertainty in maintaining a steady 

 supply under cultivation. The suitability of the culms for 

 worldng and the period of rotation for cutting are important 

 factors. Baynhusa polyjnorpha — the most useful is smaller than 

 B, arundinacea, which is difficult to work with owing to the^ 

 weight of the culms and the hardness of the nodes; but 

 Cephalostachyum pergracile, though smaller than B, polymorpha^ 

 is considered quite as suitable for paper pulp. These three 

 species require a 5 years' rotation for cutting and for Melocanna- 

 bambusoides, 7 years has to be allowed (Kew Bull. 1913^ p. 129). 

 In Trinidad (I.e.) it has been found that it takes 10 years at 

 least to produce a fair-sized clump of Bamboo to stand regular 

 cutting once in 2 years, and that reaping experiments show 

 that frequent cutting results in the death of the stools. Paper^ 

 however, has been successfully made from Bamboo pulp in 



Trinidad, and it is reported that a firm in Edinburgh have a 



concession for cutting bamboo in the Government forests and 

 have planted 1000 acres near St. Joseph, 7 miles from Port of 

 Spain (Bull. Imp. Inst. 1920, p. 416). There are many thousands 

 of acres of Bamboo forest on the slopes of Kenya in East Africa 

 where Arundinaria alpina is said to be common, the culms 

 attaining a height of 60 ft. with a diameter at the base of 5 in. 

 (I.e. pp. 406, 417). There is no doubt that the climate of 

 Nigeria is suitable for Bamboos and, the cultivation might, be 

 largely extended by the introduction of species other than the 

 Oxytenanthera and Dendrocalamus , already well established there 

 and may with advantage include those above mentioned that 

 are recommended for the production of paper-pulp. 



-Re/. — Les Bambous, Vegetation, Culture, Multdphcfttion, en 

 Europe, en Algerie, Riviere & Riviere, pp. 1-364, illustr. (Paris> 



1878). "Bamboo'' in Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, i. 



1889, pp. 370-394. " Bamboo/^ Hubbard, U.S.. Dept. Agric. 



Z 2 



