238 RICHMOND. 



by varying the conditions of the digestion; the older growths requiring 

 conditions of strength of liquor, temperature and time, which would 

 result in considerable loss and the weakening of the fibers of younger 

 ones. The best results were obtained with what I consider to be two- 

 year-old bamboo, namely, shoots which had passed through two full 

 seasons of growth. At this stage in the life of the plant the sheaths 

 which formerly surrounded each node have fallen off and a crown of 

 leaves has appeared at the top. Such a bamboo loses approximately' 35 

 per cent of its weight on being dried in the air and contains about 9 

 per cent of nodes. It is sufficiently mature to give good yields of fiber, 

 and it has not become too much lignified to be difficult to treat ; further- 

 more, its removal at this stage will not cause any injury to the parent 

 rootstock. I do not anticipate any trouble in securing bamboo of uniform 

 age if one or more of the following precautions are observed : 



1. Young shoots of less than one year's growth are very soft and 

 tender. They have a troublesome sheath surrounding each node, but 

 possess no leaves or branches. 



2. Bamboos two years old have lost their sheaths and a crown of 

 leaves has appeared. 



3. Stems of three years' growth or more have a well-developed crown 

 and branches extending halfway down the stem. 



All bamboos should be as completely air dry as possible in order to 

 require the least time in cooking. 6 If this precaution is observed they 

 will crush and chip into a much finer state of division than they other- 

 wise would. An air-dry cane passed between a pair of crushing rolls 

 cracks or splits longitudinally into strips varying from 1.270 to 2.540 

 centimeters in width, and when these strips are fed into an ordinary 

 cutting box, such as is employed for cutting corn stalks or other fodder, 

 the chips separate, more or less completely, still further into pieces from 

 1.270 to 0.318 centimeters in width. Bamboo forms much denser indi- 

 vidual pieces than wood and a subsequent crushing in a special chip 

 crusher would prove very advantageous. No such apparatus was at 

 hand in the laboratory and therefore all preliminary preparation was 

 made as described above. Of course, in practice, the length of the chips 

 is regulated more or less at will. " 



I would recomend as machinery to prepare bamboo, sets of crushing 

 rolls of the necessary capacity and speed, and especially constructed 

 chippers of heavier construction than the ordinary rope or rag cutters, 

 but not nearly as strong and massive as pulp wood chippers. 



It will probably be necessary to construct cheap drying sheds in the mill 

 yard for the storage of the material during the rainy months of the year. 



