224 The National Geographic Magazine 



The rapidity of growth of the bamboo is per- 

 haps its most wonderful characteristic. There 

 are actual records of a bamboo growing 3 feet 

 in a single day, or at the rate of 1% inches an 

 hour. The shoot in this picture is 5 feet high, 

 and twelve days old. 



everywhere in Japan, even where there 

 are heavy falls of snow in winter. It is 

 a popular misconception that bamboos 

 grow only in the Tropics. Japan is a 

 land of bamboos, and yet where these 

 plants grow it is not so warm in winter 

 as it is in California. In regions where 

 the snows are so heavy that they often 

 break down the young stems and where 

 the thermometer drops to 15 F. below 

 the freezing point, the largest of the 

 Japanese species grows and forms large 

 groves. Some of these varieties could 

 be grown commercially in the United 

 States. 



The bamboo groves of Japan are not 

 only one of the most striking features of 

 its landscapes but one of its most profita- 

 ble plant cultures. The largest well-kept 

 groves in the world , except perhaps those 

 of Burma, are growing in the central 

 provinces, and some of these are sev- 

 eral square miles in area. These groves 

 pay the owners good interest, often $50 

 gold per acre annually ; Japan exports 

 10,000,000 fishing rods alone, the larger 

 share of which come to the United 

 States. There are many bamboos scat- 

 tered throughout the United States in 

 botanical gardens, where they are culti- 

 vated for ornamentation. There are also 

 some beautiful groves of imported bam- 

 boo in California, but no serious attempt 

 has yet been made to grow varieties hav- 

 ing commercial value. 



** Forest Fires in the Adirondack^ in 

 1903/' by H. M. Suter, shows that more 

 than 600,000 acres of timberland were 

 burned over in northern New York be- 

 tween April 20 and June, 1^03. About 

 $175,000 was spent in fighting the fires, 

 which nevertheless were finally extin- 

 guished only by the help of heavy rains. 

 The total direct loss was approximately 

 $3,500,000. No less serious, though 

 incapable of money valuation, is the in- 

 direct loss due to the destruction of 

 young growth which was to form the 

 future forest. To this must be added 



the injury to the forest soil caused by 

 the burning out of the vegetable matter 

 indispensable to healthy tree growth. 

 The unprecedented damage was due to 

 the long drought in April and May, 

 which had so dried the forests that the 

 fires swept through with fearful fury. 



The report is convincing evidence of 

 the necessity of establishing an Adiron- 

 dack national reserve, if we would pre- 

 serve the beauty of this region. The 

 report is published by the Bureau of 

 Forestry, and contains a large map of 

 the region devastated. 



