DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 79 



rollers of the sugar mill for the expression of the juice. It is generally used in the 

 Tropics as fuel, hut latterly an attempt has been made to use it for paper making. 

 Samples of paper made from it are shown." (Off. Guide Kew Mus.) 



Bagolaro (It.)- Celt-is australis. 



Bahia piassaba (Braz.). See Attalea funifera. 



Bakrabadi jute (Iud.). See Corchorus. 



Balizier (Trin.). See Reliconia. 



Balsa or Balso (S. Am.). See Ochroma lagopus, etc. 



Bambagia (see Bombax malabaricum). 



Bamboo (see Arimdinaria, Bambusa, and Dendrocalamus). 



Bambusa arundinacea. The Bamboo. 



Endogen. Graminece. A cane, 70 to 80 feet. 



Native names. — Quasi (Arab.); jVai (Pers.); Mandgay (Bomb.); Bans (Beng.); 

 Kattu-una (Ceyl.). 



"The spiny bamboo of central and southwest India." 



The genus Bambusa embraces many species of " giant grass " found in the Tropics 

 of both hemispheres, but B. arundinacea may be generally accepted as the one com- 

 monly known as bamboo. Tbe largest and best canes are produced from this spe- 

 cies, though other cultivated species are sometimes mistaken for it. Dr. Morris says 

 that B. vulgaris is generally cultivated in British gardens. 



Structural, Fiber. — This is derived from the shoots, which are reduced to fibrous 

 material to form paper stock. For other manufactures the canes are split or shred- 

 ded, to be afterwards wrought into various forms. 



Cultivation. — The method of planting it most commonly adopted by the natives 

 of India is by shoots, or the lower part of the halm with a portion of the rhizome, 

 set out during the rains, but heavy and constant rain for some time afterwards is 

 essential. In Algeria propagation by stem cuttings is found to succeed admirably. 

 Cultivation from seed is, perhaps, the most certain plan; but it is open to the serious 

 disadvantage that the plant then requires ten to fifteen years to attain a growth 

 sufficient to admit of cropping. The plant will not grow in poor or waste soils, but 

 prefers the rich land on the banks of streams. Abundance of moisture, supplied 

 either naturally or by irrigation, is absolutely essential. Thousands of acres of 

 wild bamboo jungle exist in the Tropics, but very little of this is available for the 

 purposes of the paper manufacturer, as experience has shown that shoots of the year 

 are the only ones which can be used. This fact, coupled with the equally important 

 one that an abundance of bamboo is essential to the very existence of the native 

 races of the East Indies, renders it certain that for industrial undertakings the plant 

 would have to be systematically cultivated. (Spon.) 



Utility. — The variety of purposes to which the bamboo is applied is almost end- 

 less. The Chinese use it in one way or another for nearly everything they require. 

 The sails of their ships as well as their masts and rigging consist chiefly of bamboo, 

 manufactured in different ways. Almost every article of furniture in their houses, 

 including mats, screens, chairs, tables, bedsteads and bedding, and utensils gener- 

 ally employed in the domestic economy, and even coarse underclothing, are made of 

 this material, which is similarly used in Japan, Java, and Sumatra. 



"Employed in shipbuilding and in the construction of bridges. Buckets, pitchers, 

 flasks, and cups, are made from sections of the stems. Baskets, boxes, fans-, hats, 

 and jackets are made from the split bamboo. Ropes and Chinese paper are made 

 from these grasses. A Chinese umbrella consists of bamboo paper, with a bamboo 

 handle and split bamboo for a frame. The leaves are used for packing, filling beds, 

 etc., and occasionally serve as fodder for stock. The young shoots serve as a vege- 



