12 JAPANESE BAMBOOS. 



These reeds, although useful, have very soft stems, which are entirely 

 different in texture from those of the true bamboo. The canebrakes 

 of the South are made up of a species of bamboo, but unfortunately 

 the wood of this species is of very little value. The tall, plume-like 

 stem of the bamboo, which sometimes reaches a height of 100 feet, has 

 many of the characteristics of a giant grass (PI. I). It is composed 

 of joints, is hollow (PI. VIII, tig. 1), and grows to its full height from 

 a creeping underground stem in a few days, quite as does a shoot of 

 quack grass. The rapidity with which a new culm grows is one of the 

 most remarkable facts about it, and often bewilders the layman, who 

 is accustomed to judge the age of a tree by its size (PI. VII). Over 

 a foot a day is not an unusual rate during the most rapid growth — a 

 rate of 3 feet per day has been recorded — and a shoot more than 20 

 feet high may be less than fifty days above the ground. Its develop- 

 ment may be compared in a rough way to that of a shoot of asparagus, 

 and anyone who has seen how easily a young stem of bamboo can be 

 snapped oil by merely shaking it will appreciate this comparison. 



In common with the stems of grasses, those of the bamboo have a 

 hard, siliceous exterior, which makes them more impervious to mois- 

 ture and more durable than ordinary wood of the same weight. The 

 presence of partitions at short intervals, which cut up the hollow stem 

 into natural receptacles, is another valuable characteristic. These 

 partitions can, however, be easily removed, and the hollow stem used 

 as a pipe, or the pipe can be split open from end to end to form two 

 semicylindrical troughs. The ease with which the green stems can be 

 split into slender pieces, which range in size from half that of the 

 stem itself to the fineness of a horsehair, is one of the most remarkable 

 qualities of the wood, and makes it adapted to innumerable kinds of 

 basket, sieve, screen, and mat making. The fact that no long process 

 of curing is necessary before stems which have been cut fresh from 

 the forest can be used is one of the qualities that makes the plant of 

 such great convenience in the peasant homes of the Orient. Many of 

 the articles of bamboo manufacture could be replaced by metal ones, 

 but it is the convenience of having always at hand a stock of material 

 which can bo easily made into a host of improvised things that makes 

 the plant so valuable. This latter is a point which should appeal espe- 

 cially to Americans, who are called the handiest people in the world. 



The employment of the young sprouts as a vegetable is alone worthy 

 of the serious attention of our cultivators, for the fondness which 

 many American residents show for bamboo shoots indicates the possi- 

 bility of creating a demand for them in America. 



But in addition to the uses of the bamboos as timber and food plants 

 their value from an aesthetic standpoint is incontestable. They are 

 among the most graceful forms of vegetable life that exist, and add 

 an indescribable charm to any landscape (PL I). No one who has 



