THE 



AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



287 



The Bamboom 



SHELTER from winds, and plenty of 

 moisture, witli good soil, are needed 

 for these plants. There are tropical bam- 

 boos, which could not be expected to 

 thrive here; but there are numerous kindfi 

 which are thoroughly hardy. The magni- 

 ficent bamboos to be seen in Brisbane, 

 and on a smaller scale about Sydney, will 

 some of them do well enough here also. 

 The names of a few of the best hardy 

 bamboos may be of benefit to our readers. 

 Tliamnocalamus Falconeri is very fine. 

 Phyllostachys Quilioi is a very strong 

 grower, making canes in a very short time 

 20ft. to 30ft. in height ; it requires plenty 

 of moisture. P. viridi-glaucescens is one 

 of the very finest bamboos. P. aurea, P. 

 nigra, P. mitis, P. palmata, P. sulphurea, 

 and P. coryana are all worth having. 

 Bambusa fastuosa is highly ornamental. 

 The Arundinarias contain some very use- 

 ful bamboos. A anceps grows in its 

 native country to a height of 30ft. ; it has 

 charmingly luxuriant foliage, of a vivid 

 green colour ; it spreads rapidly. Other 

 tall growers are A. nitida, A. Simoni, and 

 A. japonica. Dwarf Arundinarias are 

 Fortunei and auricoma. A good bamboo 

 garden in Victoria would be unique. 

 Some of the kinds enumerated are already 

 in the colony ; the others could easily be 

 imported by some of our nurserymen. 



In English gardens the hardy bamboos 

 have become quite established, and some 

 50 kinds are in cultivation. No hardy 

 evergreen is so graceful and beautiful as 

 the bamboo. No class of plants con- 

 trasts so well with ordinary foliage plants 

 as it dqes. Many of the species are not 

 only beautiful to look upon, but are most 

 useful as well. Splendid sticks or stakes 

 for tying plants to can be cut from some 

 of them, to say nothing of walking-sticks, 

 fishing-rods, riding- whip-^, etc. 



The leaves of some of the baiiil)oos 

 make a good thatch for buildings. The 

 young blanched shoots are cooked and 

 eaten, and the seeds are collected and used 



for making bread; they are also fermented 



and matle into a drink resembling beer. 

 A whole page may be written on the 

 various uses to which the bamboo may be 

 put. Bamboos are simply grasses of a 

 tall-growing nature, the stems and 

 branches of which have become hard and 

 woody. Some of the species are perhaps 

 the fastest-growing plants in the veget- 

 able kingdom. Bambusa Tulda has been 

 known to grow 70 feet in a month. For- 

 tune noticed the growth of some Chinese 

 bamboos to be two to two and a half feet 

 per day. 



To successfully transplant bamboos, 

 unless they be grown in pots, they should 

 only be removed in late spring, say be- 

 tween the commencement of November 

 and Christmas, and especially at this 

 perioTI, when the weather is wet. If there 

 are rocks or stones in the soil they are to 

 be planted in, they should by all means 

 be retained, as the rhizomes of the bam- 

 boos grow round and about them, and 

 tliey also tend to prevent rapid evapora- 

 tion of moisture. — "Australasian." 



Stock Importetl by Sea 

 During May. 



THE following stock was imported into 

 Durban by sea during the month of 

 May : — Cattle, 161 ; horses, 7 ; mules, 8 ; 

 goats, 2 ; dogs, 11 ; antelope, 1. 



The aeration of milk is coming to be one of 

 thees sentiala of good dairying. In manj parts 

 of the world it seems to have been demonstrated 

 that milk i roperly aerated will give a better- 

 flavoured butter product than milk not so 

 aerated. In Europe and in the most progressive 

 dairy sections of this country the practice has 

 become popular. Recently a creamery board of 

 trade passed a resolution to the effect that their 

 creameries should in the future pay 5 cents, per 

 1001b. more for milk aerated than unaerated, 

 But while aeration is advisable, it must be done 

 in the proper place and under proper conditions. 

 The place for aeration must be in the pure air, 

 and where there are no odours that will get into 

 and injure the milk. 



