MANY OR SPECIAL PURPOSES 335 



that separates the pithy joint sections enables 

 the brown man to make, with his knife in a very 

 short time, a complete set of dishes that stand 

 straight and hold water. A single reed makes 

 cups and bowls, the sizes ranging from the thick 

 base to the narrow tip. 



Certain dwarf bamboos cultivated in China 

 furnish material used in the manufacture of paper 

 of all grades. Quite as many uses are found for 

 small species as for the giant reeds used as posts 

 and joist for houses and masts for vessels. The 

 thin, hard rind makes knives with which arrows, 

 pens, and such small things are cut and finished. 



PALMS 



The rank of " Princes of the Vegetable King- 

 dom," given by grateful natives of tropical 

 countries, is certainly deserved, for the uses to 

 which palm trees are put are without number. 

 "They are among Nature's most generous gifts to 

 uncivilized men" — to quote the words of Wallace 

 who spoke of the bamboo in the East Indies. 



To begin with, there are in tropical and sub- 

 tropical countries over 1,200 different kinds of 

 palms. They are mostly trees of slender, un- 

 branched stems, crowned or feathered with a 



