HARDY BAMBOOS. 



5 



planting it out as undergrowth in woods, where it will, no doubt, make excel- 

 lent covert for foxes and pheasants. The same fate awaits B. palmata, which 

 is growing quite out of hand. Other desperate land-grabbers are P. fastuosa 

 (except in stiff clay soil) and B. quadrangularis, both of which are quite un- 

 suited to a middle-sized garden. A good thing in the wrong place becomes a 

 bad thing : who shall defend the persistent planting of Wellingtonias and Arau- 

 carias in suburban villa gardens which you might cover with a decent-sized 

 table-cloth ? 



In planting Bamboos, then, it is necessary that attention should be paid to 

 the size of the garden and the habit of the particular species, otherwise they are 

 best left alone. 



The question as to size calls for an answer which is akin to prophecy, the 

 danger of which is notorious. I cannot call to mind a single season during the 

 last twelve years which could be said to be really propitious to Bamboo culture. 

 As I pointed out at the beginning of this paper, we have had successions of 

 droughty summers, during which hand-watering has been enforced, and the 

 bucket is never so good as the rain-cloud. More especially is this inferiority 

 patent where the water heavily charged with lime is so hard that for domestic 

 purposes it must be artificially softened. In spite of this the plants have gone 

 on growing by yearly increments. Had the summer of 1902 been a little 

 warmer, the result would doubtless have been very different. Perhaps some day 

 we may get "a dripping June," which, being also genial, may " set all things 

 in tune," and when there may be warm instead of cold showers. If so, that will 

 be the test year. We know not what the future may have in store for us. 



In any case we have now canes of P. Quilioi 18 feet high ; P. Boryana 

 is growing vigorously at a height of 1 7 feet 6 inches ; P. Henonis and P. nigra 

 are nearly as high ; and a Bamboo of that size with its perfect grace is a most 

 beautiful sight in the wild garden. Forests of Bamboos we may not have ; but 

 if they are not to take their place in the Sylva, no one can deny that the Flora 

 is greatly the richer for their presence. 



Some years ago one of the principal cane and umbrella makers in London 

 assured me that we should never be able to grow a Bamboo that should be tough 

 enough to make a walking stick. The canes would all split and be useless. 

 He was wrong. This year I took him two canes of P. nigra to mount, and he 

 was obliged to confess that he had never seen tougher or better-coloured speci- 

 mens. It does not follow from this that the cultivation of Bamboos for such 

 purposes can be commercially profitable : in fact, it is impossible. In the first 

 place, canes can be imported from the Far East at a ridiculously low cost, and, 

 in the next place, the development of the plant is too slow. To cut from a 

 twelve-year-old plant two canes intrinsically worth two or three pence each, 

 can hardly be deemed a gigantic commercial success. 



