190 



BAMBOOS. 



Chap. JX. 



monastic buildings. Its stems are straight, smooth, 

 and clean, the joints are small, it grows to the 

 height of from sixty to eighty feet. Twenty or 

 thirty feet of the lower part of its stem are 

 generally free from branches. These are produced 

 on the upper portion of the tree, and then they 

 are so light and feathery that they do not affect 

 the cleanness of the main stem. In addition, there- 

 fore, to the highly picturesque effect it produces 

 upon the landscape, it is of great value in the arts, 

 owing to the smoothness and fineness of its struc- 

 ture. It is used in the making of sieves for the 

 manipulation of tea, rolling-tables for the same 

 purpose, baskets of all kinds, ornamental . inlaid 

 works, and for hundreds of other purposes, for 

 which the bamboo found in India is wholly un- 

 suitable. 



Like all other species of the same tribe, it grows 

 with great rapidity and perfects its growth in 

 a few months. To use a common expression, " one 

 could almost see it growing." I was in the habit 

 of measuring the daily growth in the Chinese 

 woods, and found that a healthy plant generally 

 grew about two feet or two feet and a half in the 

 twenty-four hours, and the greatest rate of growth 

 was during the night. 



The young shoots just as they peep out of the 

 ground are highly esteemed as food, and are taken 

 to the markets in large quantities. I was in the 

 habit of using them as a vegetable every day 

 during the season, and latterly was as fond of 



