246 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
There comes a time in the life of every Bamboo when a judicious 
thinning out of the older and somewhat exhausted growths will 
prove beneficial. These, as a rule, should be cut clean out at the base. 
Keep these growths for use as stakes and as small sticks. I find 
nothing better for staking herbaceous borders than these cut-out 
growths of the Phyllostachys with their lateral shoots remaining 
upon them. These we insert amid the growths and simply pass a 
string around the group. The shoots are rigid, and with the spray- 
like growth still upon them sufficient support is afforded. The old 
canes from the Arundinarias and Bambusas are more suitable as 
single stakes. Be cautious, however, in thinning out those that from 
year to year become more pendulous because of the weight of their 
foliage and dense spray-like growths, such, for instance, as Arundinaria 
nitida, which will droop outwards and touch the ground, thus forming 
one of the most graceful objects imaginable. 
By cutting down I mean cutting off all the growths just above 
the ground level ; this do when it is seen that renewed growth is 
commencing in the spring. One that best repays this process is 
Bambusa auricoma, at no time a tall plant by any means. By 
thus cutting this Bamboo down a much finer growth is ensured, 
with larger and better developed leafage. The colouring, too, is more 
intensified, a deep golden colour pervading the mass of leafage. Other 
species similarly benefited are : Bambusa Fortunei ; B. disticha, some- 
what similar in habit but not variegated ; B. Veitchii ; B. tessellata 
(syn. B. Ragamowskii) ; B. japonica (syn. B. Metake) ; and B. palmata. 
The last may be treated in two ways. If it be so placed as to give height, 
only cut off all the leafage ; it will then break out afresh and soon be 
a leafy mass of spring shoots. If, on the other hand, it is growing as 
a mass and in the foreground, cut it down to the ground and spring 
shoots will soon push forth. I have never experimented with any 
of the Arundinarias or Phyllostachys in this way, for they seem to me 
to be quite distinct in habit from the Bambusa section. 
Flowering of the Bamboo. — It is generally conceded that upon this 
stage in the life of any Bamboo death ensues. This has been my 
experience so far. In this way I have lost Arundinaria Simoni almost 
entirely. Phyllostachys nigra, of which we had a magnificent specimen, 
followed suit, though we have some smaller ones left. P. Boryana 
and P. Henonis we lost completely at the flowering period. Mr. F. 
Bedford, when at Straffan, Co. Kildare, experimented with the 
Bamboo at the flowering stage by cutting all shoots down to the 
ground as soon as any symptoms of flowering appeared. In this 
way he met with encouraging success, but whether it only proved a 
postponement of the evil day or a complete remedy I am not able 
to say. 
An opportunity is afforded, when the cutting down is practised, 
to clear away all rubbish at the base and also to give a good top- 
dressing of well-decomposed manure. When the growths are cut out 
let them be tied up tightly in bundles, so as to keep them straight. 
