THE BAMBOO. 
247 
Growth in tubs or pots for decorative uses. — Those who have to provide 
plants for indoor decoration may go farther and fare much worse 
than if they used some of the Bamboos for these varied purposes. 
The one essential is to see that the plants are permanently established 
before they are used. For niches or alcoves, or in corridors and 
entrance halls, they are most useful. They are not used so much in 
this country as on the Continent, for their value in this direction has 
not yet been realized here. I once saw them arranged to a good 
effect in an hotel in Rome. Messrs. F. Sander used to grow them 
for this purpose at Bruges. A few of the best are Phyllostachys aurea 
(perhaps the best of all), P. Boryana, P. Henonis, P. flexuosa, 
Arundinaria anceps, A. nitida, and A. fastuosa. Even in localities 
where Bamboos do not thrive freely in the open it is always possible to 
use them outside during the summer season for effective grouping. 
All that is needed is a cold-house during the winter where little frost 
need be feared. Protection at the roots and free use of the water- 
can during growth are the essentials. 
Bambusa Fortunei and B. auricoma are cultivated in small pots 
for decorative uses by many nurserymen. Both should be cut down 
in the spring, then re-potted or top-dressed; the young growths 
afterwards made will be quite fresh and attractive. When growing 
Bamboos in pots I advise that a fair proportion of peat be used, as 
this will assist them when thus restricted. 
Suitable Soil.< — The soil best suited in my opinion for the Bamboo 
is a calcareous loam of good depth. To this should be added a fair 
amount of farmyard or stable manure, not sufficient to cause too 
sappy and soft growth, but enough to encourage free growth. 
Bamboos will, I know, grow well in a lighter soil with more humus in 
it and even in peat, but I do not consider that the growth so obtained 
is so durable. We should aim at building up firm growth rather than 
sappy, for then the plants will endure a cold winter much more safely. 
Classification.' — For all practical purposes it may be said that 
all the Bamboos that are hardy in this country come under three 
genera, viz. Arundinaria, Bambusa, and Phyllostachys. If one picks 
up a catalogue and compares it with another catalogue some con- 
fusion in the nomenclature will nearly always be found to exist. 
The basis upon which I have classified them is as follows. The 
Arundinarias, in nearly every instance, push up their culms to the 
extreme height right away, and for that season do not put forth 
many lateral shoots. Bambusas make their culms in the same way, 
but send forth a cluster of leaves at the ends of the shoots. These 
do not branch lower down in the following year, but radiate from the 
topmost shoots again, whereas the Arundinarias branch forth in a 
somewhat irregular manner from year to year. In the species of 
Phyllostachys the culms commence to branch out as they are 
lengthening and in a somewhat uniform manner ; for instance, a culm 
may still be increasing in height yet have lateral shoots some 2 feet 
in length. That is my rough and ready way of distinguishing one 
