September i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
3°7 
silicious (?) at 2 and Sand not 15 years old. 4th.— 
All species do not take a series of years to mature ; 
some mature in 2, others in 6 to 12 years. 5th. — 
The Bamboo attaius generally its full height, girth 
and thickness of walls in 1 year, and the latter do 
not grow thicker and thicker yearly, and eventually 
cause death. 
One gentleman— Mr. Cobb— stated that the Chinese 
"let some grow so large that they make buckets of 
them," ! as we might say of a knowing fellow who 
let his pony alone so as to grow into a horse ! This 
applied to the "Ming" Bamboo of the Nagas, a 
peculiar species, and if anything larger when young 
than when old. These I give as samples of the facts 
guiding (?) the meeting. It seems to me the best 
tiring Mr. Routledge could have done would be to 
pick out some 2 or 3 of the most likely kinds, clumped 
or gregarious, cultivated or wild, and have learnt all 
about them. Instead of this, stray facts, relating to 
perhaps a hundred species, have been collected, mixed, 
ami poured' out, resulting, as wo might guess, in a 
nice mess. Undoubtedly there are enormous areas all 
through the hill tracts of Eastern Bengal where the 
Bamboo grows rampant, and could supply the demand 
until it was systematically cultivated for fibre, and 
this, I take it, is the object in view. Now the 
leading fact in this case is one that Mr. R. seems 
not to have grasped, and may account for the diverg- 
ence between him and Dr. King, i. e., that the 
most likely cultivated kinds do not propagate by 
seed or from old stems, but shoot up from the very 
kind he wants to cut) away, i.e., the young stems; 
cropping the young stems (from which alone pulp 
should lie made) cripples the propagation. What he 
needs to leave is what he also wants to take away : 
a case of eating his cake and yet having it. Even 
if he takes but a few here and there, it is still the 
same in the end : what he gains in crop for fibre, he 
loses in prop»gation, and this in the cultivated kind 
is no small difficulty. This is Mr. Routledge's parti- 
cular nut, and not an easy one to crack, you would 
say, if you knew the facts thoroughly. As it bears 
on this matter — but also because it may be of use to 
so many of your readers— I will describe shortly the 
way to plant a Bamboo Bari. Firstly, the site should 
be above swamp level, and secondly, near enough to 
the station to be watched, so as to keep out pigs, 
cows, elephant?, and thieves. If grass land, it may 
bo cleared and burnt, though this is not absolutely 
necessary ; if forest, it should be cleared, and then 
the lines laid out about 20 or 24 feet apart, and 
holes of 2 feet x 2 dug about every 12 or 16 feet in 
these rows, each hole to take 2 or 3 root stocks. 
If Jati Bamboo is to be planted, the root-stems of 
young ones should be selected, say of one or at most 
2 years old, and which can be known by the white 
band round the stein just above each joint. The 
(OOt should bo carefully bared and the stem cut 
above it at 10 or 12 fcot, foliage left on. When dug 
out the stem and root will look like the letter J., 
and care should be taken not to injure the eyes on 
the lower b^nt part, as it is from these (3 or 4 on 
each Bide) that the future Bamboos shoot. February 
or March is a r,ood time, aud the early rains iu 
April will prevent these stems drying up. It is a 
good way to plant these root stems slightly inclining 
outwards, and have them well tamped in, with some 
rubbish thrown over as shade for tho ground. In 
the Kaehari country and from Borpettah past Nol 
r..m, Komalpur, and Darang, where there is no build- 
ing timber, lino Bamboo Marios aro seen, and in many 
cases a lirgo njuaro of an acre or so ha? the outer 
rows all round of tho Buluka Bamboo,— a stronger 
kind both aa protection from storms and as posts for 
buildings, bridges. &c. 
During tho 1st year very little more may shew I 
thau an addition to tho foliage sprouting from th. 
6 or 8 joints above the ground ; here or there a 
small whip-like shoot may rise to 1G or 20 feet. In 
the 2nd year, about the end of June, larger shoots 
will rise, growing 4 or 5 inches per day and up to 
20 or SO feet, with girth of 4 or 5 inches. In the 
3rd year still larger ones will grow, and all the time 
creepers should be now aud then cut away. In the 
4th year full-sized growth may be expected, I. e., shoots 
50 feet high with stems of 8 aud 9 inches round, and 
the number of such should about equal and double 
the number of stems first planted. Each year thence 
should add 50 per cent to the numbers, if in fair 
soil, and in the 8th or 9th year there should be 
some 3,000 full sized stems, mature enough to cut, 
per acre per annum. 
For building purposes or making use in the ground, 
no bamboo should be cut of less than 4 years' old, 
and should be steepjd a month in water. "Jatis" 
increase in value with age up to 12 or 14 years, after 
which they gradually "dry up," turn yellow and 
die. If grown in the open they are often short, 
small and solid ; those in shade, are tall, large and 
thinner walled. If required for tying or rude ropes, 
only the young ones of 1 or 2 years old are used. 
From having more -water and less wood, they are 
more easily twisted, and a whole stem can be at once 
used in this way, though it is more usual to split 
and then twist them. When split up very small it 
is called "Tougal." 
It seems extremely probable that young stems would 
furnish more and better pulp than old ones. Incut- 
ting bamboos out, old ones should be cut at or near 
the ground, and young ones 5 or G feet above, as 
tbe old. ones do not readily throw out shoots 
or new sprouts, while the young ones do if some foliage 
is left on, and this leads at once to the solution of the 
difficulty that lay between Mr. Routledge and Dr. 
King, L c., that cropping of the young bamboos (near 
the ground) cripples the propagation, whereas if jjrds 
are cut at say 6 or 8 feet high, enough is left to 
keep up the supply of new shoots, provided of course 
the Joliage is encouraged on the part left. The re- 
maining Jrd is left altogether, aud only cut when 
old, i. e., useless for propagation and useful for building, 
I have cut 300 bamboos for one rupee out of a Bari, 
and a9 they are often 16 for the Rupee in the villages 
for Tea Factory building, a Bari is a source of great 
saving, and in a few years pays its cost many scores 
of times over. — S. E. P. 
SERICULTURE. 
The following are a few interesting figures which 
may prove useful to silk growers : — 
Weight of Cocoons. — This varies with the breed and 
feeding. Pasteur calculates that 1 kilogramme contains 
7S5 to 921 cocoons of the Japanese sort, 505 to 726 
cocoons of the Italian yellow sort. Comalia found 
that 360 cocoons of the Meldola sort weigh 1 kilogramme. 
Loss of Weight in Cocoons. — This is caused by time 
of keeping. Dandola found that at » temperature of 
17 deg. K. 1,000 kilos, of cocoons was reduced to — 
Kilos -991 -9S2 975 -970 -966 960 952 
Number 
of days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 
•943 934 -925 
8 9 10 
Weight of the various parts of the Cocoons.— By 
taking at 1,000 tho weight of the whole cocoon— 
The chrysalis alive weighs from S30 to 850 
The refuse of chrysalis ,, 4 to 9 
Tho clean cocoon ,, ,, 140 to 166 
After tho moth has loft the cocoon in 1,000 parts* 
of thrill 
Refuse of moth 6 to 6 
Remains of chrysalis 7 to 9 
Clean pure Cooooc 140 to 1G6 
