6.73 
they grow niuch more freely, and are less liable 
to disfigurement by the cold east winds of spring- 
time. Several varieties seem to be able to bear 
from 20° to 30° of frost with impunity, but the 
edges Of the leaves become browned when exposed 
to cutting winds. 
Bamboos are especially adapted for planting 
among rockwork, as they are in character with the 
many species and varieties of plants now employed 
for the same purpose. They should not be used too 
freely, or the effect is spoilt after they have made 
good growth for a few seasons, as although they 
grow very slowly for the first year or two, 
when once well established they annually send 
up many strong suckers, which would quickly 
overgrow the other occupants of the rockwork. 
If, however, plants of the taller growing varieties 
are dotted about in prominent positions here and 
there, so as to have room to develop into fine 
specimens, and have room to display their beauty, 
a striking effect is produced. Bainbusa aurea is 
a useful variety for this purpose. It readies a 
height of from 6 to 10 feet, is of elegant habit, 
its long slender stems being freely branched from 
base to summit. The stems are of a yellow hue, 
and the leaves light green. B. nigra somewhat 
resembles it in habit of growth, except that it 
is not so freely branched ; the stems are black 
and the leaves deep green. Both varieties are 
well adapted for the purpose above named. B. 
Simoni is another excellent kind, which should 
be in every collection, as it grows quickly, at- 
taining a height of 10 feet, and the leaves are 
occasionally streaked with white. 
Among the dwarfer-growing kinds, B. gracilis 
is, I think, the most handsome and useful, .as 
the stems from base to summit are freely 
branched with arching shoots covered with nar- 
row light green leaves. It reaches a height of 4 
or 5 feet, and makes even shapely specimens. 
B. Metake grows to about the same height, 
has long deep green leaves, and is of compact 
habit of growth. B. Fortunei aud its variegated 
form are both of dwarf habit, and leaves of a 
bolder type than the majority of Bambusas. 
There are several other varieties which I think 
will prove hardy enough to withstand the frosts 
of English winters if planted in sheltered posi- 
tions. ° Two of the best of these are B. Arundinacea 
and B. nana. The latter will be especially 
welcomed for planting on rockwork if it should 
prove hardy, as its long stems with arching 
tufts of leaves at the extremities require to be 
planted in elevated positions to display their 
beauty to the. best advantage. 
Masses or single specimens of Bamboos when 
planted on the lianks of streams or lakes are 
effective and in character with the surroundings 
They thrive well in such positions, too, as they 
are moisture-loving plants. When once es- 
tablished they need but little attention, and 
yearly improve in attractiveness. They are also 
well adapted for pot culture, and when thus 
"rown they may be frequently turned to good 
account for house decoration of various descrip- 
tions. When not wanted for that purpose they 
are always useful for arranging in greenhouses 
or ! conservatories. ' . . . 
Propagation is easily effected by division of 
plants in spring just as growth commences, all 
the varieties being amenable to this treatment, 
but some may also be rapidly increased in the 
followim' ^vay :— The plants send out long 
".fleshy' 7 roots in all directions. At a foot or 
more from the parent plant these roots send up 
suckers, sometimes two or three in a clump. 
T^ese generally make good, growth during the 
summer. By the time this growth is completed 
the fleshy root runners, which connect them 
with the parent plant, should be cut asunder. 
The plants may then be either lifted and placed 
in pots a few weeks later, or left till the spring 
to be then transplanted to nursery beds, or 
where required. — H. DuNKIN. — Journal of Hor- 
ticulture and Cottage Gardener. 
MANILA HEMP AND TOBACCO. 
Two of the chief vegetable products lor which 
Manila is celebrated are its so-called hemp (Musa 
textilis) and the well-known Manila cigars. Infer- 
ring to the former, the British Consul, in arejwrt to 
the Foreign-ollice, dated from .Manila in April last, 
says there wasadecreaseintheexport during the past 
year below that of 1892 of 149,037 bales, or 17,00* 
tons. The ye it 1892, however, was noted as that 
in which the greatest quantity of hemp was ex- 
ported from the Philippines since the superiority 
of Manila hemp has been recognised in the English 
and American markets. The commerce in this 
article — the chief product until lately of the islands 
— has almost entirely in recent years been in the 
hands of the English merchants, owing to their re- 
liance on the superiority of Manila hemp and its 
ready acceptance by foreign purchasers. The pro- 
ducers inthe province, how ever, formerly forwarded 
their hemp to the capital insufficiently dried, and 
in an otherwise unprepared state, and frequent 
complaints from purchasers were received of the 
deteriorated quality of the hemp. Alarmed at the 
danger thus threatening the reputation of Manila 
hemp, the chief export houses of Manila united to- 
gether, and published a circular, by which they 
bound themselves not to purchase hemp, except of a 
specified quality as to weight, colour, &c, and ar- 
ranged that, in case of disagreement as to the 
quality of the purchaseable article, the hemp should 
be submitted to the judgment of experts, and all the 
signatories bound themselves to observe the condi- 
tion of the circular. The eff ect of this circular has 
already been felt in the improvement of the quality 
of hemp produced for export, an improvement which 
is likely to continue. There is a large decrease 
of the hemp exports to the United States and 
Canada, amounting to 17,613 bales, while there 
is an increase to Great Britain, Australia, China and 
California. 
Manila cigars, it seems, go in largest quantities to 
China, Japan, and India, to the extent of 68,328, 
or about half of the whole quantity exported. 
Great Britain and the continent of Europe take 
nearly all the remainder, only small portions going 
to Australia, California, and the United States. By 
far the greatest quantity of tobacco leaf is shipped 
to Europe, and principally to Spain, where it is 
worked up in the Government factories into cigars 
and cigarettes. — Journal of the Society of Arts. 
USES OF PAPAW JUICE. 
At a recent meeting of the Royal Society in 
Brisbane the question of utility of the pawpaw- 
apple in the treatment of cancer was raised 
by one of the members. The following extracts 
from a paper on the subject from the pen of 
Dr. E. Hirschfeld, and appearing in the October 
number of the Australasian Medical Gazette, will 
be of general interest : After speaking of the 
uses of papain, the digestive ferment contained 
in the unripe fruit, as prepared by Finkler, in 
Bonn, Dr. Hirschfeld goes on to give the results 
of his own experiments, undertaken at the sug- 
gestion of Mr. W. Soutter. He says — I have in 
the first instance to report that any hope to find 
in papain a curative agent for cancer was certaiBlJ• 
