866 
Supplement to the " Tropkar AgricuUurist." 
[[June 1, 1904. 
form later'on, also a most useful reference volume. 
It is only under special conditions that cases ot 
poisoning come to light, and the occurrence ot such 
cases only goes to prove that the same causes must 
be at work under ordinary conditions as well. 
Some years ago there were cases of sudden 
death in the slaughter-house at Dematagoda, and 
the then Veterinary Surgeon and the Superinten- 
dent of the School of Agriculture traced the 
cause to tlie presence ot the leaves of the 
Datura plant, Sinhalese Attana {Datura fatuosa). 
Another notable case which occurred quite lately 
is the poisoning of horses on the Island of Delft. 
Here the cause of death, which was enqniied into 
by some of the scientific experts on the Botanical 
Staff, the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon and the 
Director of the Colombo Museum, was naturally 
traced to the consumption of a particular kind of sea 
weed, either noxious in itself or owing to certain 
objectionable qualities induced by drought. 
It is cases like these that go to indicate the 
likelihood ot a considerable number of deaths 
among cattle which, in this country (except on 
estates) wander tar and wide in search of fodder, 
are to be attributed to the action of vegetable 
poisons, the nature and properties of, which are little, 
if at al', known to the medical or veterinary pro- 
fession. 
We constantly read in foreign Journals the 
descriptions of plants poisonous to stock, but no 
attempt has yet been made to collate infor- 
mation about or even to compile a list of plants 
reputed as stock poisons. 
The last received number of the Cape Agri- 
cultural Journal refers at length to the poisonous 
effects on cattle of the creeping milky plant 
known as Cynoctonum capense, belonging to I he 
order Asclepiadaceaj, a family which as Professor 
MacOwan remarks, are all of a more or less 
poisonous nature. Our nearest ally to this plant 
is the Kan-Kunibala {Cynanchum (cynoctonum) 
panciflorum) used in native medicine, though 
Watt: quotes ih& Eiiumeratio Plantarum Zeylanicce 
to the effect that the "Sinhalese eat the young 
leaves of this and many other plants of this 
natural family in their curries." 
The Australian Agricultural Journal has fre- 
quently described pl.-mls poisonous to stock. In 
the Transvaal Agricultural Journal for October 
last appears a paper on the Cattle Poisons of the 
Transvaal by Jofeph Burtt Davy, F.L.S:, and 
among the poisons mentioned aie two common 
ornamental garden plants, viz., the Oleander 
[Neriiim oleander) and the Indian Bead Tree or 
Persian Lilac {Melia areddrach.) The leaves of the 
former are said to be used in India by miscreant 
servants for chopping and mixing with forage in 
order to poison animals belonging to those on 
whom they wish to be avenged I The danger of 
feeding cattle on Sorghum under certain circum- 
stances need only be mentioned. 
^ We shall be glad to compile a series of notes 
with reference to local cattle poisons, if our readers 
will contiibute any information they are possessed 
of to help us in the work. 
CULTURE OF THK EDIBLE BAMBOO. 
In our April number we published an article 
on Bamboo Cultivation in Japan, to show how 
much is being made of this giant grass by syste- 
matic cultivation, In Ceylon the bnmboo cannot 
be said to be truly cultivated, though the 
"sticks" are pretty largely produced and e.i:ten- 
sively used in temporary structures and scaffold- 
ing. 
Writing us under date the 31st March last Mr. 
David Fiiirchild, Agricultural Explorer, U. S. A., 
says, that he is convinced there is much to be done 
in Porto Rico and Hawaii with the.se tropical 
forms, and concludes with the remark, " I think 
it highly probable that the edible bamboo will 
do well at Nuwara Eliya." 
The question is, who is the enterprising man 
that will give a trial to the new species? For 
the information of those who would like to know 
all about it, we give below an account of the 
culture of the edible or tender bamboo in Japan 
from the pen of Mr, Fairchild, 
Only one species of bamboo is commonly grown 
in Japan for food, and this is the largest one 
(Pkyllostachi/s mitis), 'known as "Moso," It was 
introduced from China, where its value as a food 
plant has been known for centuries, and its 
common name indicates its origin,* One other 
sort, P. aurea, is also said to have edible shoots, 
but those of the remaining kinds are understood 
to be too bitter to be eaten. 
The method of cultivating this species differs 
from that described for the timber sorts. The 
best soil is a more friable one, and if not natur- 
ally with a good admixture of sand it must be 
top dressed every year with one inch of light 
sandy loam and a mulching of straw or grass and 
weeds cut from the meadow. The young plants are 
set out more sparsely than if designed for timber, 
not more than 120 to the acre. Liquid manure 
is given freely to the newly set out plants, and 
as long as they are grown for their edible shoots 
largo amounts of rjch fertilizer containing much 
soluble nitrogen must be supplied them. In Japan 
the cost of the fertilizer is the principal expense 
of cultivations In five years, if the transplanted 
mother plants are of good size, they should yield 
shoots large enough for sale, but ten years aro 
required to bring the plantation into a profitable 
bearing condition. Weeding is done more care- 
fully than in timber groves, though for the first 
five or six years all the shoots which come up are 
allowed to stand ; but later, when the plantation 
is established, all small-sized ones are promptly 
removed as soon as they appear above ground. In 
order to obtain a [supply of fresh culms a regular 
.system in cutting out the old ones is followed. 
A definite number of selected stems, as soon as 
they are fully grown, are marked with the year 
of their production, and nine years later all of 
those hearing the same dute are cut out. Each 
* Moso is the name of one of the twenty-four 
paragons of Chinese filial piety. The stoiy is the 
case of a boy whose widowed mother tell ill and 
longed for broth made of young bamboo shoots. 
The shoots not being procurable in winter, his 
devotion was such that he went out in the snow 
to dig for them. The gods rewarded his devotion 
by causing the shoots to grow suddenly to an un- 
heard of size. Japanese artists are fond of illus- 
trating their works of art with drawings of tbe 
boy Moso. 
