230 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  I,  1895. 
lo  fow  countri6s  otlicr  tlicin  Borneo  ccin  .i  conjunc" 
tion  of  these  two  advantages  be  ell'ected,  (The 
need  for  constant  rains  debars  it  from  being  grown 
in  any  country  that  has  marked  seasousb  The 
export  from  Singapore  has  slightly  risen  during  the 
last  10  years  moving  from  712,000  cwt.  in  lS;Si;  to 
812,000  cwt.  last  year;  the  price  used  to  rauo-e  from 
Sl-.W  to  .'§()50  per  picul  and  at  these  prices  the 
‘•gambler  and  pepper”  hongs  made  enormous  for- 
tunes (ill  a great  measure  tlue  to  pepper  however 
it  must  be  confessed),  b it  during  the  last  few  months 
the  price  has  much  gone  up,  and  as  I am  assured 
at  the  gambler  gardens  hero  that  our  plants  yield 
a first  crop  in  two  or  three  miuths  less  than  in 
the  Straits  and  also  that  the  leaf  matures  again 
ready  for  picking  in  O months  as  against  4 there, 
it  seems  more  likely  gHinbier  gardens  will  be  opened 
here.  As  the  forests  get  cut  down  for  boiling  pur- 
poses in  the  districts  in  the  Straits  and  Islands 
where  it  is  now  made  (as  t ley  are  rapidly  being 
done  now)  a gradual  transference  of  this  iuduitry 
to  Borneo  is  inevitable. 
Manila  hetni)  on  the  average  year  by  year  shows 
no  great  change  in  price  while  the  export  does 
not  increase  very  fast,  which  see  ns  t > denote  that 
we  shall  have  to  directly  compete  with  and  under- 
cut the  Philippines  imteid  of  merely  becoming  a 
fresh  feeder  to  an  increasing  demand  as  in  the 
case  of  copra,  coffee,  sago  and  other  things.  At 
present  we  lack  a sufficient  supply  of  properly 
qualified  labour,  but  when  we  can  show  plantadons 
of  hemp  largo  enough  to  guirantee  uninterrupted 
work  I think  there  will  be  plenty  of  workmen  off  jr- 
ing,  at  present  owing  to  various  causes  we  cannot 
do  this  and  in  fact  the  industry  is  in  its  eKtrome 
infancy,  but  tnat  we  can  gro  w M uiila  hemp  just 
as  well  as  the  Philippines  there  is  no  question,  an  t 
in  view  of  the  harsh  governme  it  and  heavy  taxes 
and  exactions  upon  everythiug  and  everybody  there, 
there  is  no  reasonable  dnibt  but  that  this  industry 
also  will  gradually  co'mo  over  to  North  Borneo. 
Not  to  go  any  further,  the  e.xport  duty  of  SI  a picul 
charged  in  the  Philippines  gives  us  a 10°, q advan- 
tage at  once.  In  the  Philippines  it  is  mainly  a 
‘•cottage”  industry,  the  plants  beiii!(  usua'ly  grown 
in  fields  by  “small”  holders  who  bring  the  hemp 
to  the  towns  where  it  generally  passes  into  the  hands 
of  a middleman  who  passes  it  on  to  larger  towns, 
sometimes  on  through  consignment,  sometimes  to 
the  agent  of  an  op  n port  firm,  and  in  the  event 
the  hemp  will  sometimes  travel  once  on  a pony’s 
back  and  twice  in  coasting  boats,  and  pass  through 
the  hands  of  two  middlemen  an  I one  merchant 
before  fina’Iy  being  exported,  all  of  which  oporat.ons 
mean  additional  ch.irges  or  profits,  which  hivvever 
per  contra  moans  that  the  original  producer  there 
can  make  it  very  great  deal  cheaper  than  wc  can 
at  present,  but  the  fact  "that  we  cm  send  direct 
from  the  estate  to  ship's  side  and  without  an  export 
duty  must  tell  in  time.  MYNA  FI. 
— Bi  ilish  Xorth  Borneo  Herald. 
HAKDV  BAMBOOS. 
Mr.  Freeman  Mitford’s  paper  at  the  Eoyal  Horti- 
cultural Society  on  Tuesday  last  proved  one  of  the 
best  and  most  interesting  lectures  that  have  been 
read  before  the  Society.  He  had  a gr.md  subject 
and  a novel  one,  and  he  handled  it  with  the  ease  and 
knowledge  begotten  of  enthusiasm  and  experience. 
It  was  by  no  means  a compilation  or  a paper  “ made 
to  order”  or  to  fit  an  occasion.  It  is  a matter  for 
regret  that  it  was  not  illustrated,,  either  by  speci- 
mens or  by  drawings*  The  Society,  as  too  frequently 
happens  in  such  cases,  missed  an  opportunity. 
Nevertheless,  when  Mr.  Freeman  Mitford’s  paper 
conies  to  be  read  in  full  in  the  Journal  of  the  Society, 
there  is  no  doubt  it  wdl  give  a great  impetus  to 
the  culture  of  these  graceful  and  singular  plan’s, 
and  the  Bamboo-garden  at  Kew  already  furnishes 
an  excellent  object-lesson  open  to  the  community 
at  large. 
We  are  apt  to  associate  Bamboos  with  something 
tropical,  and  dimensions  too  gigantic  for  and  ordinarv 
Fnglish  garden.  Mr,  Mitford’s  paper  will  do  much 
to  correct  this  imperfect  judgment.  Big  Bambooa 
there  are,  and  many  of  them  far  too  gigantic  and 
much  too  tender  ever  to  find  a place  in  British 
gardens,  but  Mr.  Mitford  gave  a list  of  between  forty 
and  fifty  species  and  varieties,  alt  of  which  are  of 
suitable  size,  some  dwarf,  and  adopted  for  carpet- 
ing the  ground  beneath  trees,  and  all  more  or  less 
hardy.  Indeed,  after  a winter  which  has  in  ninay 
parts  of  our  islands  destroyed  even  the  common 
Gorse,  Mr.  Mitford  is  able  to  say  that  not  one  of 
the  species  entirely  failed.  Nothiug  worse  than  a 
severe  check  has  occurred,  a chock  resulting  in  the 
formation  of  a sheaf  of  small  canes,  but  richly 
provided  with  luxuriant  foliage. 
Mr.  Mitford  gave  some  excellent  advice  as  to  the 
necessity  for  not  planting  out  the  Bamboos  till  they 
have  recovered  from  the  effects  of  their  reinovel  from 
their  native  countries  or  gardens  where  they  have 
been  grown.  When  received,  the  roots  should  be 
soaked  in  water  for  twelve  hours,  and  then  potted. 
They  should  then  be  placed  in  a cool-house,  and 
but  little  water  given  at  first.  In  February  the 
buds  begin  to  swell,  in  March  the  leaves  appear. 
Water  should  then  be  afforded  freely.  In  May  the 
pot-plants  may  bo  hardened  off,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  month  they  may  be  planted  out  in  their  per- 
manent quarters,  which  should  be  duly  sheltered 
from  their  deadly  enemy — wind.  In  handling  the 
plants  the  greatest  care  should  be  taken  not  t> 
injure  the  roots,  nor  the  points  of  the  shoots,  which 
are  very'  brittle.  They  should  not  be  trodden  in, 
but  the  roots  well  watereJ-in  so  as  to  enable  them 
to  get  firm  hold  of  the  soil  without  risk  of  breakage. 
The  soil  should  previously  have  been  well  double-dug. 
By  preference  it  should  be  a rich  loam,  and  the  plants 
mulched  with  cow-manure.  Wire  netting  may  be 
proviled  tow.ud  off  the  attacks  of  rabbits  or  phea- 
sants. A little  fern  or  bracken  thrown  over  the 
stools  in  winter  might  be  advisable.  We  neel  not 
follow  Mr.  Mitford  in  his  enumeration  of  the  species, 
but  refer  the  reader  to  Mr.  Bean’s  classification  of 
hardy  Bamboos,  given  in  our  volume  for  1894 
(March),  wliere  the  species  cultivated  at  Kew  and 
elsewhere  are  enumerated  and  described,  with  illus- 
trative cuts,  some  of  which  we  now  reproduce  as 
opportune  to  the  occasion.  Ariuidinaria  nitida.  fig. 
iW,  one  of  the  loveliest  and  hardiest,  to  quote  Mr. 
Mitford,  was  formerly  called  A.  khasyana,  under  the 
erroneous  impression  that  it  was  a native  of  the 
Khasya  mountains,  a hot  steamy  region  not  likely 
to  afford  many  plants  hardy  enough  to  withstand 
our  climate  The  species,  it  appears,  is  really  a 
native  of  the  Chinese  province  of  Bzchuen,  a very 
different  climatal  region. 
'This  instance,  among  many  more,  shows  the  great 
advantage  that  accrues  from  the  association  of 
Botanical  rese.uch  and  practical  cultivation.  The 
culture  of  those  plants,  as  in  the  case  of  Orchids, 
will  lead  to  an  immense  advance  in  our  knowledge 
of  the  plant.s,  and  to  the  gradual  establishment  of 
a correct  nomenclature,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
information  gleaned  as  to  the  native  countries  of  the 
pl.uits  will  afford  most  useful  h nts  to  the  cultivator. 
Incidentally,  we  may  mention  a curious  co-relation 
alludeJ  to,  with  becoming  caution,  by  Mr.  Mitford, 
and  that  is  the  circumstance  that  all,  or  almost  all, 
the  species  known  to  be  hardy  have  the  smaller 
veins  in  the  leaves  arranged  in  small  but  conspi- 
cuous squares,  the  venation  being,  as  it  i-s  called, 
te.s-ellate.  Mr.  Mitford’s  paper  was  instructive  and 
suggestive  to  a high  degree,  but  as  it  will  doubtless 
be  printed  in  full  in  the  .fournal  of  the  Society, 
we  need  now  only  counsel  those  of  our  readers  in- 
terested in  tlio  subject  to  look  forward  to  a future 
issue  of  the  Journal.  In  the  meanwhile  we  may  refer 
them  to  iMr.  Bean’s  .Mono<iraj)li  already  alluded  to, 
and  to  ftir.  Mitford’s  own  communications  to  the 
(lardcn,  and  to  our  own  columns. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  lecture,  some  remarks 
wore  m ide  by  the  chairman.  Sir  Alexander  Arbu- 
tlinot,  and  by  Sir  -lohn  Ijlowelyn.  Dr.  Masiers 
mentioned  that  .V.  japonic-i,  better  known  as  B.  .Mo- 
tiko,  ilort.,  thrives  well  in  one  of  the  densest  and 
most  insalubrious  Ijondon  suburbs,  and  even  under 
the  shade  of  some  old  Lime  trees,  where  little_  or 
nothing  can  be  induced  to  grow. — Gardeners’  Chronicle, 
