BAMBOOS : THEIR CULTURE AND USES 37 
able for screening buildings and securing privacy where homes are 
in too close proximity to busy streets. These bamboos may very 
effectively be used for screens along railroad rights of way, trolley- 
car lines, and highways. 
BAMBOO DISEASES 
Bamboos as a group are remarkably free from serious diseases 
and destructive insects. Many of the species are attacked by these 
enemies, but with the possible exception of bamboo smut there are 
no widespread epidemics reported anywhere in the world such as 
occur in connection with other plants. The fungous enemies of 
bamboos that have been noted as attacking plants in this country 
may first be briefly reviewed. 
BAMBOO SMUT 
Bamboo smut {TJstilago shiraiana Henn.) is caused by a minute 
parasitic fungus related to the one occurring on corn. Other smut 
fungi attack wheat, oats, and several other kinds of grasses. The 
smut of bamboo was introduced into this country about 15 years ago 
in shipments of plants from Jaj)an. When it appeared at the Chico 
Plant Introduction Garden it was immediately taken in hand and 
quickly extirpated. Since this first outbreak in 1910 there have been 
no further reports of the disease in this country except on two 
plants that had been kept for study in one of the pathological 
greenhouses of the United States Department of Agriculture at 
Washington, D. C. These plants were destroyed in 1917, and there 
has been no recurrence of the trouble. 
The smut always occurs on the young and growing shoots. The 
shoots appear somewhat swollen, and growth is arrested. Later the 
sootlike masses of spores, or propagating bodies, break through the 
tissues, producing an effect that can not be mistaken for any other 
trouble. No evidence has been obtained here that the disease is 
spread by the spores. The way it showed itself, at about the same 
time each year, would suggest that the mycelium or vegetative part 
of the fungus lives perennially in the rhizome. Eradication is the 
only remedy, and the eradication must be complete. It will not 
suffice to cut down the plants. All rhizomes must be dug and burned. 
As bamboo plants are no longer allowed entry into the United States 
except under strict quarantine regulations, it is not likely that there 
will be further trouble with smut. All those interested in bamboos, 
however, should be on guard against this pest, and if it appears no 
time should be lost in destroying the affected plants. The smut is 
not known to attack any bamboos outside of the Phyllostachys 
group. In other words, it is a limited parasite, like other smuts. 
BAMBOO RUST 
More than a dozen species of rust fungi have been reported as oc- 
curring on bamboos in different parts of the world, but so far only 
one {Puccinia meJanocephala Syd.) has found its way to this coun- 
try. The rusts are a large group of parasites, of which several spe- 
cies attacking grasses and grain crops are examples. ^lost rusts are 
dangerous and destructive and are controlled with difficulty. The 
