bamboos: their cultuke and uses 33 
driven into the culms may injure them, and branding them Tvith a 
hot iron or by force may do the same thing. About the best and 
simplest form of marking is that used by Robert Jones, who merely 
fastens a piece of light iron wire around the stem at about the 
height of a man's eyes. The wire is put on after the culm has at- 
tained its full size. Different combinations of wire represent differ- 
ent years. 
In this connection, mention should be made of the remarkably 
rapid growth of bamboo shoots when they appear in the spring. 
A good many records of this phenomenon have been made in various 
parts of the world. C. C. Thomas, of the Office of Foreign Seed and 
Plant Introduction, made some very thorough studies of the giant 
timber bamboo at the Chico Plant Introduction Garden in 1921. 
This small grove is now about 16 years old, and many of the plants 
have attained a height of from 40 to 50 feet and as much as 121/0 
inches in circumference 18 inches from the ground. Mr. Thomas's 
studies of growth were made during June, July, and August, 1921. 
He devised a simple and effective means of measuring the culms. 
This was accomplished by placing a paper cap over the apex of the 
culm when it had reached a height too great to be measured from 
the ground. This cap was attached to a long string, and each time 
a measurement was made a Icnot was tied in the string. A light 
weight was attached to the string to keep it taut. 
Mr. Thomas fo'und that the greatest growth took place during the 
day, the average rate of elongation for a culm being 13.57 inches 
for a 12-hour period and 19 inches for a 24:-hour period. The 
maximum increase in height for a 12-hour period w^as 19 inches, and 
for a 2'1-hour period 36 inches; for a 48-hour period the growth 
was 72 inches, or 6 feet. Mr. Thomas found that the total time 
req'uirecl for a culm 40 feet in height to complete its growth and put 
out its leaves and branches after its emergence from the soil is five to 
six weeks. This is certainly a remarkable example of rapid growth 
and shows how important it is that there should be an abundance 
of food stored up in the underground portions of the plant when 
the season for growth begins. 
BAMBOOS AS ORNAMENTALS 
While there are many q'uestions to be determined as to the future 
place of bamboos in this country so far as relates to their use for 
domestic and commercial purposes, there are few, if any, as to their 
place in landscape adornment. Some one has said that flowers must 
be hunted for, but bamboos spring into notice by virtue of their 
individual charm. There are a distinctiveness, a softness, and a 
grace about the bamboo that appeal to everyone. This is partly due 
to its novelty, for there is no other vegetation like it; yet it blends 
and harmonizes with practically everything with which it is asso- 
ciated. 
In the Orient, where bamboos are abundant, the distinctive char- 
acters of the plants are not so noticeable, but in this country they 
seem to bring a breath of the age-old mysteries of the East, and 
the swaying and whispering of their delicate leaves and branches 
invoke a spirit of restfulness and peace. Even the blase auto tourist, 
27097°— 25 3 
