4 BULLETIN 1329^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE 
this comparatively new plant material is to be found in the con- 
servatism of gardeners and others, who for generations have been 
using the native brush for shades, screens, stakes, etc., and do not 
know how to change. 
Another fact which must be kept in mind in any consideration of 
the economics of its culture and uses is that the bamboo is pre- 
eminently a crop that fits into conditions where man labor is cheap 
and plentiful. In the countries where the bamboo is bound up with 
the very life of the people and there is scarcely a phase of existence 
in which it does not play a part., labor counts for little, so that the 
element of time required in utilization is of minor importance. This 
is not true of American conditions; we must approach the produc- 
tion and utilization of these crop plants from a different standpoint. 
BOTANY OF THE BAMBOOS 
Bamboos are true grasses, characterized by hollow or rarely solid 
stems which are closed at the joints, or nodes. The grass family 
constitutes one of the most important of all our useful plants. 
Grasses occur throughout the world, providing food, as in the case 
of maize, wheat, oats, barley, rice, grain sorghums, and millets, as 
well as pasturage for livestock, of all kinds. When the manifold uses 
of the grasses and how they enter into practically every phase of 
man's existence are considered, we can more fully appreciate the 
Biblical saying "all flesh is grass." 
The bamboos constitute one very small group of this immense 
family, and notwithstanding the fact that they have been known 
and used from ancient times their botanical characters and rela- 
tionships are still very little understood. This is due in large 
measure to the fact that most bamboos are extremely slow in flower- 
ing and producing seed. To characterize definitely any species of 
plant in such fashion that it can be recognized by botanists any- 
where requires a study of the essential parts of the flowers and 
fruits. Some bamboos may grow for 30, 40, or even 50 ^^ears with- 
out flowering, which is not conducive to a systematic botanical study 
of the group. Another difficulty presents itself in the matter of col- 
lecting and preserving specimens for herbarium studies. Many of 
the species are so large that securing and preserving good her- 
barium material is difficult. 
A curious and interesting feature of the flowering of bamboos is 
that when this event occurs many of the species die, so that whole 
forests pass away, and it requires many years for the seedlings or 
such parts as escape to repopulate the region. Another phenomenon 
associated with the flowering of bamboos is the simultaneous de- 
velopment of these organs. Freeman-Mitford {10) says, "When 
the given moment has come every plant of the same kind, whether 
old or young, over a vast region will put forth its flowers at one 
and the same moment and, having seeded, the plant disappears." 
This peculiarity of the bamboo is of prime importance from an 
economic standpoint, for it Avould be im fortunate and discouraging 
after spending time and money in the development of plantations 
suddenly to find the wliole destroyed or so Aveakened that years would 
be required to reestablish them. The danger from this source, liow- 
ever, does not seem to be so . great' in our country or in southern 
