Part V.] Pear,son : Note on the Utilization of Bamboo. 
15 
PART If. 
BAMBOOS, THEIR MODE OF GROWTH AND THE 
POSSIBLE OUTTURN. 
1. Species of bamboos. 
Bambusa arundinacea —the Daugi bamboo of Kanara—occurs 
throughout the Peninsula and is found at its best in the moist forests 
of the Western Ghats. In the latter locality it grows to a great size, 
often being found 100 ft. in height and each culm of great weight. A 
peculiar feature of this species is that it forms a dense palisade of small 
armed lateral branches round the base of the clump. This palisade 
reaches often 6 to 8 ft. upwards from the ground and makes extrac¬ 
tion, looking to the weight and size of the culms, an expensive and 
difficult matter. Another drawback to this species is the thickness 
of the stem-walls and the hardness and size of the nodes. On the other 
hand, the local wood-cutters, who are used to dealing with this class of 
bamboo, are quite capable of carrying out its extraction, and though the 
cost of doing so is relatively high per culm, their great weight compen¬ 
sates for the extra expenditure, so that the actual cost of collecting one 
ton of dry bamboo works out to about the same as that of the lighter 
and more easily handled species found in Burma. 
Bamhusa polymorpha —the Kyathaung bamboo of Burma—is one 
of the commonest species found in the Pegu Yomas. The culms grow 
fco nearly as large a size as those of Bambusa arundinacea. They are, 
however, unarmed, and do not grow in so compact a mass, besides 
which, owing to their relatively thin walls and small nodes, they are 
much more easily handled. They have therefore , in all points, the ad¬ 
vantage over the larger species, when considered in connection with the 
pulp industry, except that they do not yield the same quantity of raw 
material per culm. 
Cephalostachyum pergracile —the Tinwa bamboo—is also a Burma 
species, found in both the Upper and Lower provinces. In the Pegu 
Yomas it is very plentiful, but not quite so common as Bambusa poly- 
morpha. It is smaller in size than that bamboo, but, in other respects, 
[ 173 ] cfc 
