280 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
metres, is now in full production under bamboos, and the gar¬ 
dening operations carried on every year in the thicket formed by 
the culms give magnificent results. 
“ In the present condition of the bamboo trade ” (remember 
that we are speaking of the year 1878) “ the net annual profit on 
M. Garrigues’ farms varies from eight hundred to a thousand 
francs per hectare ” (from sixteen to twenty pounds an acre— 
the hectare being, roughly, two acres). 
M. Calvet goes on to point out the value of the bamboo as a 
forest plant, and especially for fixing embankments and sloping 
ground. He states that it takes from seven to eight years to 
make a plantation, which is then composed of culms of all sizes 
and ages, very closely packed, and the thinning out begins with 
the oldest shoots, and is thenceforth carried on without interrup¬ 
tion. He reckons the cost of planting one hectare (two acres) 
with bamboos at 8,000 francs (j£120). He insists upon the 
necessity of a light friable soil. The culms take from 45 to 65 
days to develop themselves, beginning in the month of May. 
They vary in height from three to nine metres, with a diameter 
of from one to seven centimetres. 
The species which M. Garrigues has selected for cultivation 
are Phyllostachys nigra , Phyllostachys mitis , and Arundinaria 
japonica or Metake. 
Phyllostachys nigra is used for walking sticks, umbrella 
handles, sword sticks, whip handles, fishing rods, furniture, 
&e. 
P. mitis , in addition to the above, is made into cups, napkin 
rings, egg-cups, ox-goads, poles for beating walnut and chestnut 
trees. 
The small canes of Metake, curiously enough, are known in 
both French and English commerce, &c., as “Rice,” and are 
used for pipe-stems, cigarette and cigar tubes, pen and pencil 
holders, garden stakes, &c., &c. 
Apart from the bamboos grown in France, there was an 
average annual importation during the five years from 1871 to 
1875 inclusive, amounting in value to ^86,000 a year. M. 
Garrigues’ experiments go to show that this value might be 
produced by the cultivation of about 500 hectares (1,000 
acres). 
