901 
"You would think yourself in Berlin now to ride into 
the heart of Tokyo on elevated tracks and descend by ce- 
ment staircases and tiled tunnels to the great domed 
pahnhof. I liked it better the old way." 
Mokanshan, Cheklang Province, China, Mr. Frank N. Meyer 
writes Aug. 5, 1915. "Concerning this bamboo, Phyllostachys 
pwbescens , I can say this: The 'Mao tsoh' delights in shel- 
tered situations on mountain and hill-slopes; it wants a 
rich, porous clayey soli to reach greatest perfection. In 
this latitude, 31°, it seems to thrive best at elevations 
between 1000 and 2000 feet above sea-level. The height of 
canes varies from about 20 feet, on poor, exposed places, 
to about 80 feet In rich, moist gullies, in diameter of 
stem from 2 Inches to 5 inches, and in circumference of 
stem from 6 inches to 16 inches. The canes sell locally 
at 4 cash per catty (=about ^ of an American cent for 1|- 
lb.). A cane often weighs up to 80 catties but the average 
is probably about 30 catties. At Dongsl, Mr. Kennedy in- 
formed me, they receive about 20 Chinese copper cents for 
a cane of about 40 ft. long; (which is about 8 cents U. S. 
gold, but the rate of exchange influences prices consider- 
ably, when American currency is used). As regards cutting 
of this bamboo, the best time is from the end of October 
until the beginning of February. Concerning periodical 
cutting, the following advices were obtained. Do not cut 
canes less than two seasons old, as it weakens the plants 
very much and the canes themselves do not last long, being 
not fully mature. Do not allow canes to stay on the ground 
for longer than 7 years, as the wood becomes too hard and 
too brittle to handle, except for exceptional purposes. 
The ideal is to cut in a bamboo grove every two years all 
of the canes that are three years old and over, but should 
the grove not be very vigorous, be careful in not removing 
too many canes and especially no young ones. Canes of one 
season's growth should, at the approach of winter, have 
their tops cut out, so as to minimize the danger of such 
canes being broken by the snows and the storms of the cold 
season; these tops are in general 5-10 feet long, depend- 
ing upon the length of the cane; they are used, when cat 
up and arranged suitably, as brooms and they are very last- 
ing, cheap and efficient and of special value in farm-yards, 
in sweeping grains and seeds together on threshing floors. 
When transplanting this bamboo or when starting a new 
grove, the aim should be to obtain young, strong rhizomes 
of considerable length, with as many roots attached as 
possible, and to transplant them from the middle of Febru- 
ary until the end of March; leave no large piece of cane 
