The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

THE BAMBOO AND ITS USES. 253
ever, when tlie Doctor told tliein Low far the Ijamboo entered into the
life of the people of the East, and on the whole they concluded that the
American couldn't improve upon it.
" The bamboo," said the Doctor, '' is of use from a very early age.
The young shoots are boiled and eaten, or soaked in suga.', and preserved
as confectionery. The roots of the plant are carved so as to resemble
animals or men, and in this shape are used as ornaments; and wljen the
bamboo is matured, and of full size, it is turned to purposes almost with-
out number. The hollow stalks are used as water-pipes ; rafts are naade
of them : the walls and roofs of houses are constructed from them ; and
thev serve for the masts of smaller boats and the yards of larger ones.
The light and strong poles which the coolies place over their shoulders
for bearing burdens are almost invariably of baniboo ; and where it grows
abundantly it is used for making fences and sheds, and for the construc-
tion of neai'ly every implement of agriculture. Its fibres are twisted into
rope, or softened into pulp for paper: e^'erv article of furniture is made
of bamboo, and so are hats, umbrellas, fans, cups, and a thousand other
things. In fact, it would be easier to say what is not made of it in these
Eastern countries than to say what is; and an attempt at a mere enumeration
of its uses and the articles made from it would be tedious. Take
away the bandjoo from the people of Japan and China, and you would
deprive them of their principal means of support, or, at any rate, would
make life a much greater burden than it now is."'