d from 2,000 to 10,000 per acre per year. The production of very large poles from the large species, such as P. viridis. P. vivax, and P. bambusoides, would be less; probably about 1,000 per acre would be about the maximum that one could expect to harvest and maintain the grove.
Table 1. BAMBOOS THAT HAVE GROWN SUCCESSFULLY
AT AUBURN, ALABAMA.
Scientific name Common name Source Plant Intro. # Arundinaria amabilis Tonkin cane USDA 110,509 Arundinaria angustifolia ------- USDA 129,301 Arundinaria gigantea Canebreak bamboo or southern cane Local ------- Arundinaria nagashima ------- USDA 75,149 Arundinaria simonii (tall) Simon bamboo USDA 142,492 Arundinaria simonii (short) ------- USDA 75,151 Arundinaria tecta Switch cane USDA 153,804 Arundinaria tecta Switch cane USDA 153,807 Arundinaria tunghomii ------- USDA 139,883 Arundinaria viridi-striata ------- USDA 75,161 Bambusa multilex1 Var. stripe stem fernleaf USDA 99,289 Phyllostachys aurea Fish pole bamboo or Todd’s bamboo Local ------- Phyllostachys aureosulcata Yellow groove bamboo USDA 55,713 Phyllostachys bambusoides Timber bamboo USDA 40,842 Phyllostachys bambusoides var. castilloni Castillion bamboo USDA 42,659 Phyllostachys flexuosa ------- USDA 116,965 Phyllostachys flexuosa ------- USDA 52,686 Phyllostachys makinoi ------- USDA 195,284 Phyllostachys meyeri Meyer bamboo USDA 116,768 Phyllostachys nidularia ------- USDA ------- Phyllostachys nigra Black bamboo USDA 66,784 Phyllostachys nigra var. henon Henon bamboo USDA 24,761 Phyllostachys rubromarginata ------- USDA 66,902 Phyllostachys viridis ------- USDA 77,257 Phyllostachys vivax ------- USDA 82,047 Sasa palmata ------- USDA 75,169 Semi-arundinaria farinosa ------- USDA 77,004 Semi-arundinaria fastuosa Nahiria bamboo USDA 52,671 Shibataea kumasaca Ruscus leaf bamboo USDA 75,157
Table 2. YIELD OF POLES PER ACRE 15 FEET OR LONGER OF VARIOUS BAMBOO SPECIES WHEN ALL1 CANES WERE CUT,
Species Common name Years
Poles 15 ft. or longer
Phyllostachys aurea Fish pole bamboo or Todd’s bamboo 1 33,189 Phyllostachys aureosulcata Yellow groove bamboo 4 22,493 Phyllostachys bambusoides Timber bamboo 4 11,616 Phyllostachys meyeri Meyer bamboo 1 26,602 Phyllostachys nigra var. henon Henon bamboo 3 26,862 Phyllostachys rubromarginata ------- 7 39,471 Semi-arudinaria fastuosa Nahiria bamboo 1 21,732
1Normally one would not cut all canes on an area at one time. Usual harvest would cut about one-third or one-fourth of the large canes at one time. All of the canes were not marketable as poles because some were crooked and not suitable except to be cut in short lengths for stakes.
YIELD OF WOOD. Yields of five species of bamboo harvested for wood (suitable for pulp) reported in Table 3 are for all canes on an area. Age of bamboo varied from 15 to 20 years, with average yield of 17-54 tons per acre. Phyllostachys rubromarginata has been the most productive species tested at Auburn. It has smaller canes than the timber bamboo, but has many more canes per acre; thus, total production is much larger.
The percentage weight of leaves on a green plant has varied from 10 to 16 per cent, with limbs making up 11 to 20 per cent. It is believed that if bamboo were grown for pulp, the limbs would not be removed and would be used in the pulping process; hence the dry weight reported is the total for limbs and stems.
|Table 3. YIELDS OF DRY WOODS, PER CENT BRANCHES, PER CENT DRY MATTER, AND PER CENT LEAVES IN VARIOUS BAMBOO SPECIES, AUBURN, ALABAMA.|
|Leaf content of|
|Total dry wt.|
that is branches
dry wt. with
|Phyllostachys aureosulcata||1944||4-yr. Av. 1960-63||16||59||20||34,326|
|Phyllostachys bambusoides||1944||4-yr. Av. 1951, ’57,||‘61, ‘62||13||62 21||44,607|
|Phyllostachys rubromarginata||1946||7-yr. Av. 1960-66||13||65||14||108,352|
CUTTING IN STRIPS FOR WOOD. Observations of P. bambusoides at Auburn showed a much slower recovery when an area was solid cut than when it was cut in strips 5 feet or 10 feet wide. A study was begun in 1960 using P. rubromarginata to determine the yield when strips 10 feet wide were cut in a north-south dire