 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 direction. Yields for the first cutting were about twice as large as from the second cutting, Table 4. The bamboo was 14 to 19 years old at the first cutting, but the canes were only 5 years old when the second cutting was made. Yield per acre of growth is much in favor of the strip cutting.
Picture - Top, Bamboo cut in 10-foot strip; bottom, regrowth of strip year after cutting.
1All plantings were made in 1946.
Table 4. YIELDS OF DRY WOOD PER ACRE OF PHYLLOSTACHYS RUBROMARGINATA WHEN STRIPS 10 FEET WIDE WERE CUT AND RECUT AGAIN 5 YEARS LATER, AUBURN, ALABAMA Year When Cut Yield Per Acre Dry Wood (lb.) First cut Second cut First cut Second cut Total 1960 1965 120,382 41,536 161,918 1961 1966 116,311 37,278 153,589 1962 1967 119,271 89,848 209,119 1963 1968 82,950 58,721 141,671 Average . 109,729 56,846 166,575
It is not known what the maximum width of the cutting strip should be. Ten feet was used because it was known from past cutting that the bamboo would recover in at least a 10-foot strip. Young plants coming up in the cut strip appear to draw on the mother plants on each side for food, thus growing faster than when no mother plants are present.
It is not known whether there is any growth difference because of direction in which a strip is cut. Cutting east and west should allow more sunlight to reach young plants.
Experiments at Camden
PLANTING STOCK TEST. The 1960 planting at Camden included 100 acres of five species and two kinds of planting stock (plants and rhizomes). The area was river terrace soil and varied from clay to sandy loam in texture. Planting stock was supplied by the Plant Introduction Station at Savannah, Georgia. Grown, dug, and processed at the station, it was shipped by truck at various times to Camden. It was stored in moist sawdust and planted as soon as possible after arriving. It appeared to be good, live planting stock.
The planting was done in well prepared soil from January 21 to April 26. Planting was by hand at a depth of 4-5 inches spaced 16 feet in each direction. The plants were