Chapter II: Rod-Making: Bamboo as a Rod Material

The material of which split-bamboo angling-rods of quality are made is not derived from our American Southern species, inferior in strength and elasticity, but chiefly is bamboo from India or the Tonkin (Tonquin) cane from the province of that name, which is the most northerly one of Cochin China. Though differing in features to be noted, both of these grow under similar climatic conditions. We have no personal acquaintance with Japanese cane.

Bamboo or _Bambusa_ is a genus of grasses, of approximately one-hundred species, attaining a height generally of from twenty to one-hundred feet. They all have an underground root-stock which throws up from five to one-hundred stems. The straight horizontal branches are not developed until the stems have reached their full height and they are denser toward the top. The stems or stalks (botanically, “culms”) are jointed, like those of other grasses, and contain within only a light, spongy pith except at the joints or nodes, where they are divided by strong partitions. Upon the outside of the stalks are circumscribing ridges corresponding to the site of the partitions within. Because of these partitions, sections of bamboo-stalk are readily converted into water-bottles, and, upon removal of the partitions, the stalks of the larger species, attaining a diameter of five or six inches, are used in the Orient for piping water.

Interest attaches to the use of the word “cane” as applied to bamboo. Botanically, cane refers to any plant having long, hard, elastic stems. Walking-sticks originally were designated “canes” only when made of cane, as from the smaller stems of bamboo imported into Europe for this purpose. Thus bamboo does not derive its name of cane from the walking-stick, but, conversely, “cane” as applied generally to the walking-stick arose from the specific use of cane in the manufacture thereof.

Bamboo-stalk is remarkable for its combined hardness, strength, lightness, and elasticity, and these qualities, together with its availability and the ease with which it may be split into narrow strips, at once commend it for a multitude of uses, such as for mats, baskets, pipe-stems, spear and lance shafts, flutes, palaquin-poles, masts, for building furniture, houses, and bridges.

In all species the outer covering of the stem is extremely hard and siliceous, and its walls become progressively softer and more friable from without toward the inner pith. The knots of some species of bamboo exude a sweetish juice which exposure to the air thickens into a gum that the Greeks called “Indian honey.” The fruit of some varieties is a grain, of others a nut, or again a fleshy product more like an apple. Some young bamboo-shoots are eaten like asparagus with us.

As has been said, bamboo grows in all sizes, from the species attaining only a few feet in height to the _Bambusa Guadua_ of New Granada or the Java article, which may have trunks sixteen inches in diameter; and the stems of the different species vary much in the thickness of the woody part. A smoothly cut cross-section of the stalk will show its walls to be cellular or honeycombed in character, the cells being more closely compacted as the outer surface is approached. The depth of this “enamel” or strength-imparting stratum varies both actually and relatively to the thickness of individual stem-walls; and different species of bamboo, as also different stems of the same species, vary considerably in their straightness of growth. In all species the rate of growth is very rapid and in some almost incredibly so.

It goes without saying that stems having relatively thicker and denser enamel strata will be superior for use where strength and elasticity are prime requisites; and this factor of hardness or solidity together with straightness of the stems and knots that are but slightly swollen, is what particularly commends bamboo for rod-making.

Lateral section of a joint of bamboo stalk through node ]

Upon bending a strip split from a bamboo-stem, the convexity of the curve corresponding to the outer or “rind” side, when the breaking-point is reached it will be noted that this hard outer layer is composed of long fibers which splinter into brushlike ends. These fibers are interrupted at the nodes or knots and interlace there, and when the strengthening partition is cut away they mark the weakest place in the wall; a strip will easily _break off short at this point_.

Up to some thirty-odd years ago most manufacturers of angling-rods employed the Indian (Calcutta) bamboo for their purpose, and an occasional veteran angler will be encountered today who firmly believes that a Calcutta-bamboo rod is the only bamboo rod. But the truth of the matter is that the day of the Calcutta rod has passed; and yet the best rods made now are far better than any that Dad or even Grandfather ever owned. A conspicuous superficial feature identifying the Indian cane is the irregularly mottled effect produced by the burn- or scorch-marks, always found on this variety and contrasting prettily with its naturally yellow rind when thoroughly seasoned. This ordinarily is not seen in the Tonkin or Chinese cane, and when found in the experience of the author it was neither so extensive nor fantastic. The latter bamboo, as purchased in the American market, generally has a smooth unmarked surface of a little brighter yellow shade than that of the Calcutta cane.

Encyclopedia references make no note of these artificial brown markings which ordinarily are taken to be merely decorative. Henry P. Wells mentions six possible explanations of their occurrence in his _Fly-Rods and Fly-Tackle_. To the best knowledge of the present writer they are the result of searing the green bamboo-stalks with hot irons in the drying out and straightening process, before marketing them.

As the first split-bamboo rods offered the angling fraternity were made of the Calcutta cane, it was natural that these markings came to be indissolubly associated with the only genuine thing in such rods. Later on, when for one reason or another it became increasingly difficult to secure a high grade of Calcutta bamboo for the American rod-maker, recourse was had to the Tonkin variety, and today by far most of the best rods both of domestic and British manufacture--and including the two brands most generally regarded as the best of all--are made of the Tonkin cane.

Very likely the reason for the usual absence of scorch-marks on Tonkin bamboo is that its stalks grow straighter than those of the Calcutta article, thus making it of less importance to “take out the kinks” before sending it to market. However, for the purpose of rod-making, it doubtless was expedient for a time to reproduce on the Tonkin cane marks similar to those which had become familiar to persons acquainted with the Calcutta bamboo, and intimately associated in their minds with the intrinsic qualities of elasticity, etc., highly desirable in an angling-rod. To this end some strongly-corrosive acid may have been employed at times. But when the Tonkin article came to be fully proven the equal of if not superior to the other for this specific purpose, then the trade could afford to put it into rods undisguised and unadorned, strictly on its own undeniable merits.

Most of the bamboo that reaches America comes in as ballast for returning light cargoes, and as purchased from the dealer the tyro rod-maker will receive it in butts or stalks of from four to six feet in length. The six-foot “sticks” are what he preferably should ask for; and they will vary in diameter, at the larger end, from a little more than one inch to two inches; they will average about an inch-and-a-quarter, and have a maximum thickness of wall of from three-sixteenths to three-eighths of an inch. For some reason--apparently mysterious because of the prevalence and rapid growth of bamboo and the size attained by many varieties--larger butts are not obtainable in the American market. Our own impression is that this may be explained by the fact that these readily obtainable larger kinds are of more rapid growth, of looser fiber, and deficient in elasticity; and experience would seem to have confirmed this. Through an interested friend in touch with an Oriental importing-house, and after months of correspondence--starting in India with officials at the Calcutta Botanical Gardens--we received some stalks over ten feet long, very smooth and straight, nearly three inches in diameter, and measuring over three feet between knots; but the stuff was thin-walled and deficient in hardness, compactness of fiber, and elasticity, like our native bamboo. It would make beautiful _cases_ for rods, however. It may be, too, that bamboo from a locality which exposes the growing stalks to frequent bending in the wind will develop superior elasticity; and strips from the side of an individual stalk that was most exposed to the weather may have a preferable steely quality.

Of the numerous varieties of the Indian bamboo, it would appear that the particular one known botanically as _Dendrocalamus strictus_ would be the best for rod-making, though it has been stated that the _Bambusa arundinacea_ is the Calcutta cane often used for the purpose. The former is described as follows, by J. S. Gamble, in an article on the _Bambusæ of British India_, Annals of the Calcutta Botanical Gardens, vol. 7, p. 79. We quote directly from a pamphlet issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, captioned: “Seeds from a Bamboo from Calcutta, India, presented by Mr. William Bambower, Collins, Ohio”--

A very useful and strong bamboo of India, formerly used
universally for spear shafts. The plant flowers frequently
and does not die down after flowering as in the case with
so many bamboos. The culms are said to sometimes reach a
height of one-hundred feet. This is the most common and
most widely spread and most universally used of the Indian
bamboos, and is commonly known as the “male” bamboo.
Its culms are employed by the natives for all purposes
of building and furniture, for mats, baskets, sticks,
and other purposes. It furnishes, when large culms are
procurable, the best material for lance shafts. In Burma,
when large culms are obtainable, they are much in request
for mats [masts?] for native boats. It flowers gregariously
over large areas, as it did in the Central Provinces
in 1865, but it may be found flowering sporadically, a
few clumps at a time almost every year, in any locality,
and such clumps then usually die off. These flowerings,
however, do not produce as much good seed as when the
gregarious flowering takes place. The flowers appear in the
cold season between November and April, the seed ripening
in June. The leaves fall in February or March, and the
young new ones appear in April. The young culms are rather
late, usually beginning to appear in July sometime after
the rains begin.

As compared with the Calcutta bamboo, the rind or compact enamel, outside layer of Tonkin cane is thicker and harder, the “wood” cuts yellower--not unlike a piece of miniature yellow pine--its fibers are coarser, and strips split from it have a stiffer elasticity. Of two rods of equal dimensions, that made of Calcutta cane will be a bit lighter in weight and more pliant--will have less “backbone.” In two other respects the Calcutta is easier to work: its softer, whiter fiber planes easier where the Tonkin requires more frequent sharpenings of the planing-iron, and the fibers also being finer (it makes a more hair-like brush on breaking) and less cohesive, it splits both truer and more readily. In two more-important respects the Tonkin cane is pleasanter to work: it is straighter, deflecting less from node to node; and the nodes themselves--both the partitions inside and the corresponding circular ridges outside--are much less prominent and so less distorting to the symmetry of the stick and of strips split therefrom. Also, in this variety, depressions at the ridges, marking the site where fronds or leaves have dropped or been cut away, are rarely noticeable in the butts delivered by the bamboo dealer, whereas in the Calcutta sticks they always are found--and in an aggravated form due to the leaf being set deeper into the stalk--and render it impossible to utilize in rod-making longitudinal strips split from their entire circumference. In other words, much of the Calcutta-bamboo stalk must be counted as waste material in building rods.

In selecting bamboo butts, pick out those having a decidedly well-seasoned, clear yellow appearance rather than a greenish tinge, reject any showing burn marks penetrating deeply into the fiber of the wall, and, other things being equal--as degree of seasoning, especially--size for size, a stick having denser and thicker enamel will weigh heavier. Grayish stains may be the result of mildew. Well-seasoned hard-fibered stock will give out a clear ring when struck with a stick, quite different from the flat sound of green cane.

Some fishing-tackle dealers have been reluctant in the past to supply stick bamboo to amateur rod-builders, but during more recent years many of them have very sensibly pursued a more farsighted policy. The writer has obtained perfectly satisfactory sound and well-seasoned Tonkin-bamboo butts from the Robert Ogilvie Company, 79 Chambers Street, New York City; J. Deltour, 1112 Forest Avenue, Bronx, New York City; the Fred D. Divine Company, Utica, N. Y.; James Heddon’s Sons, Dowagiac, Mich.; and the T. H. Chubb Rod Company, Post Mills, Vt. From Abbey and Imbrie, 97 Chambers Street, New York City, he has procured both Tonkin and Calcutta cane. The average cost for six-foot sticks was about forty cents each.

We will add that prominent dealers in anglers’ supplies carry in stock split-bamboo rod-joints, _glued up but unmounted, unwound, and unvarnished_, for those who wish to repair or assemble rods, but who may hesitate to undertake the more complex work of actually building joints. The cost of the first-quality machine-made article of this description is about one dollar per joint; for handmade, from two to three dollars. The writer began his rod work by assembling, mounting, winding, and finishing such glued-up stock. In some cases it may be advisable to start in the game after this fashion, but the resultant satisfaction is not comparable with that experienced by the angler who is the fond possessor of a set of rods which represents his own thought and handiwork from start to finish, which he knows absolutely to be composed throughout the entire length of each and every section of solid, tough fiber clear to the center, and who is independent of outside assistance in making repairs, even to the extent of constructing new joints to replace such as may have suffered smash-ups.

We regret to have to state that we have seen in one of the oldest and most reliable anglers’ outfitting-shops, one of the most famous makes of bamboo rod, that had at one point in its circumference _four knots in line_ out of the six strip-sections. The price of that rod was thirty-five dollars. The novice will better appreciate the significance of this statement when he reads the ensuing chapter. Also, we have a friend who, accidentally smashing a joint of his “classy” split-bamboo, decided to take advantage of this opportunity to investigate and see just what value he had obtained for his thirty-odd dollars. Cross-sections of the joint at various points revealed a hole running through its center that would almost admit a steel knitting-needle. We fear that in some instances, with better facilities for manufacturing and with increased output, the American handmade split-bamboo has been bereft of intimate personal solicitude in the making, and in consequence has deteriorated in that quality which once made the name invariably synonymous with “the best in the world.”

ROD-MAKING:

SPLITTING OUT, STRAIGHTENING, AND ASSEMBLING THE STRIPS