Excepting bamboo and sungrass, various grass species growing
in the forest lands of Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet
districts of Bangladesh, at present, have practically no use. Five
grass species, namely, Panicum, antidetale, Retz., Themeda arundinacea,
Ridley., Saccharum spontaneum Linn., Thysanolaena maxima, O, Ktze, and
Imperata arundinacea, Cyr., which are available in the area in appreciable
quantities, have been pulped by steaming and soda processes for the
manufacture of insulation boards in equivalent mixtures as well as in
the proportion of their availability in the forests. The pulps obtained
by the steaming process were free-draining but rather dark in colour.
Soda pulps were lighter in colour but comparatively slow-draining.
Yield was high in both the processes.
Rigid structural insulation boards were made both by press-drying
in a hot hydraulic press at low pressure and by cold pressing the
mats and then drying in a force-draft oven. The boards had very
good strength but moderate heat insulating properties, They compared
favourably with the imported ones so far as the moisture resistance
properties were concerned.

It has been found that the nature
pineapple can be improved by treating
The most obvious effect
both in terms of time and quantity.
for canneries. Moreover, fruits can be
obtained all the year round by artificial
flower induction and advantage taken of
the higher prices for ”offseason” fruits
Tremendous works have been done in
this line in different countries specially
in Australia, Hawaii and Puerto Rico and
some in Bangladesh and a few important
of them have been reviewed in this paper
Under natural conditions, a percentage
of pineapple plants do not flower at the
normal time and, in addition, flowering
may spread over several weeks. But with
the application of hormone the plants can
be forced to flower within a shorter
period ensuring uniform cropping, This is
very important when the fruit is grown
and time of flowering In the plants with hormones
has been found to be enhanced flowering The response of the plants to
hormone treatment varied according to the substances used and their
concentration* Other effects of hormone treatment have been found to
be increase in size and weight of the fruit.

Bamboo
42 BANO BIGGY-‘N PATRIKA
i Revised version of the paper presented at the Third Annual Bangladesh Science
blight causing severe mortality, particularly of young
culms, in the village groves of Rajshahi district of Bangladesh is
reported. A brief history of the outbreak of the disease is noted,
A review of bamboo diseases is provided. Symptoms and observed
mode of infections are recorded. Four fungi have been isolated from
diseased bamboo samples. The pattern of isolation strongly suggests
that Conlothyrium fuckelil Sacc. is responsible for the blight.