Note 5 — XXIV
Reading edition
Cutting.On the first crop, only one stalk is cut from each bush; but later on the new branches grow so quickly that they can be cut every two months.5 After a few years the plants become so strong and dense that it is scarcely possible to push through them. Bast is in its best condition at the time of blossoming; but, when the price of the fiber happens to stand high in the market, this particular time is not always waited for.