Players of reed instruments have for many years sought the cane for their reeds from sources outside of the United States. Cane is rarely encountered that has been grown in this country. One commonly purchases material grown in France or Italy, produced in various stages of refinement. As raw material, cane may be purchased by weight in tubular form, or more refined, it may be bought by the piece. Bassoon cane may be gouged only, or gouged, shaped and profiled. If cane from the U. S. is encountered, the source is usually identified as "unknown," implying that the cane is inferior or at best suspect to European cane. The intent of this article is not to defend or attack the use of either foreign or domestic cane, but rather to offer practical suggestions for those who wish to experiment with domestic cane. At the same time, suggestions on cane selection regardless of the source are made.
The cane plant, known to botanists as arundo donax, grows plentifully in the southern United States. It can be found along creek beds or seasonal water drainages, along irrigation ditches, or on hillsides and gently sloping land in humid areas. Introduced to the U.S. from the warm regions of the Old World, and hence identical with European varieties; it is frequently cultivated for ornament. In the Southwest, the cane is used for lattices, mats, and screens, and in the construction of adobe huts. It was planted in southeast Texas and Arkansas to prevent wind erosion, but may be found eastward from Maryland to the South, in southern California, and tropical America.
The plant is easily propagated by transplanting the thick knotty rhizomes or roots. It may also be grown, though with more difficulty, by planting the stem of the plant including the nodes, or from the seed. No special care or fertilizer is required and the plant seems to grow equally well in a variety of conditions, provided there is adequate room, irrigation, and drainage. One can find available sources of cane in fields or along highways and eventually begin a patch in a desired location. Once established, the plant can easily begin to take over large areas and get out of control. When planting, it is best to construct borders of light metal set in the earth to a depth of two feet, which will help contain the root growth in future years. A space of not less than 15 by 15 feet is recommended.
This writer's experience with locating, growing and harvesting cane is limited to the northeast Texas area. The novice will locate and harvest a well established patch of cane at a convenient location. Since the harvesting takes place during the coldest months of the year, picking a pleasant day in early January provides good results. Conditions must have been cold for several weeks which allows the sap in the cane stalk to return to the portion of the plants in the ground. When harvested too early, the sap remains and the cane stalks take on a greenish color which no amount of drying or soaking can eliminate. Reeds made with this cane are never satisfactory.
In addition to choosing the right time of year, there are several other considerations for a good harvest. The individual cane stalks selected for harvest should have had two seasons of growth. This may be difficult to determine in a cane patch with which you are not familiar. That is why it is well to select canes one year in advance of harvest and tie them with identifying plastic ribbons to cut the following year. However, there are ways of making a good selection of canes without knowing for sure the exact age of a stalk. For one thing, the very newest canes grow around the outer perimeter. Some of these will have a very small diameter, and others will appear to be about the right size. Mark the latter with ribbon for harvest the following year, and move further towards the center of the patch for this year's crop. Select canes with a diameter of one to one and a quarter inches. Many of these will be the taller canes of the patch, and most of them will have headed out at the top. Examine the color of the cane by pulling away the covering of outer leaves. It should not be a green color, but a pale yellow or sometimes a darker yellow-orange. There may be markings on the cane, but the surface should be smooth, not filled with many ridges or creases. This condition exists in cane which is immature, lacking a second season of growth to fill in the fibers. The stalk normally has a slight curvature throughout its length, however, this should not be extreme.
Having found a suitable stalk, one needs to cut it as close to the ground as possible and remove it from the patch. A suitable tool for this procedure is a pair of large pruning shears. The shears smash and destroy the bottom couple of nodes of the stalk but these are always too short and thick for use anyway. Once the stalks are removed from the patch, excess length can be removed by the same method, realizing that the shears will damage the brittle cane near a cut. A small harvest is easily gathered and transported. The cane must now go through a period of drying and seasoning. First the stalks should be stripped of all the outer leaves and then thoroughly washed. Choose a southern exposure and stand the stalks at a receptive angle to the sun. Leave the canes here for at least two weeks, turning every few days so that all sides receive sunlight. Canes that are slightly curved will have to be tied in position.
After this initial drying, move the canes to a shelter where they receive a good exchange of air. Since the canes must remain here until summer (about five or six months), a location where they will not be in the way or disturbed is advisable. I tie them up horizontally on several ropes in the top of the garage. Here they can remain suspended and straight for even a number of years without causing a problem or deterioration.
In summer the canes are cut into sections. This is done by cutting out the nodes at the joints of sections that are five or more inches in length. Diameter of tubes should be between one and one and a quarter inches. The best machine for accomplishing this is a small electric jigsaw.
Next a three-bladed cane splitter is used to divide the tube lengthwise into three pieces along the grain of the cane. The cane is dry for this step. Splitting should accommodate any irregularities in the cane. Rough sections, splits, or very crooked grains may help determine the best place to make the split. Often undesirable characteristics can be placed wholly into one section which is discarded, leaving two good quality sections remaining.
The splitting of the cane begins a series of steps in the process of selectivity. With the split, the inside surface of the cane is exposed for the first time. Normally, the inside is rough with ridges of fiber protruding lengthwise. This is covered with a thin membrane. One who picks cane in fields will find a wide variety of cane quality, from cane in excellent condition to rotting cane. Cane that has aged in the weather for a long time loses the characteristics of good cane yet the appearance may not be noticeably different from good cane. The reverse may also be true, and one occasionally finds that the thin membrane is discolored or even black. The cane underneath, however, can be in excellent condition, and the discoloration should be taken as a warning sign, but not always as indicative of total decay. Discard any pieces that show irregularities in growth, insect damage, splitting or rot. Cane more than three eighths inch thick is usually not satisfactory.
Now the split canes are soaked in water for a minimum of 24 hours in preparation for gouging. The work with the cane in gouging affords further opportunities for selectivity. Judgments about the quality of the cane can be made on the bases of color, flexibility, strength, hardness, straightness, and the evenness and frequency of the grain.
The color of the soaked cane, both the inside and outer surface, can vary considerably from a light yellow-orange to a darker brown-orange. It should appear to have a slightly transparent outer layer through which the grains can be seen. Sometimes deep brown markings caused by the sun are on the bark. The cane should not appear dull or flat, but smooth and semi-glossy.
As an initial test of hardness, press very firmly and draw a mark with the thumbnail on the surface of the cane, avoiding the center area where the playing surface of the reed will eventually be. The mark should be difficult to make and should not go very deeply into the surface. As an example, the mark that the thumbnail can make on a pencil is much too deep, and cane which allows such a deep mark will be too soft and mushy to make a decent reed. The mark is like the indentation that can be made on hardwood, and it is not extremely visible but can be felt with light thumbnail pressure.
Another test of hardness and flexibility should be made at this point. Hold the soaked cane in both hands at the very ends and gently twist to about a 45 degree angle, inspecting for hairline cracks and splits in both the inside and outer surface. The cane should be flexible not rigid, and it should spring quickly back into original shape. Extremely soft cane, which should be discarded, has little "life, " bends easily, and returns to the original shape slowly.
Each piece, having passed the above tests needs to be trimmed to fit the gouger bed. Excess width is removed with a sharp knife until the width matches the gouger bed. Strength and quality can be determined by how easily the cane peels off. Cuts should not be too difficult nor too easy to make, and the cane should split along a grain with relative ease. Some cane with a good outward appearance has " turned to wood" and is very difficult to cut because it has lost flexibility and the grainy, fibrous characteristics of cane.
After the cane is cut to the proper width, place it with the bark facing down on a flat table, and determine the flattest possible lengthwise section which matches the gouger bed's length. Also check for possible curvature of the grain at the extremities and compromise the sectional cuts if necessary, considering this and the flatness.
The scrape of the gouger blade makes the final test. The first few passes of the blade removes the membrane and soft fibrous materials. Resistance of each successive blade pass should increase until the desired thickness is achieved. Watch the grain carefully as the last few passes are made. The removed curls of cane should have even and compact grains. Occasionally a few brown or black lengthwise stripes appear between grain fibers. These stripes have no harmful effect, but seem to be the result of aging in some cane.
When the gouging is completed, a final twist test of the cane will reveal flexibility, strength, and splits. By gouging a lot of cane at a time, one can make comparisons between canes and sort or discard them accordingly.
Selectivity of cane in the earlier stages of reedmaking saves valuable time and promotes consistency, eliminating some of the trial and error methods employed when the quality and characteristics of the cane are not known. For the user of domestic cane, selectivity becomes an essential part of reedmaking.