y back that evening, set it up, and work all
night and the next day getting results."

This characteristic principle of obtaining desired material in the
quickest and most positive way manifested itself in the search that
Edison instituted for the best kind of bamboo for lamp filaments,
immediately after the discovery related in a preceding chapter. It is
doubtful whether, in the annals of scientific research and experiment,
there is anything quite analogous to the story of this search and the
various expeditions that went out from the Edison laboratory in 1880 and
subsequent years, to scour the earth for a material so apparently simple
as a homogeneous strip of bamboo, or other similar fibre. Prolonged
and exhaustive experiment, microscopic examination, and an intimate
knowledge of the nature of wood and plant fibres, however, had led
Edison to the conclusion that bamboo or similar fibrous filaments were
more suitable than anything else then known for commercial incandescent
lamps, and he wanted the most perfect for that purpose. Hence, the
quickest way was to search the tropics until the proper material was
found.

The first emissary chosen for this purpose was the late William H.
Moore, of Rahway, New Jersey, who left New York in the summer of 1880,
bound for China and Japan, these being the countries preeminently noted
for the production of abundant species of bamboo. On arrival in the
East he quickly left the cities behind and proceeded into the interior,
extending his search far into the more remote country districts,
collecting specimens on his way, and devoting much time to the study of
the bamboo, and in roughly testing the relative value of its fibre in
canes of one, two, three, four, and five year growths. Great bales of
samples were sent to Edison, and after careful tests a certain variety
and growth of Japanese bamboo was determined to be the most satisfactory
material for filaments that had been found. Mr. Moore, who was
continuing his searches in that country, was instructed to arrange for
the cultivation and shipment of regular supplies of this particular
species. Arrangements to this end were accordingly made with a Japanese
farmer, who began to make immediate shipments, and who subsequently
displayed so much ingenuity in fertilizing and cross-fertilizing that
the homogeneity of the product was constantly improved. The use of this
bamboo for Edison lamp filaments was continued for many years.

Althou