Gathering River Cane?

[Landshark160]

I want to try to build some primitive arrows out of cane and need some help starting out.  I'm pretty sure I found some of this while scouting this year, but I'm not sure as I've never seen a picture of how it looks in the wild.  Assuming this is what I found, do you need to only gather certain diameters for a proper spine range and if so, approx. what size?  Then, do you have to let it dry?  Anything else I need to know?
Thanks for the help.

[Pat B]

Chris. You will want to collect canes a little bigger than what you want for arrows(at least 3/8" at the base). They will shrink as they dry. Find the straightest you can and be sure that the paper sheith at the nodes is starting to deteriorate or is already gone. If it is still attached well, you don't want them...they are too young and haven't developed well enough for arrows. Those will be good next year.
   Cut the canes long(36"), bundle them up and set them aside to dry. After about a month or so you should be able to work then. Check out The Ferret's web site. He has lots of info there about collecting cane for arrows and about making cane arrows. There might even be a link in the "How To" section about cane arrows.    Pat