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The compressing, stretching, bending, and shearing stress of reed stalk growing in the Yangtze River region were investigated by using a computer-controlled electronic universal testing machine. The results were as follows: the average maximum values of the stress resistance intensity, pulling resistance intensity, the average of maximum bending resistance intensity, and shearing resistance intensity were 22 MPa, 152 MPa, 118 MPa and 26 MPa, respectively, whereas the equivalent values of the modulus of elasticity were 45 MPa, 321 MPa, 77 MPa and 286 MPa, respectively. The stalk of reed is a kind of anisotropic material and it is different from Arundo donax L., ramie and wheat. Thus, the traditional agricultural machine for cutting and processing is found to be inconvenient to use in reed harvesting. The data of the experiments provided an important foundation for determining the structural parameters of reed cutter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]