OK GJtOWTH AND CULTIVATION OF WILLOWS IN SCOTLAND, do 



grown as timber and easily obtainable, it would be used for very 

 many purposes to which foreign timber is now applied. 



The other species of willow named as a timber tree, S. fragilisr 

 is also a vigorous grower, and will well repay the cultivator. 

 The variety known as >S'. Russelliana is undoubtedly the ])est ; but 

 as it possesses no advantages over the >S'. alha, either in its 

 adaptability to the climate of Scotland, nor in the rapidity of its 

 growth, I do not advise any one to plant it — firstly, because tlie 

 timber it is not so tough, and will not sell for so great a price ; 

 and secondly, the spread of the branches is so much .greater than 

 that of S. alha that it requires at least double the space to grow 

 in ; and thirdly, the branches are so Ijrittle that after a higli 

 wind the ground is strewed with them, or the streams near where 

 it grows are choked. For these reasons, and because it does not 

 possess one valuable property as a tree that the aS'. alha does not 

 possess in a higher degree, I do not advise any one to plant it 

 with a view to profit. 



BASKET WILLOWS. 



Scotland is not distinguished as a willow-producing country, 

 not because either the soil or climate is unsuitable, but because 

 the subject has not received sufficient attention. Few countries 

 in Europe of similar dimensions produce so small a quantity, or 

 are so dependent upon foreign supply. The total area now under 

 cultivation probably does not exceed 120 acres, and the year's 

 produce would not supply the trade with more than a tenth part 

 of its requirements. The deficiency is met by importations from 

 Germany, Holland, France, Belgium, and England, the best 

 qualities coming from England, chiefly the county of Nottingham, 

 and the inferior from Germany and Holland, "Willows for basket- 

 making purposes, of large size, have been grown in Scotland, and 

 prizes obtained for the same; and from personal observation I 

 can testify that they can be grown of very excellent quality, and 

 there is no reason why Scotland should not produce all she needs 

 for her own consumption, and of a very superior quality to the 

 greater part of what she now imports. 



It is only within the last twenty years that willow cultivation 

 has received the attention it deserves. Up to that time it was 

 generally supposed that they would grow anywhere, and required 

 neither care nor attention — " A willow was a willow and nothing 

 more ; " and it was thought only necessary to push a few cut- 

 tings (collected at random), into any swamp or useless corner, and 

 leave them to chance in order to obtain a crop ; and even now 

 scores of water-logged patches are suffered to exist, with a few 

 miserably starved willow stumps dotted about, the crops of which 

 would not cover the cost of harvesting, and yet there are few 

 crops will yield a better return when properly managed. But in 



