BASKET WILLOW CULTURE IN MARYLAND 



By C. D. MELL. 



©ASKET willow culture in Maryland has long been profitable, but of late 

 years New York state and the eastern central states have entered so 

 strongly into competition with Maryland that the margin of profit has 

 been considerably reduced. One advantage that growers here have over the 

 states farther west is that nearly all of the basket and wicker furniture fac- 

 tories are located in the larger cities near the Atlantic coast and principally 

 in Baltimore, so that the cost of transportation is very little. Growers of 

 basket willows in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky have to put up their 

 basket willow rods in bundles of 75 to 125 pounds and pay high transportation 

 rates to get them to the factories in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and 

 Boston. At the same time good basket willow land in Maryland can be 

 bought for $75 to flOO per acre, while in the eastern central and other basket 

 willow growing states land suitable for growing a successful crop sells for 

 considerably over $100. This makes a still greater difference in the net returns 

 from the plantation. Moreover, the most experienced basket makers always 

 contend that the willows raised in Maryland are far superior to those of any 

 other part of this country. They are reputed to be tougher, more pliable, and 

 for this reason often bring from one to two cents per pound more than wil- 

 lows grown, for instance, in New York or Indiana. 



The yield of basket willows here is on the average higher than elsewhere, 

 which is partly due to superior cultivation and partly to the peculiar adapta- 

 bility of soil and climate. As high as 3,000 pounds (weight when peeled and 

 dried) of good rods are raised on an acre, but to do this a favorable season, 

 good soil, and superior cultivation must be supplied. On the poorer land 

 the average is about as low as 1500 or 2000 pounds to the acre, while an 

 average crop year after year on the good lands is probably about 2500 pounds. 

 A poor crop often consumes the greater part of the profit of a good year, 

 because the labor required to hai-vest the basket willow is entirely manual, and 

 in the spring when the time comes for cutting and peeling the rods this labor 

 is generally scarce and high. This cuts dovni the grower's net profit if his 

 crop turns out poorly. Occasionally if the crop is very poor the grower will 

 not attempt to harvest it, but lets it grow, cutting it at the end of the second 

 year. 



Basket willows this year promise to net the farmer a fair profit on his 

 investment. A good deal depends, however, upon the peeling, bleaching and 

 drying. The snowy white, sap-peeled rods are much desired in making high 

 grade basket ware, and rods so bleached, carefully graded in quantity and 

 height clases and put up in neat bundles, will bring more than those bunched 

 in a careless manner. To secure the desired color the rods must be spread 

 out in the sun immediately after peelings until they are bleached the desired 

 shade, after which they are put into a drying room. 



There is another point which the grower must bear in mind. The peeled 

 rods are placed on racks and left to dry, where they must remain until they 

 are dry enough not to heat after bundling. Great care must be taken to 

 prevent them from getting wet after they have been bleached or while in 

 the process of drying. There is no definite period required for this drying, 

 a good deal depending upon the weather and the size and kind of willows. 



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