388 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. [March 



The Timber Statistics of " The Valley of the Gander," 

 Newfoundland. — One of those chiefly concerned in this contro- 

 versy, Alexander Murray, C.M.G., died in December last at Crieff, 

 near which he was born in 1811, after a noble life of scientific 

 pioneering in the Canadian Dominion. In ordinary circumstances 

 we would have closed the dispute, so far as these columns are con- 

 cerned. But as " Lumberman " had returned to America when the 

 first letter was published, and as he could not have replied till the 

 2:)resent number, we allow him the last word : — " In the matter of 

 Newfoundland no one doubts IVIr. Murray's experience as a geologist ; 

 but Mr. Harvey, residing in St. John's, ought to have known that the 

 timber calculations which he publishes were shown to be absurd 

 long since by the Federation Star, a newspaper published in New 

 Brunswick, and to a certain extent circulated in Newfoundland." 



Questions about Osier Cultivation. — (1) W. C. writes: "When 

 should willow stakes or cuttings be inserted in water banks to 

 grow ? " 



(2) Messrs. Bradford & Sons, Yeovil, inquire for the title of any 

 recent work on " Osier Cultivation." "We want to ascertain, if we 

 can, what are the most saleable and suitable kinds to grow in our 

 locality ? 



To these questioners our readers are indebted for the letter of 

 Mr. Scaling, the great English authority on this subject, ai^pearing 

 in this number. Mr. Basford's treatise, On the Groivth and, Cidtiva- 

 tio7i of Willoivs in Scotland, which appeared in the Transactions of 

 the Highlaml and Agriculturcd Society of Scotland for 1879, is the 

 best available one on the subject. Several articles on this topic 

 have also recently appeared in the Gardener's Chronicle. 



(1) Mr. Basford says planting may be done at any time when the 

 ground is free from frost, between the middle of November and the 

 end of March. 



(2) Salix vimincdis, or the osier proper, should do well on rich 

 soils found on river margins, where it is subject to occasional floods. 

 It has done well on several sewage farms, such as that of 

 Northampton. No reasonable flooding will impair willows, pro- 

 vided the water does not remain to stagnate. 



