1885.] ITEMS DISCUSSED IN PBEVIOUS NUMBEHS. 



ITEMS DISCUSSED IN PREVIOUS NUMBERS. 



Willow Culture in Amekica. — The growth of osier willows in 

 the State of New York has not been profitable. Cheap, almost surplus 

 labour appears a necessity for the culture of this crop ; and it appears 

 that national periods such as the continental w^ar time at the 

 beginning of the century, when England awoke to the necessity of 

 replacing within its own borders the osier supply previously 

 imported from Holland, are best for its prosecution. Only then will 

 the willow culturist appreciate the sentiment of the Eomau 

 agriculturist of Cato's time who ranked his willow-field next in 

 importance to the vineyard. 



The varieties which flourish in England fail in New York State at 

 least. Neither the true osier, Scdix viminalis, nor the Longskin, the 

 Bedford, or the Huntington willow, flourish across the Atlantic. On 

 the other hand, the Forbes willow, S. Forhyana, the long-leaved 

 willow, S. triandra, and the purple willow, S. purpurea, appear best 

 adapted to the climate of America. 



A Cure for Pot-Twisting. — A correspondent, dating from Long 

 Island, in the Albany Cultivator advocates — 



Boxes for Seeds and Young Plants. — " My seed boxes are 9 or 

 12 inches square, 1 inch deep, and made of second class factory 

 strips which run 1 to 2 inches wide, 16 feet long, and cost a dollar 

 a hundred. One inch is deep enough ; there is no need whatever 

 for deep boxes with a lot of drainage in the bottom, then some fine 

 soil on top. I use no drainage, and do not want any. In the 

 bottom of the boxes are slight apertures. These boxes are excellent 

 for pricking off small seedlings into. Being square and all of one 

 size allows them to be packed closely and economically, so far as 

 room is concerned. 



Boxes for Young Plants. — These are of different sizes — from 

 15 to 20 inches wide, 16 to 30 inches long, and 2^ to 3^ or 4 

 inches deep. I buy the empty cracker, soap, and other boxes at the 

 grocery stores for eight cents each, the price the grocers are allowed 

 by tire manufacturers for returned empties. I cut these boxes 

 lengthwise into three parts, and in this way get two complete plant 

 boxes (one from the top and one from the bottom), and all except the 

 bottom of a third one. The bottoms of these third boxes are 

 supplied from factory strips, or a few boxes laid aside for furnishing 

 bottoms only. Of course, the boxes got from the top and bottom 

 cuts are close-bottomed, and that will not do for plants ; but a man, 



B 



