Sa/i.v — IF///o7C>s and Osiers. 48 1 



has been used siiccessfiilly as a substitute for quassia and cinchona 

 bark. The bark of B. iwniandria is also highly perfumed, and the 

 same species furnishes an excellent down, which when mixed with one- 

 third cotton is used like feathers for stuffing beds, cushions, &c., and 

 its timber is less subject to rot than that of most other kinds. 



8alix vimimdis, the common osier, is a tree which attains large 

 growth when left uncut, though the shoots grow amazingly long and 

 strong in one year from the stools. The leaves are spear-shaped, 

 long, narrow, acute, almost entire, of a bluish green on their upper 

 side, and hairy underneath, and grow on very short footstalks. This 

 is the most propagated of all the sorts for basket-making. It produces 

 several qualities of different value, but all are nevertheless useful to 

 the basket-maker. The varieties usually go by the names of thf^ 

 green osier, the old basket osier, Welsh wicker, &c. 



Notwithstanding that the osier is usually planted by water, it like? 

 a sound and dry soil. The places in which it most delights are 

 drained moors and the banks of large rivers, both of which are pecu- 

 liarly dry situations. 



It has no dislike, however, to being occasionally flooded, and 

 seems to be invigorated by such irrigation ; therefore the sand-banks 

 which we see frequently thrown up by the sides of rivers, and which 

 sometimes lie waste for half a century before they become profitable, 

 are very eligible spots to be converted into osier-grounds. 



In planting an osier-ground or bed, the soil should be perfectly 

 dry, and its surface thoroughly clean. Cuttings of the second or 

 third year's growth, about 12 inches long, should be used, and 

 planted in rows 2-i- feet apart each way, in the month of ]\Iarch 

 The cuttings ought to be inserted 7 or 8 inches deep, leaving 4 or 

 5 inches of wood above ground. The space between the drills 

 should be kept well stirred, or the first year a crop of potatoes or 

 mangels may be taken. The rows in either case must be kept per- 

 fectly clean with the hoe, and at the approach of winter the spaces 

 between the drills should be dug, and the mould thrown to the rools 

 of the young plants, in order to lay them dry and warm during 

 winter. 



In spring it will be well to trim off the first year's shoots (though 

 not necessary), and replace the plants which have failed with fresh 

 cuttings. 



The second year the spaces between the rows must be kept well 

 stirred, the hoe used freely, and the plants earthed up as before against 

 the approach of winter. 



The ensuing spring the stools must again be cleaned, although as 

 yet the shoots will be of little value. At the third cutting they will be 

 of marketable size, and will annually increase in quantity and value. 



