WILLOWS AND WILLOW CULTUKE. 



ent stages of their growth, as well as the still greater and more permanent changes 

 produced by locality and cultivation, make this family of plants so difficult of discrim- 

 ination, that although many acute minds have made them their earnest study for more 

 than thirty years, the subject is still involved in considerable confusion ; and cultiva- 

 tors, acting under widely differing circumstances, have, to those who do not sufficiently 

 note the diversity, involved the practical management of them in something of the 

 same apparent obscurity. But this arises from such an imperfect view of the matter 

 as those who cultivate the earth have no right to take. A cultivator is a jury of one, 

 with the experience of ages for his common law, taking into careful consideration all 

 the circumstances of the case. If we consider the bleak latitude of Scotland, we shall 

 see why Sang and Shirreff strenuously insist upon shelter as one of the circum- 

 stances indispensable to success. When we look upon England, and regard her 

 " atmosphere of wetness," retentive soil, and the value of land commanding a yearly 

 rent sufficient for its absolute purchase here, we can easily understand why land that 

 is worthless for other purposes is appropriated to the growth of osiers, and also the 

 cause for the expensive system of " laying up into beds." But the extent to which it 

 is grown in England demands an effort of credulity to believe, and that for their own 

 use only — not exporting any. In the extensive fenny districts which abound in sev- 

 eral of the counties of England, Willow has served to render ground otherwise worth- 

 less of considerable and often of great value ; but it is on the many fertile islands oi 

 the Thames, that are often entirely devoted to it, and on the deep, rich bottoms that 

 form the borders of the rivers, and are occasionally overflowed by them, that the 

 brightest results are seen — such as make the rich man richer, but are beyond the 

 reach of the poor. The liability to failure of the Willow is less than of any other 

 crop, when planted on such ground as the above. 



If I were writing a book instead of a brief essay on the subject, if would be interest- 

 ing to glance at the history of Willow culture in England, that we might see in what 

 estimation it is held by the people best calculated to appreciate it. Its extensive in- 

 troduction is of but recent date ; for until the wars at the close of the last century cut 

 off the supply John Bull was content to receive his " wicker material and hoops" 

 from the " Dutch boors," and probably would have continued so to the present time, 

 had not necessity turned his attention to the production of it at home. But when it 

 was once undertaken, it was prosecuted with his characteristic energy, as may be seen 

 by reference to the agricultural and horticultural writers of the time, and to the trans- 

 actions of the various societies. Prize essays were written, and gold medals awarded 

 for the establishment of Willow plantations. Both nature's noblemen and those that 

 "kings have made" earnestly engaged in the work. The doings of "Ilis Grace the 

 Duke of Bedford" alone are embodied in a princely volume, and confer honor upon 

 his title. But after all, the result is best seen by the vast amount of land occupied as 

 osier holts all over the kingdom ; and from its history during the past fifty years in 

 England, may perhaps be inferred the best answer to the frequent question, " Will 

 the business be soon overdone ?" In Britain and on the continent, with 

 ion of an occasional fluctuation, prices have changed but little, and not 



