^ ' i;» VILLOWS AND •WIT.LOW CULTUrUt. 



declined ; but in tlic Lest fields, and under improved culture, the profits Lave increased 

 In the year lbI2 the nett profit of some good plantations was stated at X'30 to jC40 

 j>oracre; and in 18i3"2, sorae as high as £50 per acre. On those plantations where 

 the ground was " fit for nothing else" even under good management, the profit was 

 often as low as JCIO per acre; and the writer sensiLIy remarks that "the judicious 

 expenditure for great care in the cultivation of any crop is generally profitable, but in 

 none more so than in the cultivation of Willow, often yielding a profit of 300 or 400 

 per cent." — Sang, G. K. 



I have drawn my illustrations extensively from English culture, because there "the 

 thing Ls systematically done up." The best and most cultivated minds have given it 

 their long-continued and careful attention ; and in such hands there is no difliculty or 

 uncertainty in observing the connection between cause and effect — for on this the 

 value of observation chiefly depends. The aim of cultivation is in every case the same 

 — to surround the plant, in the most economical manner, with all the circumstances 

 favorable to the development of those qualities for which it is grown ; and in cultiva- 

 tion, as well as choice of plants, some regard must be had to difi'erence of climate as 

 well as of other peculiar circumstances, of which I shall presently speak. The statis- 

 tics of American culture, wliich I have opportunity of knowing, show a remarkable 

 coincidence with the European, but the price is considerably in favor of the American 

 cultivator. 



The number of cuttings required for an acre differ widely, according to the end to 

 be accomplished, ranging from ten to thirty thousand ; and at the end of five or six 

 years the plantations may be of about equal value planted with the number of either 

 extreme. For large plantations, the best number is probably twelve to fifteen thou- 

 sand, and not much crop looked for until the end of the second season, and sorae even 

 prefer to take no crop fur market until the end of the third season, when one of great 

 value may be had. In such case, twelve thousand would be the proper number. A 

 crop of considerable value may be had the second season ; and for this purpose per- 

 haps fifteen thousand would be chosen. These Avould be set in rows about three feet 

 apart, and about ten inches distant in the rows. To derive the most pleasure and 

 profit immediate and prospective, from one acre, the plan adopted on the islands of 

 the Thames, or on the borders of the Cam and Trent, would be the one to pursue. 

 The rows should be eighteen inches apart, and the plants ten inches apart in the rows. 

 If the ground is well prepared, and the culture such as it should be, a very beautiful 

 crop may be had, of considerable value, the first year. A small holt of this descrip- 

 tion 1 have in my mind's eye as I write, and rods from it are standing by me, giving 

 an average length that would be considered respectable for a well-established field. 

 For this purpose not more than two shoots must be suffered to grow from a set the 

 first season. At the end of the sixth year, alternate stools are to be dug up, leaving 

 the rows eighteen inches apart, and the stools twenty inches distant in the rows. In 

 favorable situations, and where cuttings may be had at very cheap rates, this is un- 

 edly the most advantageous mode, and at once makes a field that the eye 

 hts to rest upon. 



