272 Forestry Quarterly. 



and Georgia. The growing industry is also being developed on 

 the Pacific coast. Basket Willow is now most extensively culti- 

 vated in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana and 

 Kentucky. 



Varie;ties of Wii.i,ows Used. 



Only a few varieties of willows are distinguished by willow- 

 ware makers. The purple willow {Salix purpurea Linn.), called 

 French osier in New York State, is the one most extensively 

 cultivated in this country. In Michigan and Wisconsin it is called 

 Welsh willow and is almost the only variety grown. It yields 

 very satisfactory crops, especially in moist, fertile upland, where 

 it is comparatively free from injurious insects. In Ohio, Indiana 

 and Illinois this variety was the principal one planted about ten 

 years ago, but large patches have been completely destroyed by 

 insects, and has since been largely replaced by the American 

 Green {Salix amygdalina Linn.) and Lemley willows {SalLv 

 pruinosa var.). 



American Green willow is the principal one grown in the Ohio 

 River valley, and it is also extensively cultivated in Pennsylvania 

 and Maryland, where it is highly esteemed. Fully 75% of the 

 basket willows grown in these two States are American Green, 

 while in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois fully 50% is of this variety. 

 Outside of western New York it is used almost entirely for 

 making willow furniture. 



Lemley willow, known among growers in the eastern central 

 States as Gold Skin, produces excellent crops of rods that are 

 regarded among the best by basket makers. The wood is hard 

 though light in weight, and the rods peel very easily, remaining 

 almost snowy white when peeled and thoroughly dried. This 

 willow is also extensively grown in Maryland, but unless it re- 

 ceives proper attention in the holt the butts of the rods become 

 thick and curved, which are objectionable features. 



Black German willow {Salix dasyclados Wimmer) is raised 

 locally in western New York and in Michigan. It possesses some 

 of the characteristics of the American Green willow, though it 

 may be readily distinguished from it by its pronounced bloom 

 which covers the upper half of the shoot; also by its large thick 

 leaves and leaf-like appendages at the base of the leaf stalk. The 

 rods grow eight to ten feet high in a single season, but they have 



