Consumption of Basket Willozvs. 2/T, 



a large pith and the wood is rather soft. It is better suited for 

 making large hampers and willow furniture than it is for making 

 small basket-ware. 



The following table shows the amount of basket willow rods of 

 each variety above named grown and consumed in 1908 : 



American Green willow, 674,000 pounds. 



Purple willow, 1,942,000 " 



Lemley, 160,000 " 



Black German, 63,000 " 



Total, 2,839,000 



Quality of Rods in Demand. 



There is a constantly increasing demand for basket willow rods 

 of the best quality. Basket makers prefer to buy their willows 

 from growers who know how to peel and sort the rods properly. 

 Slender, pliable and branchless rods are in great demand and 

 bring good prices, while the crooked, branched or otherwise de- 

 fective rods are frequently sold below the actual cost of produc- 

 tion. The fact that growers of^er for sale a poor grade of rods 

 not only lowers the price for home-grown material as a whole, but 

 it encourages the use of imported willow rods. The quality of 

 rods is dependent upon the soil, the variety of willow, and the 

 method of cultivation. The fact that a number of growers do not 

 know the requirements of basket willow rods from the basket 

 maker's point of view has led a great many basket makers, and 

 particularly owners of large establishments, either to grow the 

 willows required in their factories or to import them from Europe. 

 The statistical reports from basket makers show that 13 per cent, 

 of the consumers grow all the stock required in their factory ; ap- 

 proximately 21 per cent, grow a small portion of the stock, while 

 the remainder, or 66 per cent., obtain their stock either from the 

 grower direct or from importers. Although imported rods are 

 higher in price they are of a better quality and basket makers con- 

 sider them cheaper in the end than home-grown rods which 

 seldom meet the requirements. 



Rods should be sorted into four height and quality classes if 

 they vary from two to six feet in length, but when rods are from 

 two to eight feet long they should be sorted into five height classes. 



