Periodical Literature. 483 



a greater choice of settings for the yarding engine is afforded; 

 (7) the machine can also be used to spot cars. 



American Lumberman, January, 1913. 



The village of Liverpool, N. Y., with its 



Basket Willow 1400 inhabitants, was the first place in 



Business this country to start the manufacture of 



in willow baskets. About 50 years ago the 



Nezv York State. Germans there made baskets from willow 

 for their own use around the home, and 

 from this the demand grew to some 350,000 baskets annually at 

 the present time, with shipments all over the country in car-load 

 lots. Almost every family is now engaged in either raising the 

 willow or cleaning it, or making the baskets. 



Raising willows was formerly restricted to the back yards, 

 and almost every German had a small patch, but now some farm- 

 ers make it a business and have 40 to 60 acres of them. Cuttings 

 are set about a foot apart and from each a cluster of 40 to 60 rods 

 will grow annually after the third year. Considerable care is 

 required to keep up good yields: the ground must be kept free 

 of weeds ; when cutting, the rods are clipped close to the ground ; 

 moist soil, although not necessarily swampy soil, is needed. 

 When full grown, an average yield is about 3 tons of rods per 

 acre each year; and they are worth about $18 per ton, green. 

 The rods are 3 to 5 feet long usually, although some reach 8 or 

 9 feet ; the latter are not much in demand. 



After the willows are cut, they are steamed and the bark 

 peeled off by hand, and the rods sorted into 4 or 5 sizes. It is 

 dirty work to strip willows of their bark for they are slimy and 

 wet. The peelings are "thrown into the back yards, and when 

 they will hold no more they have to pay to have them carted 

 away. No use has been found for the bark. No machine has 

 ever been invented to strip willows successfully. 



There are 150 basket factories in Liverpool, all doing hand- 

 work. Almost every basket-maker has a shop in his house. One 

 man can make 5 hampers a day or a dozen waste-paper baskets, 

 and all of the work is done by the piece. Formerly 15 hours 

 constituted a day, but now the hands work "only twelve hours." 



