1470 - ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART IIIe 
whole current of the sap being taken up by the buds already fully formed. 
“‘The cleaning of the plants,” Sang continues, “is done with a sharp knife ; and, 
if it has been regularly attended to from the establishment of the plantation, 
it is neither troublesome nor expensive: indeed, this care is necessary, were 
it only for keeping the plants free from destructive insects. The shoots 
should not be cut till the second autumn after planting; for, by being allowed 
to remain uncut for such a length of time, the stools become stronger and more 
able to produce a good crop, thanif cut at an earlier period. Indeed, by the 
third autumn after planting, under the above management, the crop will be 
of very considerable value.” (Jbid., p. 332.) 
Cutting. The proper season for cutting basket willows is the autumn, 
immediately after the fall of the leaf. The advantage of cutting at this 
season is, that the buds which are left to produce the shoots for the sueceed- 
ing crop immediately begin to swell, and grow in strength during the winter ; 
and, consequently, they make much earlier and stronger shoots in the following 
spring. Immediately after cutting the rods, they are tied up in bundles, each 
generally about 3 ft. 9 in. in girt, and if they are not intended to be used green, 
that is with the bark on, they are set on their thick ends in standing water, 
to the depth of 3in. or 4in. Here they remain during winter and spring, 
till the shoots begin to sprout, which generally happens, in the neighbourhood 
of London, about the end of February, when they are ready to be peeled. 
Sometimes it happens that osiers are cut with the leaves on, in which case they 
should never be tied up in bundles, on account of the fermentation that would 
be produced by binding them closely together in that state; but the rods 
should be set up thinly and loosely on end, their tops leaning against a rod 
supported on two props. 
In Cambridgeshire, when a basket-maker purchases green rods, he measures 
the bundles, or bolts, as they are termed, by a band an ell long (14 yard, or 
3 ft. 9 in.) ; which band, previously to tying it round the rods, he marks at the 
point to which the given length extends : with this he binds the-bundleas soon 
as it appears large enough to fill the band, and afterwards completes the bundle 
by pushing under the band as many rods as he can. For this purpose, the large 
rods are laid aside, from their filling up the given space more quickly than the 
smaller ones; and all the rods must be laid parallel to one another in the 
bundle. Three bands are bound round each bundle; viz. one towards each 
extremity, and the third in the middle. The one nearest the lower end, which 
should be at the distance of 1 ft. 6in. from the bottom, is the measuring band. 
In forming their bundles, basket-makers tie up a small armful (which they calla 
calf ), and place it in the middle of the bottom of the bundie, so that the ends 
extend about lft. beyond the bottom, and tie it up in this state. By lifting 
up the bundle a few times, and letting it fall on its base to the ground, the 
calf is driven up, and, acting as a wedge, tightens the bundle. A machine 
called a dumb-boy, made of wood and rope, is used by some purchasers for 
compressing the greatest possible number of rods into a bundle. Another 
machine, called a cow, which is made of iron, has a still greater power of 
compression than the dumb-boy. The usual price for common green osiers, 
in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, is 1s. 6d. per bundle. About London, the 
bundles are of the same size, and the price varies from 2s. to 3s, per bundle. 
The Operation of Peeling is very simple, and is commonly done by infirm or 
old men or women, at so much a bundle. The apparatus for peeling consists 
of two round rods of iron, nearly in. thick, 1 ft. 4 in. long, and tapering a 
little upwards, welded together, at the one end which is sharpened, so that the 
instrument may be easily thrust down into the ground. When the instrument 
is inserted in a piece of firm ground, the peeler sits down opposite to it, 
takes the willow rod or twig in his right hand by the small end, and puts a 
foot or more of the thick end into the instrument, the prongs of which he 
presses together with his left hand, while with his right he draws the willow 
towards him ; by which operation the bark will at once be separated from the - 
wood; the small end is then treated in the same manner, and the peeling is 
