640 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [174] 



XI. — Other Objects of Point) culture. 



Other objects of pond culture are (1) willows, (2) grass, (3) reeds, 

 (4) mud, (5) diifereut kinds of grain or plants. 



(1) Willoics. — To plant the dikes with willows is the best way for 

 rendering them safe for a long time. Willows, moreover, yield a con- 

 siderable income from the sale of branches for making baskets. No 

 pond cultivator, therefore, should neglect to plant willows on his dikes. 

 The planting by means of wicker-work is preferable to that by shoots 

 stuck in the ground, as the former aftbrds protection against breaks in 

 the dike even before it has fully taken root, while the shoots will be 

 able to resist the water only after three or four years, when the dike is 

 permeated in all directions by the roots. The planting of willows has 

 already been spoken of in the chapter on the construction of the dike. 

 We shall, therefore, confine ourselves to giving a few hints on the 

 subject, following in this a treatise by Mr. Ernst Heger,* who has 

 given much attention to the matter. Willows can be planted in autumn, 

 during winter, or early in spring. The willow idantation must be kept 

 clean of weeds, especially of Connlrus .sepium, which may prove very 

 injurious. Tlie Untica dioica, the different varieties of Spircca, and the 

 Ruhns cwsius must be carefally weeded out at the time of blooming. 

 After the willows have been cnt in autumn the weeds and grass can be 

 hoed, turned, and left for manure. The weeds and grass should be cnt 

 once or twice with a sickle during summer, ft should be left to the 

 discretion of the pond cultivator whether he wants to harvest the hay 

 or whether in some places he will let it decay and serve as a fertilizer. 

 The willow plantation may also be injured by fungi and by various 

 insects, especially Cossus ligniperda, Fidonia proge^mnaria, and Liparis 

 salicis, which should be removed as soon as thej^ show themselves. 



Willows which have not been disturbed or injured in their growth 

 can be cut in the first year. The shoots are cut at half their height. 

 From the second and third year a willow plantation will, under favor- 

 able conditions, yield a rich harvest, which reaches its normal height in 

 the fourth year. It remains the same till the eighth or ninth year, when 

 it begins to decline. To prevent this the trees are cut off close to the 

 ground every seven or eight years, and in this manner a plantation may 

 be made to yield steady harvests for about thirty-five years. Trees 

 which have died must immediately be replaced by others. The simplest 

 way is to bend over a branch from the nearest tree and stick it in the 

 ground, severing it from its parent stem when it has thoroughly' taken 

 root. For cutting the branches a sickle-shaped knife with a hand- 

 strap is used. In doing this a man stands close to the tree, takes all the 

 branches springing from one head under his left arm, and severs them 

 from the tree by one rapid cut made in an upward direction. Among 

 the serviceable branches, every willow tree has some sickly or crippled 



* Wiener Landmrthschaftliche Zeitung, 1876, No. 10. 



