CHAP. cm. .salica'ce^. 6'a'lix. 1459 



Thames and the Cam are the most celebrated. In both these rivers, and in 

 some others, small islands are frequently planted entii-ely with willows, and 

 are called osier holts. There are many such islands in the Thames, between 

 London and Reading. The most extensive willow plantations in fields are 

 in the fenny districts of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire ; and, perhaps, 

 the largest plantation in England is that of Mr. Adnam, near Reading. The 

 principal market for basket willows is London; but they are in demand, more 

 or less, in every town in the country. The willow is frequently cultivated as 

 a pollard, the lop being valuable "for fence-wood, poles, hurdles, and fuel. 

 It is sometimes, also, cultivated as a timber tree ; but, as an ornamental tree 

 or shrub, it may be considered to be in a great measure neglected. 



Properties and Uses. The importance of the willow to man has been re- 

 cognised from the earhest ages ; and ropes and baskets made from willow 

 twigs were probably among the very first of human manufactures, in countries 

 where these trees abound. The Romans used the twigs for binding their 

 vines and tving their reeds in bundles, and made all sorts of baskets of them. 

 A crop of willows was considered so valuable in the time of Cato, that he 

 ranks the salictum, or willow field, next in value to the vineyard and the 

 garden. In modern times, " the many important uses," Sir W. J. Hooker 

 observes, " rendered to man by the diiferent species of willow and osier, serve to 

 rank them among the first in our list of economical plants." In a state of nature, 

 the willow furnishes food by its leaves to the larvae of moths, gnats, and 

 certain other insects ; and, by its flowers, to the honey-bee. Its wood, also, is 

 preferred to most others by the beaver. The leaves and young shoots are 

 wholesome and nourishing to cattle; and in some northern countries they are 

 collected green, and then dried and stacked for that purpose. In France, 

 those of S. cajirea, whether in a green or dried state, are considered the very 

 best food for cows and goats ; and horses, in some places, are fed entirely on 

 them, from the end of August till November. Horses so fed, it is stated, will 

 travel 20 leagues a day without being fatigued. (Bosc.) In the north of Sweden 

 and Norwav, and in Lapland, the inner bark is kiln-dried and ground for 

 the purpose of mixing with oatmeal in years of scarcity. In a rude state of 

 civilisation, the twigs of the willow were used in constructing houses, house- 

 hold utensils, panniers, the harness of horses and cattle, and for various pur- 

 poses connected with boats and fishing. The twigs ai-e still very generall}' 

 applied, in Russia and Sweden, to all these uses ; and Dr. Walker relates that 

 he has ridden in the Hebrides with a bridle made of twisted willow twigs, and 

 lain all night at anchor with a cable made of the same material. The bark of 

 the trunks of young trees is used generally, throughout the north of Europe, 

 for the same purposes as that of the lime tree (See p. 368.); and in Tartary, 

 it is said, it is macerated, and the fibre, when separated, spun into threads, 

 from which cloth is woven. 



The bark of the willow, and also the leaves, are astringent ; and the bark of 

 most sorts maybe employed in tanning. That of S. capreais used both for tanning 

 and dyeing black, in Sweden, the north of Scotland, and Switzerland. (JVa/Zcer.) 

 A substance called salicine has been extracted from the bark of S. RusseWiaiia, 

 S. He\\\, and some other kinds of willow, which Professor Burnet states to 

 have been " proved to be equally efficient with the Peruvian bark ;" and he 

 remarks on the wise provision of Providence,^in placing the remedy for agues, 

 and other low fevers, exactly in those moist marshy situations where these 

 diseases are most prevalent. (See Burnet's Inaiigurnl Address to the Medico- 

 Botanical Society, February, 1831, p. 12.) This new principle was first dis- 

 covered by M. Leroux; and M. Majendie states that he has known three 

 doses of 6 grains each stop a fever; which is nearly the same quantity as 

 would be required for the same purpose of sulphate of quinine. (^Annates de 

 C'/»/h/c, tom. xliii. p. 4-iO., as quoted in Brande's Journal (or 1831.) Salicine is 

 in the form of very fine nacreous whitish crystals, perfectly soluble in water 

 or alcohol. It is very bitter, and partakes something of the colour of willow 

 bark. The process for obtaining it is rather lone; and it requires about 3 lb. 



5 c 3 



