12 TREE-PLANTING. 



extending through Staines, Shepperton, Chertsey, 

 Windsor, as far as Maidenhead, although the osiers 

 grown are of large size, the qualities are inferior, and 

 they are used only for making the coarsest packing 

 baskets. 



Osier plantations in favourable situations, will last 

 seventy years, with a little occasional mending, and by 

 good management can be made a source of large 

 profit. In strong and rich soils, where they attain a 

 height of ten, twelve, and thirteen feet, it is usual to 

 plant them in rows two feet apart, and from sixteen 

 or eighteen inches from each other in the rows. 

 Eighteen inches is considered the best distance by 

 practical men, on account of the shoots ripening 

 better, for if planted too thickly on rich soils, there 

 not being sufficient room for them to stand com- 

 fortably together, a few of the leading ones would be 

 drawn up very tall, and obstruct the light from acting 

 upon the others, which would prevent their wood 

 from ripening, and would, in consequence, become soft 

 and pithy, and be unfit for the purpose of basket- 

 making. 



It has been remarked that the action of light has 

 a very peculiar effect upon the osiers. While in some 

 seasons they will be of a yellowish brown their proper 

 colour in others they will assume a dull green hue ; 

 in cloudy seasons they become of a dull mahogany 

 colour, while in unusually clear ones, they will turn 

 cherry-colour, or red. 



But even with such a growth as osiers to deal 

 with, it is necessary to select varieties which are the 

 most suitable for the situation they are intended to 

 occupy. In light soil, where there is a considerable 



