WILLOW. 



(Salix.) 



The willows are distributed over both continents. The 

 ancients used willow wood for shields, because it would indent 

 without breaking. Pliny writes that Brittons made voyages in 

 boats of willow. (The principal experience with the tough, light, 

 workable, elastic wood has been in Europe,. where it has been 

 us,ed for lapboards, cricket bats, keels, paddles, and water 

 wheels. It resists splintering, heating and friction, and has been 

 used for lining friction brakes and wagons. The charcoal ignites 

 readily and is esteemed for finer kinds of gun-powder.] 



In America, willows are associated with the qualities of 

 pliability and water endurance. Trees and saplings, rather than 

 lumber, figure in American constructions. Trees are planted to 

 protect and sometimes by eddies to recover land from water 

 encroachment. (Saplings up to three or four inches in diameter 

 are made into matresses to prevent scour in Mississippi River 

 improvement work. Some of these mattresses are three hundred 

 feet wide and one thousand feet long.* Willow rods, whole or 

 split, are used in basket making. ) Sap-peeled rods retain their 

 white color, while steamed willows turn yellow. t Saplings are 

 often known as osiers, and the term osier willow is often applied 

 to any species that afford strong, slender shoots. The true osier, 

 sandbar or longleaf willow (Salix fluviatilis) is widely distributed 

 from the Arctic Circle southward into Mexico. Osiers are 

 regularly cultivated in Europe. J Wilows grow very rapidly and 

 have a characteristic and attractive appearance. The White, 

 Crack, Bedford, and Goat Willows (Salix alba, S. fragilis, S. 

 russeliana, and S. caprea) are said to afford good woods. 



* Starling & Coppee, Papers Trans. Am. Soc. C. E., Correspondence Mr. 

 Chas. Hunter West, M. Am. Soc. C. E , Chf. Eng'r., Miss, Levee Dist., 

 Greenville, Miss. 



t Correspondence, Chas. Zinn & Co., New York City. 



J The Basket Willow, U. S. For. Bui. No. 46. 



About 140 species and varieties of the wilbw family have been enumerated. 



94 



