474 SALIX 



beauty, the males especially ; but willows as a rule are cultivated for the 

 beauty of their foliage and habit, or on account of their fondness for 

 moisture at the roots, which renders them valuable for planting in wet 

 places where the choice of trees and shrubs that will thrive is limited. A 

 selection of some of the more desirable species is given below. 



Willows are propagated extremely easily by means of leafless cuttings, 

 which may be put in the open ground at any time between November 

 and early March. Pieces one to several years old may be used ; and of 

 the tree sorts like alba, viridis, and fragilis, it is usual to put in "sets," 

 i.e. naked rods, 8 to 12 ft. long, and as thick or thicker than a broom- 

 stick. Considering how readily cuttings take root, it is rather curious 

 that trees do not bear transplanting well. Plants raised from cuttings 

 in the nursery should be put in their permanent places at not more 

 than two years old and should be planted a few inches deeper than 

 before ; the best results will, indeed, be obtained by putting the 

 cutting into its destined place at the commencement, if due protection 

 and care can be given. This is always done with the big "sets" just 

 mentioned. The majority of willows abhor dryness at the root, but will 

 thrive in ordinary situations if the soil be deep and rather heavy. A few 

 sorts of Alpine origin or from northern latitudes are suitable for the rock 

 garden. Whilst most of the great osier-beds are along river sides, often 

 in places so damp or so subject to inundation as to be unavailable for 

 ordinary crops, some of the finest quality wickerwork is made from 

 willows grown on ordinary farm land. Often several forms of osiers used 

 in basket-making are derived from a single species (see triandra, viminalis, 

 purpurea. etc.), which, although they vary much in quality for their 

 particular purpose, show no botanical differences. They are known in 

 the osier trade by colloquial names. 



The value of several sorts of willow trees for producing wood from 

 which cricket-bats are made is alluded to under S. coerulea, viridis, and 

 fragilis, but these species as well as alba yield timber useful also for other 

 purposes, especially where a non-splintering wood is required, and where 

 it is subject to rough friction like cart or wheelbarrow bottoms. For 

 wattling the wasting banks of rivers or other pieces of water nothing 

 equals the branches of willows. 



In gardens willows are undoubtedly seen to best advantage near 

 water. Throughout the whole range of hardy trees and shrubs there is 

 nothing that can give quite the same effect as S. babylonica, S. alba, or 

 S. Salamonii, planted by the margin of a lake or stream. 



The following is a select list of species and hybrids that may be recommended for 

 various purposes in the garden : 



ORNAMENTAL LARGE TREES. S. alba and S. a. argentea, babylonica, coerulea, fragilis, 

 pentandra, Salamoni, viridis. 



ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS. S. Bockii, incana, Pierotii, purpurea, repens var. argentea. 



COLOUR OF BARK IN WINTER. S. vitellina, yellow ; S. vitellina var. britzensis ; red j 

 acutifolia and daphnoides, purple. 



FLOWER. S. Bockii, gracilistyla, Caprea, Smithiana. 



ROCK GARDEN. S. Arbuscula, herbacea, myrtilloides, reticulata, retusa. 



S. purpurea var. pendula, caesia, repens, and others are sometimes grafted on 

 standards, and are in that way transformed into small weeping trees, but the practice 

 has little 10 recommend it and has much nguinst it. 



