506 



W I L 



WIL 



to this weed ; and it is said that pas- 

 turing with sheep kills it. But to 

 conquer it effectually, there can be 

 no better way than to use the land 

 in tillage, for hoed crops, several 

 years in succession. 



WILLOW, Salix, called also 

 sallow and osier, a well known tree, 

 of which there are nnany species. 



Some willows may be propagat- 

 ed to great advantage for tire 

 wood, as they arc very rapid in 

 their growth. 



Other kinds have twigs that are 

 long and tough, and are useful for 

 hoops, basket work, &lc. These 

 are commonly kept low by cutting ; 

 when this is neglected they grow 

 into large trees. 



A wild shrubby willow, natural 

 to this country, is common in our 

 wet lands. This is called white 

 willow, Sdlix aibu, and in medicine 

 is a good substitute for the Cortex 

 peruvianus. 



The salix viminaUs, the tough- 

 est kind of willow, has not, that I 

 know, been yet propagated in this 

 country. The weeping willow, so 

 called, has been imported from Eu- 

 rope : But whether it prospers I 

 am unable to say. 



No more than two sorts of for- 

 eign willow have been much pro- 

 pagated in this country, a yellovv 

 and a green sort. The former yrows 

 well, even in a soil that is prf tiy 

 dry. The latter flourishes tinely 

 in a wet situation. 



Mr. Miller says, " all sorts of wil- 

 lows may be easily propagated by 

 cuttings or sets, either in the spring 

 or autumn, which readily take root. 

 Those sorts which grow to be large 

 trees, are cultivated for their tim- 



ber, so are generally planted from 

 sets which are about seven or eight 

 feet long; these are sharpened at 

 their larger end, and thrust into 

 the ground by the sides of ditches 

 and banks, where the ground is 

 moist ; in which places they make 

 a considerable progress, and are a 

 great improvement to such estates, 

 because their tops will be fit to lop 

 every fifth or sixth year. This is 

 the usual method now practised in 

 most parts of England, where the 

 trees are cultivated, as they are 

 generally intended for present pro- 

 fit. But if they are designed for 

 large trees, or are cultivated for 

 their wood, they should be planted 

 in a different manner ; for those 

 which are planted from sets of se- 

 ven or eight feet long, always send 

 out a number of branches toward 

 the top, which spread, and form 

 large heads fit for lopping : But 

 their principal stem never advan- 

 ces in height ; therefore, where re- 

 gard is paid to that they should be 

 propagated by short young branch- 

 es, which should be put almost their 

 whole length in the ground, leaving 

 only two, or at most but three buds 

 out of the ground. And when 

 these have made one year's shoot 

 they should be all cut off, ex- 

 cept one of the strongest and best 

 situated, which must be trained up 

 to a stem, and treated in the same 

 way as timber frees. If these are 

 planted with such a design, the rows 

 should be six feet asunder, and sets 

 four feet distance in the rows : By 

 planting them so close they will na- 

 turally draw each other upward ; 

 and when they are grown so large 

 as to cover the ground and meet, 



