1847.] Osier Willow— Its Cultivation, ^c. 197 



OSIER WILLOW-ITS CULTIVATION, &c. 



BY C. N. BEMENT. 



For several years past I have cultivated a small patch of the 

 osier willow for the purpose of binding my stalks instead of 

 straw, and for making baskets for the use of the farm. The 

 patch consisted of four rows, each 50 feet long. My attention 

 was first directed to a more extended cultivation from the fact of 

 an offer made me by a German basket maker, of one dollar and 

 fifty cents, for the cuttings of one year's growth. I refused the of- 

 fer for the purpose of using them to set out a new plantation. 

 Last spring I sold the cuttings from the same patch for four 

 dollars. 



I am not aware of its being cultivated to any extent in this 

 country, but from the fact that large quantitesof the osier willow 

 is imported from France and Germany, I am induced to believe 

 it may be made a profitable business. 



Osier is the name given to various species of willow, chiefly 

 employed in basket-making. The narrow leaved willows gener- 

 ally come under the denomination of osiers, of which this is one 

 of the most valuable. It is cultivated for white basket-work, pro- 

 ducing rods 8 or 9 feet long, tough and pliant, even when stripped 

 of their bark, and very durable. There are several varieties of 

 this species; one called the French willow; it is more slender in 

 form, and never attains more than from 12 to 15 feet in height. 

 Another variety, much esteemed, called the velvet osier, in which 

 no external difference is discernable, but the sprouts are said to 

 be more pliant. 



Osiers differ from other willows in their long, straight, flexible 

 and mostly tough twigs; their generally sessile gerraens, and elon- 

 gated stoles, and stigmas. 



Osiers are divided into two classes; the first is known by their 

 blunt and downy or mealy leaves, which in the other are pointed, 

 smooth and green leaves, resembling the myrtles. The common 

 osier is one of the most abundant species. The sprouts are 

 straight, erect, round-like, very long and slender, round, polished, 

 downy when young, with fine silky hairs. Leaves on short foot- 

 stalks, almost upright, about a span long, and half an inch wide. 

 Many species of willow are found, bordering our rivers, creeks 

 and swamps, the greater part of which are tender and brittle, and 

 are susceptible of no useful purpose. 



The osier willow is worthy a place on every farm, because it 

 takes but little room and flourishes best on ground too wet for gen- 

 eral cultivation; requires very little care after the second year, 



