IN EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 303 



into full bearing in the third year ; they bear for ten years and 

 then slowly decline. The raw produce from an acre in a year 

 averages 6 tons to 7J tons, ranging in price from 2 10s. to 3 10s. 

 for the ton (unpeeled). Although 7,000 acres are devoted in 

 Britain to the culture of basket- willows (exclusive of spinneys and 

 plantations for the farmers' own use), yet in 1866 there had to be 

 imported from the Continent 4,400 tons of willow branches, at a 

 value of 44,000, while besides the value of the made baskets 

 imported in that year was equal to the above sum. In. recent years 

 the importation into the United States of willow material for 

 baskets, chairs, &c., has, according to Simmonds, been valued as 

 approaching 1,000,000. Land comparatively valueless for root 

 or grain crops can be used very remuneratively for osier planta- 

 tions. The soft-wooded willows like to grow in damper ground 

 than the hard-wooded species. The best peeled willow branches 

 fetch as much as 25 for the ton. Peeling is best effected by steam, 

 by which means the material is also increased in durability, No 

 basket-willow will thrive in stagnant water. Osier plantations in 

 humid places should therefore be drained. The cuttings are best 

 taken from branches one or two years old, and are to be planted as 

 close as one foot by one foot and a half. No part of the cutting 

 must remain uncovered, in order that only straight shoots may be 

 obtained ; manuring and ploughing between the rows is thus also 

 facilitated, after the crop has been gathered, and this, according to 

 the approved Belgian method, must be done by cutting the shoots 

 close to the ground after the fall of the leaves. The accidental 

 introduction from abroad of the destructive saw-flies (particularly 

 Nematus ventralis), which prey also on currant and gooseberiy 

 bushes, should be guarded against. 



Salix rubra, Hudson.* 



Throughout Europe, also in West Asia and North Africa ; it is 

 much chosen for osier beds. When cut down it will make shoots 

 8 feet long in a season. Porcher regards it as one of the most 

 valuable species for work in which unpeeled rods are used. 



Salix tetrasperma, Roxburgh. 



Mountains of India, from 2,000 to 7,000 feet. Height of tree 40 

 feet. This thick-stemmed Willow is worthy of a place on 

 the banks of watercourses. The twigs can be worked into 

 baskets, the wood serves for gunpowder, the foliage for cattle 

 fodder. 



Salix triandra, Linne.* (S. amijgdalina, Linne".) 



The Almond- Willow ; through nearly all Europe and extra-tropical 

 Asia. Height of tree 30 feet. It sheds its bark annually 

 after the third year. Likes rich loamy soil ; require less space 



