484 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



4, 



poplars, particularly in mild climes, renders it quite feasible to rear 

 them purposely for providing wood as an adjunct to paper-material, 

 particularly on ground not eligible as agrarian. 



Salix amygdalina, Linu6. (S. triandra, Linn.) 



The Almond- Willow. Through nearly all Europe and extra- 

 tropical Asia. Height of tree at length 30 feet. It sheds its bark 

 annually after the third year. Likes rich loamy soil ; requires less 

 space than S. viminalis, more than S. purpurea. Mr. B. Schellack 

 considers it one of the best for marly soil, while Mr. F. Geyer states 

 it to be the best for rather sandy ground. It is a prominent repre- 

 sentative of the hard-wooded basket-willows, and comprises some of 

 the finest varieties in use by the manufacturers. Shoots are obtain- 

 able 9 feet long ; they answer for hoops and white basket-work, 

 being pliant and durable. The bark contains a good deal of salicin. 

 For basket-purposes 20,000 to 30,000 cuttings can be planted on an 

 acre, and 2,000 to 3,000 can be planted in a day by an expert ; the 

 second year's crop is already of considerable value ; at five years it 

 comes to its prime, the plantation holding good for 15 to 25 years. 

 The rods for baskets should be cut as soon as the leaves have 

 dropped. The annual value of a crop of basket -willows is in 

 England from 25 to 35 per acre [Scaling], The cultivation of 

 basket-willows along railroads has proved in cold countries one of 

 the best protectives against snow-drifts. S. lanceolata (Smith) is 

 a hybrid between S. amygdalina and S. viminalis, according to Prof. 

 Andersson. 



Salix Babylonica, Tournefort.* (S. pendula, Moench.) 



The Weeping Willow. Indigenous in North-China ; sparingly 

 wild, according to Stewart, in the Himalayas probably likewise in 

 Persia and Kurdistan. One of the most grateful of all trees for 

 the facility of its culture and its fitness for embellishment ; also as 

 one of the quickest growing and most easily reared of all shade- 

 trees. Fifty feet upward growth has been witnessed in five years. 

 Pasture-animals browse on the young foliage. The tree is impor- 

 tant for consolidating river-banks, and everywhere available for 

 cemeteries. In frostless climes annually only for a few weeks with- 

 out leaves. In Norway it will grow northward to lat. 58 8'. A 

 powerful scavenger of back-yards, but apt to undermine masonry and 

 to get into cisterns. Dr. C. Koch prefers Moench's name S. pendula, 

 as the Weeping Willow is not a native of Babylon, and he 

 distinguishes another Weeping Willow from Japan as S. elegantissima, 

 which is still hardier than S. Babylonica. 



Salix Capensis, Thunberg. (S. Gariepina, Burchell.) 



South-Africa. This willow might be introduced on account of its 

 resemblance to the ordinary Weeping Willow. Prof. Harvey says 

 of it, that it is one of the greatest ornaments of the banks of the 

 Gariep-liiver. 



