248 Practical Forestry 



FIRST YEAR. 



s. d. 



Ploughing the ground and planting . 4 10 

 Hoeing and other attention . . ..150 



15,700 willow cuttings (Salix viminalis) . . 10 



Rent, rates, and 5 per cent, interest on capital 2 12 



Harvesting . . . % . . ' . 18 



19 5 

 Yield first year 3 tons, value. . . .900 



Loss . ..... . . 10 5 



SECOND YEAR. 



s. d. 



Rent, rates and incidentals . . . 2 10 



Hoeing and cleaning . . ..'. .180 

 Harvesting . 1 10 



580 

 Yield about 5 tons . 20 



i 



Profit . ... 15 8 



THIRD AND SUBSEQUENT YEARS. 

 Expenditure 6. Yield 24. Profit 18. 



If the ground is properly cultivated and losses made good, 

 the plantation should give a yield similar to the third year 

 for fully a quarter of a century. 



In the low-lying district between Taunton, Bridgwater 

 and Langport, in Somerset, willow or osier culture is largely 

 engaged in. 



The system generally adopted is that the owner or tenant 

 of the land planted to willows keeps the land free from weeds 

 to prevent the withies being choked. This entails an outlay 

 of about 25s. per acre per annum if properly done. The 

 crops are measured and marked out in half-acre lots and 

 sold in October or November. The purchasers cut and 

 remove them, and in some cases convert them into baskets, 

 basket-chairs, and such like. In other cases the purchasers 



