6 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



they reach a friendly shore. The willow is easier to prop- 

 agate from cuttings than any other kind of tree. A small 

 section of a willow twig containing a bud or two, a piece 

 of a root, or even a section of a large branch, when partly 



WILLOWS FOR PROTECTING RIVER BANKS 



On the Mississippi River these great mats are built to prevent the water from washing away the banks, 



background are seen barges loaded with willows, while in the foreground men are seen completing the mat. 



covered by moist soil, rapidly forms roots and shoots, and 

 develops into a tree. Willow twigs snapped off by the 

 wind often take root in the soft soil in which they lodge. 

 As may be surmised, freshly cut stumps of willow trees 

 send up numerous and vigorous 

 sprouts. In Europe, and occa- 

 sionally in America, willow trees 

 are pollarded, that is, the tops of 

 the trees are cut some distance 

 above the ground to permit the 

 sprouts to grow into numerous 

 large branches, forming a spread- 

 ing, rounded head. 



The black willow (Salix nigra) 

 grows to the largest size of any 

 willow native to America. Its 

 name is derived from the rough, 

 flaky, dark-brown bark on its 

 trunk It ranges over the eastern 

 half of the United States, and it is 

 our largest native willow, reach- 

 ing a maximum height of 120 

 feet and a diameter of 3 feet. It 

 has narrow, lance-shaped leaves, 

 finely toothed at the edges, and 

 the tip, or frequently the whole 

 body of the leaf, curves to one 



side like a sickle. The almond-leaf or peach-leaved willow 

 {Salix amygdaloides) ranges across the continent from 

 Quebec and New York to Texas, Oregon and British 

 Columbia. It sometimes forms a medium-sized tree 40 

 to 70 feet high, and is one of the better-known native 

 willows because its leaves are broader than the usual 



willow leaf, and strikingly like those of the peach tree. 

 The glossy leaf or shining willow (Salix lucida) is a small 

 bushy tree or tall shrub that grows from Newfoundland 

 to Pennsylvania, Manitoba and Nebraska. Its name 

 gives the key to its chief distin- 

 guishing characters ; it has heavy, 

 dark-green, glossy leaves and 

 highly polished brown or yellow- 

 ish bark on its twigs. 



Pussy willow, also called 

 glaucous willow (Salix discolor), 

 rarely grows to be more than 20 

 or 25 feet high, and is usually a 

 shrub. Wherever it grows, from 

 Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south 

 to Delaware and Missouri, its 

 flowers are well known and wel- 

 comed as a sure sign of the 

 coming of spring. The catkins 

 are thick and oval, and at first 

 seem to be covered with gray fur 

 because of the abundance of silky 

 hairs that clothe the flower scales, 

 but later the catkins turn yel- 

 low as the flowers develop. The 

 leaves are coarsely toothed on the 

 margins, bright green above, and 

 covered with a whitish bloom on the lower surfaces. 

 Bebb's willow (Salix bebbiana) is found from the lower 

 St. Lawrence valley to Hudson Bay and Alaska, south 

 to Pennsylvania, Minnesota, South Dakota and through 



In the 



Thei 



SINKING THE BIG MAT 



at being sunk at Slough Neck Landing. Tennessee. The forepart is seen fast to the bank, and in the back- 

 ground another large mat ready for sinking is visible. 



the Rocky Mountains to Arizona. It has showy cat- 

 kins much like those of the pussy willow. The leaves 

 arc short and rather broad, dull green on top, pale- 

 green and hairy beneath, with prominent veins. It is a 

 small bushy tree or shrub, and although it prefers moist 

 soils, as do other willows, it also thrives on dry soil. Sand- 



