14:60 ARBORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. PART III. 



of willow bark, when dried and pulverised, to yield 1 oz. of salicine. (Ibid.) 

 The wood of the willow is soft, smooth, and light : that of the alix eaprea 

 is heavier than that of any other species of the genus, weighing;, when dry, 

 41 Ib. 6 oz. per cubic foot, and losing a twelfth part of its bulk in drying ; that of 

 iSalix alba weighs 27 Ib. 6 oz. per cubic foot when dry, and loses, in drying, some- 

 what more than a sixth part of its bulk. In Pliny's time, willow wood was in re- 

 quest for the fabrication of shields, on account of its lightness; and in the present 

 day, it is, for the same reason, preferred for making cutting-boards lor the use of 

 shoemakers and tailors. It is also used for whetting the fine steel instruments of 

 cork-cutters, and other mechanics. It is in demand for turnery, and for shoes, 

 shoemakers' lasts, and toys ; for dyeing black, in imitation of ebony, as it takes 

 a fine polish ; and for a great variety of minor purposes. The wood of the 

 larger trees, such as S. alba and S. Russelltana, is sawn into boards for floor- 

 ing, and sometimes for rafters ; in which last situation, when kept dry and 

 ventilated, it has been known to last upwards of a century. The straight 

 stems of young trees, when split in two, make excellent styles for field ladders, 

 on account of their lightness. The boards are well adapted for lining waggons 

 and carts, particularly such as are intended for coals or stones, or any hard ma- 

 terial, as willow wood, like other soft woods, is by no means liable to splinter 

 from the blow of any hard angular material. It is also valued for the boards 

 of the paddles of steam-vessels, and for the strouds of water-wheels, as it 

 wears in water better than any other kind of wood. The red-wood willow, 

 or stag's-head osier (S. fragilis), according to Mathew, produces timber superior 

 to that of S. alba, or of any other tree willow. It is much used in Scotland 

 for building small vessels ; and especially for fast-sailing sloops of war, by 

 reason of its lightness, pliancy, elasticity, and toughness. The wood, when 

 dry, is easily known from that of all other willows, by its being of a salmon 

 colour; on which account it is sometimes used in cabinet-making and for 

 children's toys. " Formerly," says Mathew, " before the introduction of iron 

 hoops for cart wheels, the external rim, or felloe, was made of this willow; and, 

 when new, the carter wain was drawn along a road covered with hard smallgravel 

 (and, in preference, gravel somewhat angular) ; by which means the felloe shod 

 itself with stone, and thus became capable of enduring the friction of the road 

 for a long time, the toughness and elasticity of the willow retaining the gravel 

 till the stone was worn away. Under much exposure to blows and friction, 

 this willow outlasts every other homa timber. When recently cut, the ma- 

 tured wood is slightly reddish, and the sap-wood white. When exposed to 

 the air, and gradually dried, both are of salmon colour, and scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable from each other." (On Nav. Tirnb., p. 63.) S. Russelliana being 

 very nearly allied to S. fragilis, its wood has, probably, the same charac- 

 teristics. The longer shoots and branches of the tree willows are made into 

 poles for fencing, hop-poles, props for vines, and other purposes ; and, when 

 forked at one end, into props for supporting lines for clothes. They are also 

 much used for the handles of hay-rakes, and other light agricultural imple- 

 ments; and they are split, and made into hurdles, crates, and hampers; and, 

 when interwoven with the smaller branches, into racks, or cradles, for the hay 

 and straw given to cattle in the fields, or in feeding-yards. The smaller rods, 

 with or without the bark on, arc manufactured into various kinds of baskets, 

 for domestic use ; and, split up into two, four, or more pieces, for making 

 lighter and ornamental articles, such as work-baskets, ladies' reticules, &c. 

 It is a remarkable fact, that basket-making was one of the few manufactures 

 in which the ancient Britons excelled in the times of the Romans. These 

 baskets, or bascaudae, as they are called by Martial, are said to have been of 

 very elegant workmanship, and to have borne a high price. (See Encyc. Brit., 

 art. Basket-making.) At Caen, in France, hats are manufactured from 

 strips or shavings of the wood of the S. alba, in the same manner as they are 

 manufactured in Switzerland from shavings of the wood of 7Japhnc Laureola; 

 and as they were, some years ago in Essex, from the wood of 7V>pulus fastigiata. 

 Branches of two or three years' growth are taktn and cut up into thin slices 



