14<70 ARBORETUM AND TRUTICETUM. PART III. 



whole current of the sap being taken up by the buds already fully formed. 

 " The cleaning of the plants," Sang continues, "is done with a sharp knife ; and, 

 if it has been regularly attended to from the establishment of the plantation, 

 it is neither troublesome nor expensive : indeed, this care is necessary, were 

 it only for keeping the plants free from destructive insects. The shoots 

 should not be cut till the second autumn after planting ; for, by being allowed 

 to remain uncut for such a length of time, the stools become stronger and more 

 able to produce a good crop, than if cut at an earlier period. Indeed, by the 

 third autumn after planting, under the above management, the crop will be 

 of very considerable value." (Ibid., p. 332.) 



Cutting. The proper season for cutting basket willows is the autumn, 

 immediately after the fall of the leaf. The advantage of cutting at this 

 season is, that the buds which are left to produce the shoots for the succeed- 

 ing crop immediately begin to swell, and grow in strength during the winter ; 

 and, consequently, they make much earlier and stronger shoots in the following 

 spring. Immediately after cutting the rods, they are tied up in bundles, each 

 generally about 3ft. 9 in. in girt, and if they are not intended to be used green, 

 that is with the bark on, they are set on their thick ends in standing water, 

 to the depth of 3 in. or 4* in. Here they remain during winter and spring, 

 till the shoots begin to sprout, which generally happens, in the neighbourhood 

 of London, about the end of February, when they are ready to be peeled. 

 Sometimes it happens that osiers are cut with the leaves on, in which case they 

 should never be tied up in bundles, on account of the fermentation that would 

 be produced by binding them closely together in that state; but the rods 

 should be set up thinly and loosely on end, their tops leaning against a rod 

 supported on two props. 



In Cambridgeshire, when a basket-maker purchases green rods, he measures 

 the bundles, or bolts, as they are termed, by a band an ell long (lyard, or 

 3 ft. 9 in.) ; which band, previously to tying it round the rods, he marks at the 

 point to which the given length extends : with this he binds the bundle as soon 

 as it appears large enough to fill the band, and afterwards completes the bundle 

 by pushing under the band as many rods as he can. For this purpose, the large 

 rods are laid aside, from their filling up the given space more quickly than the 

 smaller ones ; and all the rods must be laid parallel to one another in the 

 bundle. Three bands are bound round each bundle ; viz. one towards each 

 extremity, and the third in the middle. The one nearest the lower end, which 

 should be at the distance of 1 ft. Gin. from the bottom, is the measuring band. 

 In forming their bundles, basket-makers tie up a small armful (which they call a 

 calf), and place it in the middle of the bottom of the bundle, so that the ends 

 extend about 1 ft. beyond the bottom, and tie it up in this state. By lifting 

 up the bundle a few times, and letting it fall on its base to the ground, the 

 calf is driven up, and, acting as a wedge, tightens the bundle. A machine 

 called a dumb-boy, made of wood and rope, is used by some purchasers for 

 compressing the greatest possible number of rods into a bundle. Another 

 machine, called a cow, which is made of iron, has a still greater power of 

 compression than the dumb-boy. The usual price for common green osiers, 

 in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, is 1*. Gd. per bundle. About London, the 

 bundles are of the same size, and the price varies from 2s. to 3s. per bundle. 



The Operation of Peeling is very simple, and is commonly done by infirm or 

 old men or women, at so much a bundle. The apparatus for peeling consists 

 of two round rods of iron, nearly iin. thick, 1 ft. 4 in. long, and tapering a 

 little upwards, welded together, at the one end which is sharpened, so that the 

 instrument may be easily thrust down into the ground. When the instrument 

 is inserted in a piece of firm ground, the peeler sits down opposite to it, 

 takes the willow rod or twig in his right hand by the small end, and puts a 

 foot or more of the thick end into the instrument, the prongs of which he 

 presses together with his left hand, while with his right he draws the willow 

 towards him ; by which operation the bark will at once be separated from the 

 wood : the small end is then treated in the same manner, and the peeling is 



