BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 431 



and few of them more than 5 feet. Mr. Jacobs, failing to get 

 good osiers on rich, low land, planted a few on high, dry land, 

 near his residence; and from this field he got osiers from 5 to 

 7 and even 8 feet in length every year, without applying any 

 fertilizer or expending any labor in cultivation ; this he con- 

 tinued to do as long as he lived, which was probably ten years 

 after the cuttings were planted out. Other parties planted the 

 purpurea for hedges on high, dry land, but the growth was so 

 rapid that it proved not suitable for hedges. 



The question has arisen in my mind, why do most, if not all 

 American writers who are considered good authority on the subject, 

 recommend the viminalis and condemn the purpurea ? and why is 

 it that after forty-six years of trial, I find the purpurea an excel- 

 lent variety for osiers, and the viminalis not worth growing? Can 

 it be that the soil of Hingham differs so much from that of any 

 other part of the United States, that another variety of willows is 

 required elsewhere to make a success in the business? Can it 

 be that so many writers have made a mistake in the variety of 

 willows? May it not be that the persistent efforts which have 

 been made to grow the purpurea on wet land have led many to 

 believe that this variety is of but little value, when if they had 

 made the same efforts to grow it on dry land, they would have 

 found it to be a variety of great value for osiers ; if so, then it is 

 time that this fact should be made known to the public ; that 

 those who are about to plant willows on high land may not make 

 the mistake of planting varieties that are sure to make the business 

 a failure. 



So many associate the willow with running water, or low land, 

 that it is very difficult to convince the public that there are va- 

 rieties which grow best on sandy plains ; yet years of close 

 observation have proved to me that Salix purpurea not only 

 grows best on dry land, but grows best in hot, dry weather'. By 

 actual measurement it has been found that this variety in hot, dry 

 weather with bright sunshine, will grow in a dry soil from 3 to 

 4 inches in twenty-four hours ; while in rainy weather the growth 

 does not exceed one half of an inch, though it be within a few days 

 of the period when the growth was from 3 to 4 inches. 



For more than forty years I have had a row of the purpurea 

 willow growing on top of quite a high hill ; about ten years ago, 



