58 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



beginning of winter, with the exception of a few, such as the elm, poplar, willow, and one 

 or two others, which ripen their seeds in May and June. 



4042. In osier grounds, willows produce flexible shoots, and, whether intended for the 

 basket-maker or cooper, should not be cut till the second season after planting, in order 

 to strengthen the stools : but by the third autumn the crop will be fit for the' basket- 

 maker ; and in the fourth, plantations intended for the cooper (hoops requiring the growth 

 of two years) will be ready. The seasons for cutting are November and March ; after 

 the former period the wounds are apt to be injured by frost, and after the latter the sap 

 is too far advanced ; some is lost by bleeding, and the buds are developed too suddenly 

 to admit of proper strength in the shoots. The cut should be made within three buds of 

 the point whence the shoot issued, in a sloping direction, and the section on the under- 

 side. In cutting hoop-willows, the swell at the bottom of the shoot only should be left, 

 that being furnished with abundance of buds for future growth. After being cut, the 

 hoops are trimmed from any side-shoots, and tied up in bundles of a hundred, of six 

 scores each, which, in 1820, sold for from four shillings to five shillings a bundle. The 

 willows are sorted into three sizes and tied in bundles two feet in circumference, within 

 a foot of the lower ends. When to be peeled, they are immediately after cutting set on 

 their thick ends in standing water, a few inches deep, and there they remain till the sap 

 ascends freely, which is commonly by the end of the succeeding May. " The apparatus 

 for peeling is simply two round rods of iron, nearly half an inch thick, sixteen inches 

 long, and tapering a little upwards, welded together at the one end which is sharpened, 

 so as that it may be easily thrust down into the ground. When thus placed in a piece of 

 firm ground, the peeler sits down opposite to it, and takes the willow in the right hand 

 by the small end, and puts a foot or more of the great end into the instrument, tlie prongs 

 of which he presses together with the left hand, and with the right draws the willow 

 towards him ; by which operation the bark vvill at once be separated from the wood : 

 the small end is then treated in the same manner, and the peeling is completed. Good 

 willows, peeled in the above manner, have been sold, for some seasons past, at from 

 six shillings and sixpence to seven shillings the bundle of foiu- feet in circumference. 

 After being peeled, they will keep in good condition for a long time, till a proper 

 market be found." 



4043. Copse-woods are generally cut over when the shoots of the stools have attained 

 from three to five inches' diameter at their bases ; some grown chiefly for hop-poles, 

 and ware or stuff for crates, hampers, or wattled hurdles, are cut over earher ; and 

 others, where small timber for fencing and other country purposes is wanted, are 

 left later. In some parts of Herefordshire, where the oak grows with great rapidity, 

 copse-woods are cut over every twelve years ; in the highlands of Scotland, where it 

 grows much more slowly, the time varies from twenty to twenty-five or thirty years. 

 *' The bark is there considered as having arrived at its utmost perfection and at its 

 highest value, at the age of between twenty and thirty years : under that age, its virtues 

 are weak ; above it, the bark becomes coarse, and loses its sap. Another important 

 reason for cutting down oak coppice-wood about the above period is suggested in the 

 Stirlingshire Report, p. 218. ; namely, 'that it is a fact established by experience, that it 

 will not renew itself, if it remains uncut beyond the space of about forty years.' " 

 {Gen. Rep. of Scotland, 218.) Where there is a considerable tract of copse-wood, it is 

 common to divide it into portions, in number according to the pesiod of cutting. These 

 are to be cut in rotation, so that, when the last portion is cut over, the first is again ready 

 for cutting. 



4044. The seasons for cutting the kinds of trees whose barks are not made use of, are winter and early in 

 spring ; but the oak and other trees which are peeled, are left till the middle of April or May. Birch 

 and larch woods will peel nearly a month earlier than the oak. Should there be no frost, birch and larch 

 may be peeled about the beginning of April ; but the birch is commonly allowed to stand till July, 

 and the peeling of it is commenced after that of the oak has been completed. The reason is, there is 

 an outer skin upon birch-bark which requires to be taken off, as it is of no use to the tanner, and 

 renders that part which is of use more difficult to be ground; ,the month of July is the only time at 

 which the two barks can be separated with ease, as at this, timfe the juice or sap has made its circu- 

 lation through the tree and bark, and this circumstartefe renders the separation more easy. From the 

 beginning of May to the njiddle of July is the usual time for barking the oak. The earlier in the 

 spring this operation is performed on the oak, both for the growth if a natural wood, and for the 

 bark, the better. When the sap has begun to rise, the bark will easily be detached from the wood, 

 and it ought then to be taken off without loss of time ; and, if the whole could be taken off before 

 the leaf is completely developed, the bark would be better. After the sap has arisen to the leaf and 

 new growth, the bark becomes'more dry, and requires more beating to separate it from the wood : and 

 when what is called the black sap is descending the tree, the bark taken off is black, and loses its 

 original colour; at this time also the bark begins to throw off a scurf, more especially young bark 

 without much cork on it; this outer skin having less of the proper sap or juice, and being much drier 

 when taken off, will weigh less, and consequently will not be so valuable. If possible, oaks should 

 be barked by the middle of Jiuie, as every ton of bark taken off after the first of July will be deficient 

 two cwt. per ton, compared with the same quantity taken off in May or early in June. 



4045. The terrnination of cutting is generally fixed for the fifteenth day of July, and after this date 

 there should not be a single stool of oak wood cut that is intended for the growth ; and as soon as possible 

 after the fifteenth, the whole of the wood and bark should be carried away, that the young growths 

 may not be disturbed or injured, as at this time they will have made considerable progress ; at any 

 rate, there should neither be wood nor bark remaining within the new cut hag after the first of August ; 



