MATTING AND BASKET-MAKING. 123 



country under the name of bast, is largely used as a 

 material for matting and cordage. The thick outer 

 bark is likewise applied to useful purposes : this is 

 made into boxes, trunks, coverings for cottages, bas- 

 kets for carriages, sledges, and other purposes. 



In England the osier willow, or viminalis salix, 

 is recognized as a most useful plant for basket-work 

 of all descriptions. The finer kinds of baskets are 

 formed of the twigs of another species of willow ; 

 but what is called wicker-work is always made of 

 osiers. These were largely cultivated by the ancient 

 Romans for the same purpose, their commoner bas- 

 kets being made of branches undivested of their 

 bark ; while for the better sort the bark was taken 

 off, and the white pliant twigs were twisted and 

 interlaced into a variety of forms. In the present 

 day osiers are likewise used with or without their 

 bark, according to the nature of the work to which 

 they are to be applied. The demand for them is 

 very great, and their cultivation is therefore very 

 much encouraged in England, There is no plant 

 which yields a surer profit, which entails less expense 

 in its culture, or can better brave the vicissitudes of 

 the seasons. A description and drawing of this useful 

 plant are found in a former volume of the present 

 series. 



In the West Indies baskets are sometimes made 

 of a kind of strong ligneous cord, which in part 

 composes the bark of the lofty cabbage-tree, and 

 whichi as Dr. Bancroft describes it, consists of a 

 web-like flexis divided crosswise in long hard polished 

 threads, brown, und as tough as whalebone. These, 

 threads are drawn from it, and the filaments are 

 applied to the same purposes as the more slender 

 osier twigs are in England. It is said that nothing 

 can be better or more beautiful for light and orna- 

 mental uses. 



