200 The Osier, its Culture, Profits, and Machine for Peding. 



India Rubber, and geared so as to run about eight times as fast. 

 About six inches forward of these are hung two other rollers, each 

 three inches in diameter, one or both of India Rubber, and run- 

 ning together with the same speed and in the same way — except 

 the vibrating motion — as the first ; and these three sets of roll- 

 ers, and the machinery necessary to set them in motion, constitute 

 the whole machine. The willows, after passing through the first 

 rollers, as described, are carried to the second or small rollers — by 

 a belt running over the table between them — and the thick end 

 which is already clean, passing through them is seized by the 

 large rollers running very fast, and stripped through the small ones 

 and thrown out dean, while the small rollers hold the loose bark, 

 which then rolls through and drops in a heap by itself Such is 

 the simple working of this labor-saving machine ; it does its work 

 perfectly and rapidly — to the entire satisfaction of every one who 

 has seen it perform. The amount of work which it is able to per- 

 form depends only upon the length of the rollers and the speed at 

 which they are driven. 



But many will ask " what is the machine good for, now you have 

 got it? — where are the willows to peel? — and what will you do with 

 them when you get them peeled ? &c." True, there are but very 

 few basket willows cultivated in this country at present ; so few 

 that many have never heard of such a thing as cultivating wil- 

 lows. But why is it that they are not cultivated here ? Surely it is 

 not because there is no demand for them, for there is no article 

 produced, the demand for which so far exceeds the supply as bas- 

 ket willoxos. To supply this demand, in part, we are annually im- 

 porting a vast amount of willow and manufactured willow-ware, 

 from France and Germany ; but there can only be enough obtained 

 in the old country to go but a little way towards supplying the 

 demand in this. 



Then why it is that they are not extensively cultivated here? It 

 is not because the best European Osiers will not thrive in our soil 

 and climate, for it has been fully proven by a few enterprising 

 men, who have imported cuttings of the best French and German 

 willow, and cultivated themi in this country for a number of years, 

 that they will grow letter here than in Europe, and all basket- 

 makers prefer the willow grown here to those imported. But the 

 reason that they have not been grown here is, because there has 



