994 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



PART III. 



7144. The Huntington or common white Lincolnshire swallow-tailed willow (S. alba) (Eng. Sot. 2430.) 

 (fig" 678.) grows to a lolly tree, with a branchy stem, and tapering flame-shaped head. It seems com- 

 mon to Europe, being found pollarded by way-sides in Sweden, the south of Russia, and Italy. Asa 

 timber-tree it produces a great bulk in a short time ; and as a pollard or coppice wood, on suitable soils, 

 it is prolific in fuel, poles, and bark for the tanner. 



7145. The Upland, or red-twigged willow of Pontey (Profit. Plant. 72.), appears to be a variety of the 

 S. alba, being distinguished from it by its hoary or silver-like leaves, and deep red shoots. The timber 

 and mode of growth appear to be the same as those of the Huntington willow, but being of slower 

 growth, the former is to be preferred. Of the red-twigged willow of Sang, there are large trees near 

 Dunfermline, upwards of 60 feet high. 



7146. The Bedford willow (S. Russelliana) (Eng. Bot. 1808.) (fig. 679.) is also a lofty bulky-headed tree, in 



general appearance and habits very much resembling the 

 S. alba. 



7147. Use. The timber may be used generally in rural 

 economy, and the poles form a light and convenient hurdle. 

 Pontey says, the timber is " considerably durable ; a pro- 

 perty which, it appears, may be much augmented by steep- 

 ing some months in water, as is frequently done with oak- 

 saplings." The bark of all the sorts mentioned is found to 



f*- Q \ \W7 /JiV/y/ be sufficiently astringent to be now generally used by tan- 



&. ViW^JLjJ.'^y/ ners. 



7148. The best willows for osier-grounds are the 

 following : 



7149. The common osier, Salix Viminalis. (Eng. Sot. 1898.) 

 fig. 680.) The leaves are long, waved at the edges, but not 

 serrated; shining green above, and silvery underneath. 

 The shoots grow long, straight, and tough, and are well 

 adapted for the larger sorts of baskets, hampers, crates, and 

 hoops. 



7150. The auriclcd osier, S. stimilaris. (Eng. Bot. 1214.) 

 "The two-year-old shoots make excellent rods for baskets, 

 cradles, bird-cages, and such articles; and the one-year 

 shoots are used as fillings. The shoots are long, nearly equal 

 in thickness throughout their extent, and somewhat downy, 

 or hoary, particularly at the tops or extremities. The leaves 

 are alternate, with footstalks, long and narrow, somewhat 



notched on the edges, green and smooth above, woolly below. The stipulse or leaf-scales are conspicuous 

 and remarkable, resembling a pair of ears." 



7151. The green osier (S. rubra) (Eng. Bot. 1145.) is an excellent 

 basket willow. " The shoots are very long, tough, smooth, and 

 of a grey color, occasionally inclining to purplish. The leaves are 

 narrow and very long, from three to four inches, bright green 

 on both sides, and serrated." 



7152. The basket-osier, S. Forbyana. (Eng. Bot. 1344.) " The 

 best willow for the finer sorts of basket-work. The shoots are 

 of a yellowish ash-color, sometimes purplish ; smooth, very 

 flexible and tough. The leaves are alternate, on foot-stalks, 

 from two to three inches long, somewhat serrated, chiefly to- 

 wards the top ; dark-green above, and glaucous or pale-bluish 

 beneath." 



7153. The long-leaved triandrous willow (S. triandra) (Eng. Bot. 

 1454.) " is common 'in osier-beds, and its stools afford most ex- 

 cellent shoots for basket-work, long, slender, pliable and tough ; 

 they are smooth, of a brownish color, and towards the top they 

 are fluted or grooved. The leaves are long, and closely and 

 strongly serrated." 



7154. The velvet osier, S. mollissima. (Eng. Bot. 1509.) " Its 

 leaves are very smooth and green above, and very silky and soft 

 beneath. Shoots long and very numerous, but not tough ; when 

 allowed, however, to remain for two years, they make most 

 capital rods." 



7155. The yellow willow, or golden osier (S. vitellina), (Eng. 



Bot. 1329.) produces " handsome shoots, of a yellow color and shining, and well adapted for basket- 

 work.' 



BOOK IV. 



LANDSC APE-G A RDENING. 



7156. IN landscape-gardening, the art of the gardener is directed to different objects, 

 and some of them of a higher kind than any belonging to gardening as an art of culture. 

 In the three branches hitherto considered, art is chiefly employed in the cultivation of 

 plants, with a view of obtaining their products ; but in the branch now under consider- 

 ation, art is exercised in disposing of ground, buildings, and water, as well as the vegetating 

 materials which enter into the composition of verdant landscape. This is, in a strict sense, 

 what is called landscape-gardening, or the art of creating or improving landscapes ; but as 

 landscapes are seldom required to be created for their own sakes, landscape-gardening, as 

 actually practised, may be denned, " the art of arranging the different parts which com- 

 pose the external scenery of a country-residence, so as to produce the different beauties 

 and conveniences of which that scene of domestic life is susceptible." 



7157. What these beauties and conveniences are, must, in different ages and countries, 

 depend on the state of society and climate ; and, in the same age and country, on the 



