. /.] PLANTATIONS OF OSIERS. 549 



to bend them, after the ground being limed. Indeed, if a 

 plantation of Osiers be formed previous to a thorough 

 preparation of the soil for the reception of the plants, 

 the saving of the expense will be found a most severe 

 loss, by the diminution of the crop in succeeding 

 seasons. 



There are few soils which will not bear Willows ; yet 

 some situations are very unfit for them. Dry and ex- 

 posed grounds, peat moss, arid land covered with stand- 

 ing water, or a quagmire, are not fit. Hollows, the 

 soil of which is composed of rich, soft, earthy parti- 

 cles, and which can be laid dry, are the most eligible 

 for converting into osieries ; and, if such can be occa- 

 sionally soaked with water during the dry months in 

 summer, the situation may be considered perfect, and 

 the advantages will be found very great. 



Although we would give a preference to a situation 

 like the above, we are far from attempting to dissuade 

 from cultivating them in others. We know of osieries 

 planted in very different soils, and very differently situ- 

 ated ; yet producing very great returns to the owners. 

 A few acres of Osiers planted upon the south exposure 

 of a sloping bank, sheltered from the south-west by a 

 belt of plantation, and in a cold, humid, clay soil, on 

 the farm of Hayfield near Kirkaldy, has yielded from 

 257. to 30/. per acre annually for a number of years past. 

 This piece of ground was under agricultural rotation 

 crops for a great many years before being planted with 

 willows ; but it was so damp, and so much sheltered 

 from the west by a plantation, and from the north 

 by its situation, that the crops of grain were generally 

 of poor quality. It was therefore consigned to bear 

 willows, which were planted after a crop of potatoes in 

 February 1801. 



Mr 



