. /.] PLANTATIONS OF OSIERS. 55! 



that has been said about strong old shoots, we would 

 recommend to be of the last year's wood, or of shoots 

 of one year old, taken from the under end of well- 

 ripened shoots of good size, and cut in a slanting di- 

 rection by a sharp knife, and in lengths of one foot, 

 or one foot four inches. Each shoot of good growth 

 may afford two or three plants ; the upper ends, as far 

 as appears soft, should be discarded, because such 

 produce weak shoots, and do not make so good roots 

 the first season, as the firmer parts of the shoots dr. 

 Pieces of two-year old shoots of the same length, and 

 cut in the same manner, may also be used ; but such 

 are more expensive, and not better for the purpose 

 than the former. If, indeed, they are intended for 

 planting among grass, or to beet up decayed plants in 

 an established plantation, they should be used greater, 

 older, and longer. Two, or three-year old shoots several 

 feet long, and pushed into the ground perhaps a foot 

 or eighteen inches, are necessary for such purposes. 

 But in a well dressed or prepared field, the first de- 

 scribed cuttings are by far the best, whether the plan- 

 tation be intended for basket twigs or for hoops. 



The distances at which osiers for wicker work ought 

 to be planted, is eighteen inches between the rows, and 

 twelve inches apart in the rows. This distance will 

 not be too thick for at least five or six years ; but, af- 

 ter that period, the plants should be alternately stubbed 

 up ; which will leave them at two feet apart in the 

 rows. 



The stools should be carefully attended to annually, 

 from the first year of producing a crop of twigs, to keep 

 them clean of rotten stumps, and not to allow them to be 

 overcrowded with the bottoms of the shoots. When these 

 have become too numerous, they should be carefully thin- 

 ned out, and also cut down, leaving only an eye or two 



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