THE WILLOW. 311 



to form pleasing tufts. Gilpin does not recommend their 

 use in artificial landscape, " except as poUards, to charac- 

 terise a marshy country ; or to mark in a second distance 

 the winding hanks of a heavy, low-sunk river, which could 

 not otherwise he noticed. Some Willows, indeed, I have 

 thought heautiful, and fit to appear in the decoration of 

 any rural scene. The kind I have most admired has a 

 small narrow leaf, and wears a pleasant, light, sea-green 

 tint, which mixes agreeahly with foliage of a deeper hue. 

 I am not aquainted with the hotanical name of this species, 

 hut I believe the botanists call it Salix alha.^' This is 

 the Huntingdon or White Willow, a good sj)ecimen of 

 which is figured at page 303 : it derives its name from the 

 silky whiteness of the under side of the leaf. 



This species is said to be one of the most useful of the 

 genus as a timber-tree : like the rest of the Willows, it grows 

 rapidly, and acquires considerable magnitude within the 

 usual period of human life, and may therefore, in the 

 natural course of events, be cut down, a full-grown tree, 

 by the same hand that planted it. "It groweth incredibly 

 fast," says Fuller, "it being a byword in this country, that 

 the profit by Willows will buy the owner a horse before that 

 by other trees will pay for his saddle." The wood is soft 

 but elastic, and is well adapted for the lining of barges 

 and carts which are used for carrying heavy loads of hard 

 substances. It is durable, and makes good roofing. The 

 bark is used by tanners, and it makes excellent firewood. 

 Added to which, it grows without trouble from cuttings, 

 and thrives in any soil except peat, in which situation only 

 the smaller species will grow. 



The Bedford Willow, Salix Russelliana, is another of 

 the tribe which attains a large size. It was named in 

 honour of the late Francis Duke of Bedford, by whom it 

 was first brought into notice. Its leaves are in shape very 

 like those of the White Willow, but differ in being smooth 

 on both sides. 



The timber of the Bedford Willow is said by Loudon 



