62 



CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



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WILLOW AND OSIER GROWING. 



Bt Otto Rands, Shelbirne. 



HAVING an opinion that the 

 cultivation of certain varieties 

 of the Salix, or willow family, viz. : — 

 Willows proper, Osiers and Sallows — 

 would contribute both pleasure and 

 profit to the cultivator, and gardeners 

 can make a good use of not a few 

 themselves, at least, their brethren in 

 Europe do, for tying rhubarb, aspara- 

 gus, and other garden stuff, in parcels 

 for market. The Salix discolor is es- 

 pecially suited for that purpose. If 

 rods are cut in the fall and winter be- 

 fore the sap rises again in the spring, 

 and thoroughly dried, and packed where 

 they will keep dry, they will remain in 

 good condition for years. When re- 

 quired for use, thoroughly soak in 

 water, and they will work tough and 

 pliable, as when green ; so providing a 

 useful material all the year round. But 

 beside this, there is an active demand 

 for considerable quantities of rods for 

 basket-making purposes, lioth in Can- 

 ada and the United States, most of 

 which are now imported from Europe, 

 and which could and ouglit to be grown 

 at home ; and they will grow well on 

 land too wet for other purposes, any 

 land, except clay, gravel, or chalk, will 

 suit them, providing the water level is 

 from twelve to eighteen inches below 

 tlie surface ; occasional flooding is bene- 

 ficial, rather than not. I have not yet 

 discovered any native varieties suitable 

 for basket-making ; I therefore import- 

 ed fifty varieties from England, in 

 1883, several of which are doing well. 

 In preparing land for an osier ground, 

 it will pay to sub-soil plow or double 

 dig it eighteen inches deep ; the roots 

 will work better, and you will be able 



to keep down weeds easier, which 

 must be carefully done, or your crop 

 will prove a failure. Prepare your 

 land in the fall, plant in spring. 

 After leveling and harrowing, prepare 

 sets twelve inches in length, of varie- 

 ties best suited to soil and purpose ; 

 drive them straight down nine inches 

 into the earth, in straight rows, 24 x 24 

 or 24 X 12, according to variety and 

 intended use, planting the small varie- 

 ties closest. 



The salix or willow family, consisting 

 of some three hundred varieties, may, 

 for ordinary purposes, be grouped into 

 three comprehensive classes, namely : — 

 1st, The. Willoivs proper, with leaves 

 smooth, almond-shaped, and more or 

 less lanceolate and serrate ; 2nd, The 

 Osiers, with leaves soft, white, and 

 downy on the under side, oblong, ser- 

 rate and undulate ; 3rd, The Salloivs, 

 with leaves soft, and downy under- 

 neath, round, serrate, and undulate. 

 The botanist will divide the three 

 classes into about three hundred varie- 

 ties, and if you permit a grove of six 

 or eight varieties to stand uncut for 

 three or four years on land in good 

 cultivation, you will soon be able to 

 add new varieties to the list. 



Class No. 2, Osiers are evidently inter- 

 mediate between the willows proper and 

 the sallows, having in some measure, 

 characteristics of both. For basket- 

 making, I do not grow more than six 

 or eight varieties of class No. 1, viz. : 

 salix kirksia, s. purpurea, s. helix 

 and s discolor cuspidata. Of class 

 No. 2, s. smithiana, S. mollissima 

 and S. viminalis cutis. To be suc- 

 cessful, the crop must be cut every 



