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1863. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMEE. 



367 



that any one who has denounced the planting of 

 the white willow, for timber or for a fence where 

 " shelter, timber, and a fence combmed, is desired. 

 There seems to be abundant testimony that a 

 wooded screen may be quickly realized by planting 

 the white willow. The Illinois State Horticultural 

 Society so recommended it. But it was not recom- 

 mended for a fence unless the combination was de- 

 sired The osage orange was rejected because it 

 was supposed it would not stand in our climate- 

 not because there was anything in its character 

 that rendered it unfit for hedges. It was believed 

 impracticable for the same reasons that orchards 

 were supposed impossible in Illinois. But there is 

 no such objection urged against the whit^e willow. 

 Its character as a tree is not suited to hedging un- 

 less it is desired as a shelter, arid there is no ob- 

 jection to its shading a large area. And that it 

 "will grow closely planted, and make a reliable, per- 

 manent fence, is doubted, analogically, by some 

 of the best horticulturists in the west. But on 

 this point there is no experience either way. It is 

 significant, however, that those who have known 

 it best and longest distrust it most. _ 



3. Mr. Edwards does not doubt that it will be- 

 come an iniDOsing feature in prairie landscapes. 

 Neither do 1,' if one-tenth of the cuttings planted 

 grow. But that it will be a fence feature I doubt. 

 That it will be the most desirable feature, I hon- 

 estly doubt. Plant the Lambardy poplar as exten- 

 sively as the white willow was planted last year, 

 and it will become in ten years " a much greater 

 feature in prairie landscapes" than the white willow 

 or osage. But it does not follow that it would be 

 either so useful or beautiful feature as the osage, 

 or Norway spruce, or white pine, ash-leaved maple, 

 silver maple, or a dozen other trees that might be 

 named. A "great feature" is not always a har- 

 monious one. There are few men of taste who 

 want the eye to rest against willows as the only 

 relief to our " monotonous" prairies. Groves of 

 elm. maples, birch, the different evergreens, and 

 fruit trees, are certainly more desirable. And it 

 does not follow, by any means, that because " the 

 people" are willing to " swallow" the white willow 

 as a panecea for all diseases, that it is best to cram 

 it down their throats as an article of diet. 

 • 4. Now one word about peddlers. Where al- 

 most all nurserymen distribute their wares through 

 the agency of the much abused "peddlers" other- 

 wise called " agents," it is little less than folly to 

 denounce them. But is probably true that these 

 peddlers, or " agents," many of them, lie vigor- 

 ously " on their own hook" and without the coun- 

 tenance or sanction of their employers. That a 

 heap of this professional story telling has been 

 done the past year, there is abundant evidence. 

 And here at the close I wish to make some nega- 

 tive assertions which will aid those who have been 

 visited by white willow pedlers in determining 

 their reliability : 



1. The white willow is not a hedge plant. 



2. It does not grow as well on high, dry ground 

 as on low, moist, rich soils. 



8. It is not true that stock will not eat or 



browse it. . c 



4. The large samples exhibited as specimens ot 

 growth avc not saniplos of its average growth in 

 closely planted hedges. 



5. "It is not superior to all other willows as a 

 timber tree. 



6. It does not make wood faster than the Lom- 

 bardy poplar, golden willow, silver leaf poplar, 

 weeping willow, Cottonwood and peach, planted on 

 dry soils. And there are sundry other negatives 

 which may be given to the affirmations of these 

 '■ itinerants." 



It is not my object to prevent the planting of 

 this willow for timber for high screens where de- 

 sired, but it is my aim to prevent disappointment 

 — to let the rural public know precisely how far it 

 is desirable. I will not lend my pen nor influence 

 to men who are seeking to fleece farmers by glori- 

 fying and magnifying this willow far beyond its 

 merits and value, and by false representations lay 

 a pennanent foundation for disappointment and 

 distrust. And it is proper to say here that this 

 effort is not confined to misrepresentations. I 

 have seen plantations of willow, in rows for hedges, 

 which I seriously doubt if there was a white willow 

 cutting ; but the man bought them for white wil- 

 lows. — Rural New Yorker. 



— The above was written by the Western Editor 

 of the above paper. We are disposed to take the 

 affirmative of the 6th proposition. Of another 

 thing we are also satisfied, that for a live farm in 

 low lands where the Osage and Lombardy will not 

 grow, that the White Willow will prove to be the 

 most valuable for this purpose. In grassy lands 

 the shade is but little detriment to the grass crop. 

 The demand for cuttings for next spring is al- 

 ready large and rapidly increasing. The farmers 

 are becoming afraid of the Willow pedlers, and 

 are sending their orders direct to the nurseries. 

 We have had numerous letters of enquiry for the 

 genuine White Willow, and have referred the par- 

 ties, in all cases, to the nearest reliable source, to 

 the writer. Our own stock is not large, and we 

 can only fill small orders. Those having the Wil- 

 low for sale, would do well to advertise aud give 

 their prices. 



The Willow fever has abated, but not dead by a 

 long way. The worst blow to it has been dealt, 

 has been by the lying pedlers, and from which it 

 will only slowly recover. We shall use more or 

 less of the Golden or Yellow Willow for a contrast, 

 putting in alternate strips of each. Of the latter 

 we have two year eld cuttings, which are the best 

 in all cases. We also intend to set out two or three 

 acres of White Willow for wood lot. The acre 

 set for this purpose last spring, made a 

 growth, considering the season. — Ed. 



good 



The Geological Winter. 



From the paper of Prof Agassiz in the last 

 number of the Atlantic Monthly, entitled "The for- 

 mation of Glaciers," we take the following highly 

 interesting passage : 



The long summer was over. For ages a tropical 

 climate had prevailed over a great part of the 

 earth, and animals whose home is now beneath 

 the Equator roamed over the worW from the far 



