292 OUR FORESTS AND WOODLANDS 
long, of which about 10 inches should be set in the 
ground. Till the middle of June careful hoeing 
and forking is necessary, and this costs from £41 to 
42 an acre for each of the first two years till the 
crop comes into bearing during the third year, 
after which cleaning costs less as the dense and 
rapid growth of the osiers prevents or chokes the 
growth of weeds. In general, however, newly- 
planted holts do not come into full bearing till 
their fourth or fifth year. The annual growth 
of the ‘rods’ or withies is completed in Septem- 
ber, and varies from six to nine feet in length, or 
even more in the case of vigorous stools. The 
harvesting begins in January if the holts are 
not under water or too marshy, and should be 
completed before the sap rises, else the stools 
‘bleed’ and the next crop is weak. Their 
market value is increased by soaking the cut ends 
in water and peeling the bark off when the water 
has risen in the rods. The yield of rods is about 
150 bunches, which may vary in total weight by 
so much as from § to 10 tons; but they are re- 
duced to about half their bulk when peeled. An 
average crop consisting of 150 bunches of green 
rods per acre has a market value of about £165, 
