A Study of Winter Branches 37 



banks which are likely to be overflowed every 

 spring. 



There is a low moist tract on the Potomac 

 River where the United States Forest Service has 

 been raising and testing osiers, finding out the 

 best ways of growing them, the cost of growing 

 them, and the surest means for ridding them of 

 destructive insects (Fig. 15). 



The result of all these experiments has been 

 published in pamphlets, which are supplied free. 

 From these one can learn what willows to plant, 

 when and how to plant them, and how to care 

 for them. 



Osier-weaving might fill spare time — as osier- 

 growing might use waste land. The making of 

 willow ware is a winter industry. The shoots are 

 cut once a year, at any time between the fall of 

 the leaf in autumn and the rise of the sap in 

 spring. So this is a handicraft which might give 

 employment to many of the farm hands, dock 

 workers, and river men, who find their work and 

 wages gone after the last crops have been gathered 

 in, and when inland waters freeze. There are 

 many farmers, too, who might engage in osier 

 work during their dull season. 



There are no trees more lovely and pleasant 

 than the osier-willows of the western valley 

 streams. Thanks to them, the owner of the land 

 can get a useful crop from soil where nothing else 

 of value to mankind will grow. Their roots bind 



