HOW TO BEND THE BOWS. 63 



•woTild flow too much to tlie top. Half bows, in half 

 circles, are also frequently adopted, and answer a good 

 purpose. 



In connection herewith, I would reconunend to every 

 person owning land, especially where it is intended to 

 have a viaeyard, to plant out a willow patch. They 

 need httle or no cultivation. Simply pushing twigs 

 about two feet long, fifteen inches iato the ground, and 

 with only two or three inches sticking out of the 

 ground, similar to grapevines, about five feet apart, 

 (the wetter the ground the better,) is all that is re- 

 quired for starting them. After they have grown, 

 they should be trimmed back pretty close to the stump, 

 annually ; and fifty willow bushes will yield enough 

 for all the purposes of an acre of yineyard, and leave 

 some for basket-making and other purposes about a 

 farm. 



The yellow basket willow is the best, though it is 

 well to have a few bushes of the long black wiUow, as 

 they are the best for sale. Slips may now be had for 

 little or nothing, in the neighborhood of Cincinnati ; 

 and let me add, that willow-planting pays well, as 

 basket-makers are getting numerous, and pay a good 

 price. 



As soon as the stakes are driven in, the bows must 

 be tied to them; but not helter skelter as some do. The 

 more careful the bows and branches are fastened, the 

 3* 



