126 COPPICE. 
able return, particularly in the vicinity of potteries, and other 
manufactories, where it is frequently lopped every second or 
third year, and used in the manufacture of crates. For barrel- 
hoops, it is equal to oak ; for that purpose it is cropped every 
five or six years. The plant grows everywhere throughout 
the country naturally, and yields seed abundantly. For par- 
ticulars respecting the genus, see HAZEL. 
The willows consist of a great variety of sorts. For the 
manufacture of baskets it should be cut down yearly ; a good 
crop in some districts yields a clear revenue of £20 per acre. 
Almost all the species of willow may be grown for the pur- 
pose of basket-making ; but the Salix viminalis, or common 
osier, the S. rubra, S. Forbiana, and S. stipularis, are greatly 
preferable to many other sorts. 
For hoops, poles, crate-work, hurdles, scythe and rake 
handles, the willow is generally cut every five, six, or seven 
years. The sorts most suitable for these purposes are S. caprea, 
or goat sallow, and its allied kinds. No other species of willow 
will produce such vigorous shoots in bad soil; and in soil of 
good quality, after being cut over, shoots of one year will fre- 
quently rise to the height of ten feet. The two best species, 
for the larger purposes of willow timber, are S. alba, and S. 
Russelliana. All the species of willow are grown from cuttings. 
Those adapted for basket-making become enfeebled when 
cut down yearly, and generally require to be renewed every 
nine or ten years. The third year they attain their greatest 
strength, and they commonly show symptoms of exhaustion 
after yielding six or seven crops—a decay which does not 
occur in the ordinary coppice willow when cropped at inter- 
vals of several years. 
Although all the kinds of willow will grow in ground much 
more moist and swampy than is suitable for any other tree 
except alder, yet their growth is accelerated and their quality 
much improved by the ground being drained and thoroughly 
relieved of stagnant water to within a few feet of the surface. 
Coppice-wood is sometimes interspersed with standard 
timber trees, which. convert it into underwood, and are apt to 
