STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER 



associated itself with country landscapes, and 

 there is scarcely a marshy meadow or a stream 

 through a pasture with a water course un- 

 marked by a row of these trees. It seems 

 wonderful that the buds of willows should sur- 

 vive our cold Northern winters as they do, for 

 they are covered with a single scale of delicate 

 texture, and the little undeveloped leaves seem 

 perilously near the cold. The soft woolly cat- 

 kins of some species, — " the pussy willows," 

 — which come before the leaves, carry their 

 own protection from cold weather, and even in 

 January, when a few warm days bring them out 

 prematurely, they look comfortable; but the 

 little leaves with their sino-le coverings never 

 come out before the right time, and they never 

 appear to have suffered. 



The wood is weak and soft, and little use is 

 made of it. The value of the twigs in basket 

 making has been recognized since early Roman 

 times, Cato having ranked the salictiim, or 

 willow field, next in value to the vineyard and 

 the garden. 



The generic name comes from the Celtic 

 words sal, near, lis, water, in allusion to its 

 aquatic nature. It grows on all kinds of soil, 

 and is widely naturalized in the United States. 



The weeping willow [Salix babylonica) is 

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