H60 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



of w.llow hark, when dried and pulverised, to yield 1 oz. of salicine. (Ibid.) 

 The wood of the willow is soft, smooth, and light: that of the Aalix caprea 

 is heavier than that of any other species of the genus, weighing, when dry, 

 41 lb. 6 oz. per cubic foot, and losing a twelfth part of its bulk in drying; that 

 oi Salix alba weighs 27 lb. 6oz. per cubic foot when dry, and loses, in drying, 

 somewhat more than a sixth part of its bulk. In Pliny's time, willow wood 

 was in request for the fabrication of shields, on account of its lightness; and in 

 the present day, it is, for the same reason, preferred for making cutting-boards 

 for the use of shoemakers and tailors. It is also used for whetting the fine steel 

 instruments of cork-cutters, and other mechanics. It is in demand for turnery, 

 and for shoes, shoemakers 1 lasts, and toys; for dyeing black, in imitation of 

 ebony, as it takes a fine polish ; and for a great variety of minor purposes. 

 The wood of the larger trees, such as S. alba and S. RusseUidna, is sawn into 

 boards for flooring, and sometimes for rafters j in which last situation, when 

 kept dry and ventilated, it has been known to last upwards of a century. The 

 straight stems of young trees, when split in two, make excellent styles for field 

 ladders, on account of their lightness. The boards are well adapted for lining 

 waggons and carts, particularly such as are intended for coals or stones, or any 

 hard material; as willow wood, like other soft woods, is by no means liable to 

 splinter, from the blow of any hard angular material. It is also valued for the 

 boards of the paddles of steam-vessels, and for the strouds of water-wheels, as 

 it wears in water better than any other kind of wood. The red-wood willow, 

 or stag's-hcad osier (S. fragilis), according to Matthew, produces timber supe- 

 rior to that of S. alba, or of any other tree willow. It is much used in Scotland 

 for building small vessels; and especially for fast-sailing sloops of war, by 

 reason of its lightness, pliancy, elasticity, and toughness. The wood, when 

 dry, is easily known from that of all other willows, by its being of a salmon 

 colour; on which account it is sometimes used in cabinet-making and for 

 children's toys. " Formerly," says Matthew, "before the introduction of iron 

 hoops for cart wheels, the external rim, or felloe, was made of this willow; and 

 when new, the cart or wain was drawn along a road covered with hard small 

 gravel (and, in preference, gravel somewhat angular) ; by which means the felloe 

 shod itself with stone, and thus became capable of enduring the friction of the 

 road for a long time, the toughness and elasticity of the willow retaining the 

 gravel till the stone was worn away. Under much exposure to blows and 

 friction, this willow outlasts every other house timber. When recently cut, the 

 matured wood is slightly reddish, and the sap-wood white. When exposed to 

 the air, and gradually dried, both are of salmon colour, and scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable from each other." (On Nav. Timb. t p. G3.) S. Russelliarea being 

 very nearly allied to S. fragilis, its wood has, probably, the same character- 

 istics. The longer shoots and branches of the tree willows are made into 

 poles for fencing, hop-poles, props for vines and other purposes : and, when 

 forked at one end, into props for supporting lines for clothes. They are also 

 much used for the handles of hay-rakes, and other light agricultural imple- 

 ments; and they are split, and made into hurdles, crates, and hampers ; and, 

 when interwoven with the smaller branches, into racks, or cradles, for the hay 

 and straw given to cattle in the fields, or in feeding-yards. The smaller rods, 

 with or without the bark on, are manufactured into various kinds of baskets, 

 for domestic use; and, split up into two, four, or more pieces, for making 

 lighter and ornamental articles, such as work-baskets, ladies' reticules, Sec. 

 I' i a remarkable fact, that basket-making was one of the few manufactures 

 in which the ancient Britons excelled in the times of the Romans. These 

 or batcaudae, Bfl they are called by Martial, are said to have been of 

 very elegant workmanship, and to have borne a high price. (See Encyc. lirit. y 

 art. Basket-making.) At Caen, in Prance, hats are manufactured from 

 or shavings of the wood of the S. alba, in the same manner as they are 

 manufactured in Switzerland from shavings of the wood of Daphne Laureola j 



and . arsago, in Essex, from the woodof Populus lastigiata. 



of two or three years' growth are taken and cut up into thin slices 



