CHAF. CIII. ffALICA^CE-ffi. £A V LIX. 1471 



completed. (Sang.) Another mode is, to fix a plank on legs at a convenient 

 height, so as to form a stool, or small bench, having holes bored in it with an 

 inch auger: into these is put a stick, the upper end of which is cleft; and 

 through this cleft the willow twigs are drawn, to separate them from the bark, 

 in the same manner as through the iron rods. (Mitch. Dend., p. 60.) After 

 being peeled, the rods will keep in good condition for a long time, till a proper 

 market is found for them. It may be useful here to remark, that osiers in 

 the peeled state will keep better to wait a market, than if left with the bark 

 on ; and that they never fail to produce a greater return in the peeled state, 

 after paying for the labour of peeling, than they do when sold immediately 

 after they are cut from the stools. (Plant. Kal., p. 534.) 



Whitened, or peeled, rods are tied up in bundles, the band of which is 3 ft. 

 6 in. long, and sold, about London, at from 5s. to 7s. per bolt, or bundle. 

 The rods which have the best sale in the London market are those of S. 

 triandra. Green roils are sold by the score bolts, and whitened rods are sold 

 by the load of 80 bolts. In Covent Garden Market, in and around which 

 there are several basket-makers, the rods of S. virainalis are by far the largest 

 brought to market; and, whether with or without the bark on, to them is 

 exclusively applied the term osiers. All the other kinds of willow rods are 

 exclusively termed willows ; and those most frequently exposed for sale, with 

 the bark on, are S. decipiens and S. triandra. All the larger baskets, and all 

 the hampers, are made of the rods of S. viminalis. In Germany, and also fre- 

 quently in Scotland, the willows, after being cut and tied up in bolts, are 

 stacked, or kept m an airy shed ; and, when the bark is to be removed, it is 

 effected by boiling or steaming them. The rods, thus prepared, are considered 

 to be rather more durable than when the bark is separated in consequence of 

 the rising of the sap; and they maybe used immediately after cutting, instead 

 of remaining in a useless state for several months. 



Basket-making, in the commonest form of the manufacture, is a very simple 

 operation ; and in most parts of Europe it was formerly understood by every 

 country labourer, and practised by him for himself or his master, as it still is 

 in Russia, Sweden, and other countries of the north. In Britain, and espe- 

 cially in Scotland, it was the custom, some years ago, for every gardener to 

 understand basket-making, and it generally formed a part of his occupation in 

 the winter evenings; but this is no longer the case; gardening is now become 

 a more intellectual occupation, and the rising generation of gardeners are 

 obliged to spend their evenings, and every spare moment, in reading. Still, 

 we think that every gardener, forester, and woodman ought to know how to 

 make a common garden basket, and more especially those wickerwork struc- 

 tures which are now in very general use for the protection of half-hardy trees 

 and shrubs, when young, and planted out in the open garden. These wicker 

 structures are formed on the familiar principle of wattling a hurdle or wicker- 

 work fence, and, therefore, we shall not enter into details respecting them in 

 this place, but refer our readers to the Gard. Mag., vol. xiii., in which they 

 will find a copious article, illustrated by engravings, on the fabrication of 

 wickerwork for garden purposes. We shall here confine ourselves to giving 

 a slight outline of garden basket making, as practised in Scotland and 

 Germany, by gardeners. 



Every basket, according to the Scotch and German mode of construction, 

 consists of two parts ; the main ribs, or principal parts of the framework of 

 the structure; and the filling in, or wattled part, or web. The principal ribs, 

 in common baskets of a roundish form, are two : a vertical rib, or hoop, the 

 upper part of which is destined to form the handle ; and a horizontal hoop, 

 or rim, which is destined to support all the subordinate ribs, on which the 

 wands are wattled. The two main ribs are first bent to the required form, 

 and made fast at their extremities by nails or wire. They are then joined 

 together in their proper position, the one intersecting the other ; and they 

 are afterwards nailed together, or tied by wire, at the points of intersection. 

 The operation of wattling is next commenced by taking the small end of a 



5 D 



