214 



SELECT PLANTS READILY ELIGIBLE 



tlie third year; they bear for ten years and then slowly 

 decline. The raw-produce from an acre in a year averages 

 6 tons to 7^ tons, ranging in price from £2 10s. to £3 10s. 

 for the ton (unpeeled). Although 7000 acres are devoted in 

 Britain to the culture of basket- Willows (exclusive of 

 spinneys and plantations for the farmers' own use), yet in 

 1866 there had to be imported from the continent 4400 tons 

 of Willow-branches, at a value of .£44,000, while besides the 

 value of the made baskets imported in that year was equal 

 to the above sum. Land comparatively valueless for root- or 

 grain-crops can be used very remuneratively for Osier- 

 plantations. The soft-wooded Willows like to gi^ow in 

 damper ground than the hard-wooded species. The best 

 peeled Willow-branches fetch as much as £25 for the ton. 

 Peeling is best effected by steam, by which means the 

 material is also increased in durability. No basket-Willow 

 will thrive in stagnant water. Osier-plantations in humid 

 places should therefore be drained. The cuttings are best 

 taken from branches one or two years old, and are to be 

 planted as close as one foot by one and a half foot. No part 

 of the cutting must remain uncovered, in order that only 

 straight shoots may be obtained ; manuring and ploughing 

 between the rows is thus also facilitated, after the crop has 

 been gathered, and this, according to the approved Belgian 

 method, must be done by cutting the shoots close to the 

 gTound after the fall of the leaves. 



Salix rubra, Hudson.* 



Throughout Europe, also in West Asia and North Africa; it 

 is much chosen for osier-beds. When cut down, it will make 

 shoots eight feet long in a season. Porcher regards it as one 

 of the most valuable species for work in which unpeeled rods 

 are used. 



Sallx tetrasperma, Roxburgh. 



Mountains of India, from 2000 to 7000 feet. Height of tree 

 forty feet. This thick- stemmed Willow is worthy of a place 

 on the banks of our watercourses. The twigs can be worked 

 into baskets, the wood serves for gunpowder, the foliage for 

 cattle-food. 



Salix triandra, Linne.* (^S'. amygdalina, Linne). 



The Almond- Willow, through nearly all Europe and extra- 

 tropical Asia. Height of tree thirty feet. Shoots nine feet 

 long, for hoops and white basket-work, being pliant and 

 durable. The bark contains a good deal of Salicine. S. 

 lanceolata (Smith) is a hybrid between S. triandra and S. 

 viminalis, according to Andersson. 



