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vigorous hardy plants is not a more se- 

 vere task for the soil than the growth of 

 wood plants (which often occurs natu- 

 rally in the wood), which means that we 

 can enjoy a beautiful wild garden in the 

 gentle shade of Tree Willows far better 

 than if we specially make one. The very 

 soil that accumulates in the bottoms is 

 the best we could have for many of the 

 stouter herbaceous plants and the nobler 

 ferns and marsh bushes. In districts 

 where there is too much sunshine for 

 the Rhododendron to thrive the har- 

 dier Himalayan and other good kinds 

 would often find the shade and soil they 

 seek beneath the Willows. A simple 

 rough path running through the drier 

 and prettier parts would do the rest. 

 What has been before said of the Red- 

 wood Willow, as regards the value of its 

 shade for one phase of the wild garden, 

 applies to other Tree Willows as well — 

 the great White Willow, the Red (or 

 Cardinal) Willow, the Yellow Willow, 

 and to their beautiful weeping varieties, 

 of which the best I know among new 

 trees is the Yellow W ?eping Willow. I 

 have trees of them, both grafted and 

 on the natural roots, the own root trees 

 very much the best in form, in leaf, 

 and in their thriving. There are also 

 graceful Willows of garden origin which 

 are worth owning for their own sakes; 

 but by far the most stately and the best 

 are the White Willow, the Red Willow, 

 and the Weeping Yellow Willow [Salix 

 vitellina penduld) . 



We have proof in many places, as 

 in the woods near Hatfield, that some 

 Willows are true forest trees, though, 

 from their being casually planted and 



frequently pollarded, this is not so clear 

 to all. Unfortunately, also, the facility 

 of their increase leads to their being pro- 

 pagated in a way, as we think, less likely 



I to develop their tree qualities. The cut- 

 tings strike so easily that they are always 

 increased in that way. If we merely want 



1 switches or poles this may do, but when 

 we want the tree to attain its fullest size 



| it is a different matter, and all planters 

 of forest trees should try to raise the 

 Tree Willows from seed. Allthosedeli- 

 cate seed-bearing parts were not made 

 by Nature for nothing. In increasing 

 trees by cuttings, &c, nurserymen are 

 only stopped by trees that resent the 

 indignity of such propagation. The 

 remedy is in the hands of the planter, 

 who should insist, where possible, on 

 getting every tree for forest planting 

 raised from seed. 



MM. Vilmorin and Andrieux,Haage 

 and Schmidt, and others of the great 

 wholesale seed-houses of Europe, offer 

 seed of these Tree Willows, so there 

 should be no insuperable difficulty in 



I getting a stock of Tree Willows from 

 seed. It should be sown as soon after 

 saving as possible, the seed being small 

 and not living long out of the ground. 



The Ban-forests of the Alps. — "Every mountain 

 village has ban-forests, if it is shut in by steep valley 

 walls, and therefore exposed to avalanches, falls of 

 stones, or land-slips. These ban-forests are kept up 

 from motives of prudence. The office of the ban- 

 forest is to hinder, by its mass of strong upright 

 stems, the breaking loose and sliding down of the 

 vast heaps of snow that accumulate in the winter, 

 and thus to prevent the formation of ' ground ava- 

 lanches,' not, as is commonly supposed, to holdup the 

 avalanches already started, like a dam. The inhabi- 

 tants of the Alps saw this necessity centuries ago, and 

 spared particular forests, placing them under the 

 'ban,' i.e., declaring it unlawful to cut wood in them 

 under heavy penalties." — Berlepsch on The Alps. 



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