1908.] 



Osier Cultivation. 



127 



soil is a rich stiff loam, being the accumulation of alluvial 

 deposits brought down by the river. The common osier (Salix 

 viminalis) is grown to produce rods fit for making small baskets. 

 The area has been an osier bed for a very long time, and some 

 of the old stools are about 2 ft. in girth, perfectly sound and 

 yielding as good rods as ever. On one of the old stools nearly 

 seventy-five shoots were counted. The stools stand roughly 

 about 18 in. apart, so that there are 19,000 stools per acre. 



The harvesting of the crop is commenced in the latter part 

 of December or early in January, and is completed in about 

 five weeks. Care is taken to cut the rods clean close to the 

 edge of the stool, and the rods are then sorted into sizes and 

 stacked until Easter, when they are peeled. 



Planting is done soon after the crop is harvested, i.e., about 

 the middle of February. The best one-year-old shoots are 

 used, and are merely stuck about 9 in. deep into the ground. 

 Weeding is done about the end of May. The bulk of the crop 

 is used for making small baskets for use on an adjacent farm. 



The crop is sorted into the following classes which are stated 

 to be those now used on the London market : (1) rods over 

 11 ft. in length ; (2) rods 9-11 ft. ; (3) rods 7-9 ft. ; (4) rods 

 5-7 ft. ; and (5) rods below 5 ft. in length. The first four are 

 peeled by means of a simple instrument called a " brake," 

 but the last class is not peeled. 



All the operations are carried out by piecework : — 



Cutting. — The cost of cutting is 6s. per score of bolts of various 

 sizes. These are generally about 20 in. in circumference near 

 the butt end. 



Sorting.— The sorting costs 5s. per score of bolts of 40 in. 

 in circumference. 



Peeling. — The cost of peeling varies according to the class of 

 bolts, but average about zod. per bolt. 



Basket-making. — It costs yhd. to make a bushel-size basket 

 having alternate bands of peeled and unpeeled rods. 



Planting. — The cost of planting is 2s. 6d. per 1,000 cuttings. 



Weeding. — This costs £5 annually for the whole area. 



Yield. — The yield is 750 bolts of green unpeeled rods of 

 40-in. girth near the butt end, i.e., 115 bolts per acre. These 

 750 bolts of unpeeled rods yield 60 bolts of peeled rods of the 

 first size, 500 bolts of peeled rods of other sizes, and 100 bolts 



