2i2 Planting, Cleaning, and Cutting Willows, [june, 



Several methods are adopted for keeping the land clean. 

 One found most suitable in Leicestershire is the employment 

 of a three-tined horse hoe with an arrow-shaped blade on the 

 front and two inward blades in the rear. This can only be 

 used if great care is exercised to prevent barking the head by 

 striking it with the hoe, thereby occasioning considerable 

 exhaustion of the plant, and consequently a defective crop. 

 Moreover, this hoe can only be brought into play for the first 

 year or two, whilst the heads are sufficiently small, and the 

 spaces allow a pony or small horse to travel between the rows. 

 A swan-necked hoe will usually be found the best tool for 

 this purpose. 



Cutting. — The termination of the growth and the ripening 

 of the wood will be determined better by the fall of the leaf 

 than by the calendar. This stage varies in England from 

 the end of October to the middle of November. When the 

 leaf has nearly all fallen the rods are ready for cutting, but 

 it is not advisable to commence cutting at this early period 

 except for the purpose of buffing, which operation should be 

 begun on the earliest possible date, in order to take full 

 advantage of the short mild season before Christmas. 



It will be found profitable to leave a portion of the one- 

 year-old crop standing for two-year-olds. This undoubtedly 

 gives the heads a rest, and the succeeding crop of one-year- 

 olds will be found taller and heavier than that from the heads 

 which have been cut each year. About every fifth or sixth 

 year is recommended for this rule to be carried out. Another 

 good practice is to cut out with a sharp knife or fine shears 

 all the smaller or rough growths. This will amply repay 

 the grower for the labour expended, for, if left on the heads, 

 these worthless growths will draw a certain amount of vitality 

 from them, and ultimately get smothered by the more vigorous 

 rods, and need to be sorted out when cut. There is always 

 a very active and profitable demand for well-grown two-year- 

 old rods of good quality, either as buff or white, for manu- 

 facturing strong hampers, such as are largely used in the 

 hosiery-making districts, as well as in Yorkshire and Lan- 

 cashire. These two-year-olds are required for what are 

 called staking, or lid and bottom sticks, around which the 

 one-year-old rods are worked. 



