191 2.] 



Varieties of Willows. 



913 



staking than any other variety. Plant for one-year-olds, 

 22 in. by 22 in. ; if for sticks, 26 in. by 26 in. 



Salix purpurea. — Salix purpurea, or the bitter willow, em- 

 braces many varieties, the chief of which are the most slender 

 for their length of all willows; it also includes the two ex- 

 tremes in size. The smallest, known as Dicks or Red Buds, 

 are the toughest willows known, whilst others grow to 9 ft. ; 

 they are easily recognisable, since all are yellow on the inside 

 of the bark, are very bitter to the taste, and show red eyes at 

 the spring growth. 



"Light Dick, or Dicky Meadows," supposed to have been 

 first noticed by a man of that name in Lancashire, is a variety 

 which runs along the ground like strawberry runners ; it is 

 a very beautiful rod, wiry, and a heavy cropper, but 

 very difficult to keep clean, since the weeders must work 

 unshod and with their feet clothed in some soft fabric 

 in order to avoid bruising the shoots. Unsuitable for 

 white, but makes very choice buff, and is now largely used 

 in the making of tea and luncheon baskets ; for all classes 

 of fine buff goods it has no equal. Shoots, 18 in. to 5 ft. 

 Will do equally well on drift or heavy soil, and is not affected 

 by dry or wet seasons — a peculiar feature of all varieties of 

 purpurea. Plant 16 in. by 16 in. 



"Old Dicks, or Red Buds." Another variety in all respects 

 like the above, except that it does not make so large a 

 growth. Shoots, 12 in. to 3 ft. 6 in., and grows half upright. 

 Plant 16 in. by 16 in. 



"Dark Dicks," another of the same variety, grows longer 

 than either of the above and upright ; it is used for staking 

 and also for skeins. Shoots, 2 ft. to 6 ft. Plant 16 in. by 

 16 in. This and the preceding variety are in good demand 

 as brown by the makers of ladies' hand-baskets. 



"Keeks'," a long, slender, and very tough rod, and one 

 seldom attacked by ground game, owing to the extremely 

 bitter character of the bark, contains more salicine than any 

 other willow ; its bark is said to be an excellent remedy 

 against fever and is valuable as a tonic. This variety is 

 useful for making fences by lacing long two-year-old cuttings 

 into a trellis. x\ trellis grown in this way proved in a few 

 years capable of great resistance, and, in addition, yielded a 



3 R 



