392 



Osier Culture in the United States. 



;£3 86,000, engaging 3,119 persons, paying annually the sum 

 of ^^136,960 for wages, and producing manufactured willow 

 goods to the amount of ;^4i 5,000. The value of the material 

 consumed in the industry was 80,600, of which, however, 

 only a small portion represented home produce. In 1890 

 there were 403 willow-ware establishments in the country, 

 with a capital of 63,000, engaging 3,732 persons, paying 

 annually the sum of £264,^.00 for wages, and producing 

 ^757,000 worth of manufactured ware. The value of material 

 consumed was £291,350, or an increase of 61 per cent, over 

 that used in 1880. 



The imports in 1880 of manufactured willow -ware as 

 reported by the United States Treasury Department, 

 amounted in value to £2gy62Sy and of osier or willow pre- 

 pared for basket-makers' use to ;£4,550. In 1890 the value of 

 the importations of manufactured willow-ware had risen to 

 £yy,6oOy and of prepared osier or willow to £5,760, an increase 

 of 27 per cent, since 18S0. 



Assuming that manufacturers include some other items 

 under the head of material consumed besides prepared 

 osier, the census increase of 61 per cent, is probably a fair 

 estimate of the increase in the amount of osier used in 1890 

 over that used in 1880. The imports of prepared willow 

 increased from 1880 to 1890 by only 27 per cent. 



The fine willow -ware used in the United States is largely 

 imported. The labour conditions are not suited to the 

 industry, except in certain localities, such as Syracuse, N.Y., 

 where the manufacture of salt is carried on largely in the 

 summer, employing a great number of men who would be out 

 of employment in winter unless they had basket-making to 

 fall back upon. Very few basket makers work all the year 

 round at their trade, and for this reason it is held that many 

 farmers in the prairie States could engage in osier willow 

 woik during the winter season with considerable advantag-e. 



Maize Products of the United States. 

 Maize or Indian corn is the most important crop cultivated 

 in the United States. The average area devoted to the crop 



