68 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
berries and drupes indicate that birds and small mammals are 
the chief agents in their dispersed. What agency the Osage 
orange had in view when its great orange-like fruit was 
evolved is something of a mystery. Its sticky latex and dis- 
agreeable taste apparently repel all grazing animals, while its 
weight is so great that it can be moved by such animals only. 
Owing to its shape it might roll for some distance when 
dropped from the tree, or it might float away on the water. 
Our readers are invited to offer other explanations. 
The Osier or Basket Willow. — The basket willow is 
properly catalogued among American farm products rather 
than among the products of the forests for these willows are 
grown like other farm crops. According to the Tribune 
Farmer the largest willow farm in the United States is at 
Clyde, N. Y., near the city of Rochester. It is fifty-five 
acres in extent. Low moist land is best for such farms and 
once set, the willow plants last indefinitely. The willows are 
cut to the ground in the fall and the next spring a new crop 
of straight slender branches grow up. From three to eight 
tons of cuttings are produced to the acre, the price at present 
being about $18.00 a ton. Most of these willows are used in 
basket-making and for similar work, but in the grape-growing 
regions large amounts are used for tying grapes. Small wil- 
low farms are familiar sights in the grape regions of New 
York State. A field of willows in full growth looks from 
a distance like a field of hemp. 
Delayed Germination. — Most seeds germinate shortly 
after they are planted. Usually, in our climate, they remain 
dormant during the winter following their dissemination, 
though not a few begin to grow in autumn and pass through 
the winter as seedlings. Thus has arisen a group of plants 
known as winter aimuals. These spring up in autumn, flower 
the next spring, and die before the summer is well under way. 
The true biennial devotes the first year of its life to storing up 
