Willows and their Cultivation . 
237 
the plant taken in conjunction with character of the foliage. 
Divisions have been arranged upon the basis of features of 
variation in the inflorescence, assisted by colour variation in the 
wood, and by natural phenomena connected with growth and 
development ; but the matter is complicated and technical, and 
too complex and difficult for us to follow, satisfactorily, in a 
paper of this character. Anyone interested in the scientific 
aspect of the question will do well to consult the able and 
exhaustive essay on “ A Revision of the British Willows,” by 
Dr. F. Buchanan White, F.L.S. 1 This valuable review is unique 
in its treatment of a difficult subject, and is usefully supplemented 
by diagrams. 
Trade Uses of the Willows. 
Leaving the scientific aspect, we may next glance at 
the commercial side of the subject. Willows are always in 
demand. It cannot accurately be estimated what amount is 
paid year by year for imported Willows, as in the official 
Board of Trade accounts they are not separately distinguished 
in the tabulated statements from imports of other “ unmanu- 
factured goods unenumerated.” Mr. Scaling wrote that in 
1866 we imported, chiefly from France, Belgium, Holland, and 
Prussia, 4,400 tons, of the estimated value of 43,609?., and baskets 
to the value of 45,840?., and he further mentioned that there 
was a greatly increasing demand even at that time. 
From general inquiry it seems safe to say there is now a well- 
sustained upward tendency in the market demand for home- 
grown willows. This may be in some measure attributable to 
the rapidly increasing area of British land devoted to fruit 
cultivation, an industry which makes immediate claim upon the 
resources of the basket factories. There are also hampers for 
potatoes and for other produce of the farm and the market 
garden ; and with the extension of the railway system and of 
holiday excursions there continually arise new calls for packages 
and increased demand for crates, skips, and baskets, in the 
production of which the willow forms an element. 
Willows for basketwork are employed in the two conditions, 
‘ unpeeled ’ and ‘ peeled.’ The unpeeled rods are, of course, the 
natural growths of the willow with the bark unstripped. They 
are further divided into two kinds, spoken of as green and brown. 
Green rods are those which are worked up as freshly cut. The 
brown rods are those which have been left to dry unpeeled and 
are afterwards used. The peeled willows, again, are divided into 
two kinds — white and buff. The white are those which have 
The Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. xxvii., Nos. 185 and 186, 1890. 
VOL. V. T. S. — 18 R 
