240 
Willows and their Cultivation . 
William Scaling, 1 in dealing fully with the different va-^ 
rieties, gives the following list as the best for ordinary basket- 
work : — 
Salix longifolia Salix Merriniana Salix inflexus 
„ mollissima „ longifolia alba „ Harrisoniana 
„ rosea ,, Ballardiana „ rubra 
but as these names do not fit with the nomenclature of recognised 
botanical standards, we cannot, by Mr. Scaling’s method, get 
at the exact varieties indicated under his specific titles. It seems 
likely, however, that several of the varieties here tabulated are 
of the S. viminalis type, and others of the S. rubra group. 
For the heavier work it seems clear that the Green Willow 
(under the sections viminalis , Smithiana, or whatever name' 
may be given to this particular variety in different localities) 1 
and Kerksii, the Bitter Willow (useful especially where there' 
is fear of ravage by game), are the best. For coppice, prob- 
ably Salix caprea, the Goat Willow, or English Palm, would' 
be best, and for finer basketwork the varieties known commonly 
as the Purple Willow and the Yellow Osier are most suitable.. 
Cultivation and Harvesting. 
We proceed to consider the cultivation of the plants. There? 
seems to be a widely spread notion that willows will only grow 
in wet boggy land, and indeed that the more water in which 
they can be placed the better. This popular idea is entirely 
erroneous, but it is likely that it may have given some colour 
to the supposition, often indulged, that the willow crop is not 
profitable. 
A willow plantation is usually called a “ Holt,” an Anglo- 
Saxon word meaning probably, shelter or cover, and subse- 
quently applied to pieces of protective plantation, fitting best- 
the character of such a tract of cultivated ground as willow beds- 
might be likely to suggest. In the formation of a Willow Holt 
due care should be taken as to the kinds to be grown. Soil and. 
situation, as well as market demand, must be well thought out. 
It may here be mentioned, as showing the wide range covered' 
by the variation in growth of the willow tribe, that whilst Salix 
herbacea in its native habitat grows scarcely an inch in a year, 
some of the basket willows, under favourable conditions, and 
when regularly cut for basket rods, grow eight to ten or twelve 
feet in a season. 
1 The Salix or Willow, by William Scaling. 2nd Ed., revised and enlarged 
1871. 
