28 The East Anglian Timber Willow. 
The Soil. 
In deciding whether it is desirable to plant willows for 
bat making, I presume that in future the set will be used, 
although, as before stated, there are some advocates in favour 
of small plants, amongst whom, of course, nurserymen are 
obviously included ; but, since the set is certainly much 
cheaper than the plant, it is clear that for this reason alone 
it must be preferred. 
The best ground in which to put sets is undoubtedly by 
the side of a flowing river, because it is generally held that the 
roots must have access to water, and that this water must be 
moving and not stagnant. If the water be stagnant it is as bad 
for the tree as the flowing water is good, and it may be taken 
that a tree planted in stagnant water will have but a very 
short life. By stagnant water I mean water that is absolutely 
stagnant. A great deal of land, which apparently contains 
stagnant water, does really contain water which is slowly 
percolating — it may be at the rate of a few feet a day only ; 
but this comes under my definition of flowing water. 
The great difficulty that arises in planting sets by the side 
of a stream is that these streams are almost invariably 
surrounded by grass lands, and these grass lands are almost 
as invariably fed with stock. This entails, for something like 
fifteen years, the provision of efficient protection, which 
makes planting under such conditions almost prohibitive. 
If trees are to be so protected, it is not necessary to place a 
pound some three or four feet from the tree, which makes the 
cost not less than 5s. per tree ; but -it is quite possible to place, 
say, some three or four rough battens with the bark on, and 
fasten them by means of barbed wire coiled round and nailed 
with small staples. These pounds can be constructed at about 
Is. each, or less. 
The principle that should guide persons in deciding what 
soil to select, should be the necessity of the soil being loose, so 
that the delicate roots can rapidly make their way ; for it is 
obvious that in soils of a clayey nature, even if of good quality 
for growing ordinary crops, the passage of the willow roots is 
much more difficult. It is only when clay is in a condition 
known as soft clay that the willow roots can make their way. 
All old authorities agree that the worst form of soil is 
gravel, and this is probably because of its hungry and almost 
invariably dry nature. We therefore find that the silt which 
is almost inevitably found on river banks, and in valleys 
which have probably to a great extent been formed by alluvial 
deposit, is the best soil for the plant ; and it is obvious that, 
if in addition to this there is a deposit of decayed matter, the 
growth of the tree will be materially assisted. 
