642 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 14, 1893. 
Wilks, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Society. The guests included 
a large number of both professional and amateur Rose-growers. It is 
not the custom at this dinner to have many toasts ; in fact, except the 
loyal toasts and that of the Society, all else are excluded. The Chair¬ 
man, in proposing that of the National Rose Society, congratulated the 
members on its success; a Society which in these days could show a 
balance of £81 was indeed in an enviable position. This was in no 
slight degree to be attributed to the admirable manner in which the 
Committee and officers of the Society have fulfilled their duties. He 
therefore proposed prosperity to the National Rose Society, and coupled 
with the toast the names of the Secretaries, both of whom responded to 
it. After Mr. George Paul had proposed the health of the Chairman, 
who briefly replied, the party separated. 
THE “KNOWSLEY” SNOW PLOUGH. 
As the time of the year is at hand when snow ploughs may be in 
request, I am sending a photograph of one which we have found to be a 
great improvement upon the rude implement in ordinary use. The 
“ Knowsley ” snow plough is, as will be seen by the illustration 
(fig. 78), an adjustable machine, and can be readily fixed to suit various 
widths of road, up to about 12 feet. There is a slightly projecting plate 
of iron fixed to the bottom edge of each side piece, which act as 
“shares” in cutting the snow loose from the ground, and a pair of iron 
“skates” fixed in the line of draught, and secured to the shafts and 
front part prevent the possibility of the implement refusing to act when 
it happens to get into a deep drift. As a further aid to that end the 
FIG. 78.— THE “ KNOWSLEY ” SNOW PLOUGH. 
power is applied, that is the horse is hooked on, not at the extreme 
end as is usually done, but a little further back. The draught of 
the new implement is much lighter than that of the old pattern. 
The plough is shown here with one side extend ed and the other 
drawn in.— F. Harrison. 
OSIERS. 
{Continued from page 273.) 
Hitherto the ordinary practice of most growers has been to sell 
the rods when cut to persons who peel, sort, and store them. The peeler 
requires a considerable supply of labour at a particular period, buildings 
in which to store the rods, and capital to enable him to hold the stock 
until it is wanted. 
The cost of peeling is as follows. Women are paid 5d. per green 
bunch. The rods are brought to them by men, who sort, dry, tie, and 
store the bunches. Two men will attend to ten or twelve peelers, and 
they are paid 2d. per green bunch. A woman will peel from three to 
three and a half bunches in a day. The peeling process extends over 
eight to ten weeks. 
The per-centage and weight of each class of rods produced in a holt 
has been estimated as follows :— 
Large rods, 35 per cent., 56 lbs. per bunch. 
Middle, 40 „ 40-45 lbs. per bunch. 
Small, 25 „ 28 lbs. per bunch. 
100 
Average weight per bunch about 43^ lbs. 
It takes three bunches of green rods to produce two bunches of 
peeled rods, and the ratio of white rods to green rods will be, approxi¬ 
mately, 54 j per cent, in weight. 
A large proportion of the Osiers grown are sold by the growers in a 
green state. In the Cambridge district it has become usual to sell by 
auction at so much per acre, the purchaser cutting the crop and carry- 
ing it away. Basket-makers frequently contract with growers to take 
their green rods at a fixed price for a series of five, seven, or even four¬ 
teen years. The most common plan is for the grower to cut and sell 
green on the spot at the market price of the day. This price has of 
late years ranged from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per bunch, and at the present 
time the priee is 23. for good rods. Some of the larger growers peel 
and store the rods, and sell them when there is a brisk demand. Some, 
and an increasing number, combine the business of growing with that 
of manufacturing. 
White rods are now generally sold by the ton, and the present price 
is about £18. 
It will be interesting to compare the relative returns to the grower 
who sells the raw material and to the intermediary who prepares that 
material for the manufacturer. Taking the figures and prices given 
previously as a basis, it would appear that a grower who sells his rods 
green would receive for an average crop at present prices £15 an acre. 
A grower who peels his rods would receive for the same crop at present 
prices £34 Ifls. Id. 
The details of the calculation are as follows : — Average crop 
150 bunches. 
A. Grower who Sells Green. 
150 green bunches at 2s.£15 0 0 
B. Grower who Peels. 
150 green bunches yield 100 bunches of 
white rods, average weight per bunch 
43| lbs. = 1-942 tons at £18 per ton ... 34 19 1 
Difierence in gross returns.£19 19 1 
The cost of peeling, sorting, and storing has been stated as 7d. pe 
green bunch. 
150 bunches at 7d.£4 7 6 
Add for carriage from holt to peeling yard 
Id. per bunch . 0 12 6 
Cost of peeling, &c. £5 0 0 
This leaves £14 193. Id. to pay the middleman for his outlay of 
capital and risks of trade. It would seem, then that at current prices 
the value of the crop is divided pretty equally between the grower and 
the middleman, and that, as usual, the producer of the raw material 
gets very little in proportion to his original outlay unless he prepares 
his crop for the artificer. 
Of course, in the fluctuation of prices the circumstances are some¬ 
times less favourable to the man who does the intermediary work of 
dressing the raw material. 
If the price of green bunches is 2s. 6d. when the price of rods is no 
more than £18, the margin between gross reeeipts of the two is reduced 
by £3 153., and if the minimum prices of green rods and white rods be 
taken the case is very much altered. 
150 green bunches at Is. 6d. 
••• ••• 
£11 
5 
0 
1-942 tons of white rods at £10 per ton 
£19 8 4 
Expenses of peeling and carriage ... 
5 0 0 
14 
8 
4 
Difference. 
£3 
3 
4 
It may, perhaps, be taken for granted that on the average the 
dresser or finisher has a good margin between the current price of 
the raw material and that of the prepared goods, and that an Osier 
grower who has conveniently situated and suitable premises, where a 
sufficient supply of labour can be found, has a great advantage over 
one who has no choice but to sell his rods as he cuts them, because he 
can get the middleman’s profit. 
Among other causes of the alleged decline in the osier industry, it 
has been said that cane is now largely used in the place of wicker-work 
Boxes have taken the place of hampers for the transport of fish. 
Barrels are much used for Potatoes, and iron scuttles and sieves are 
more common than they were. 
There is also said to be some difficulty in obtaining an adequate 
supply of labour at the particular period when the peeling must be 
done. If that process is not completed before midsummer the quality 
of the rods is seriously deteriorated. 
A grower states it as his own deliberate opinion that “a holt planted 
in a suitable site, well planted, cleaned, and cared for, filled up and 
replanted when necessary, has always paid its way, and where the 
circumstances allow of peeling the rods a very good result has been 
obtained. 
(To be continued.) 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Carter & Co., High Holborn, London .—Vade Mecum and Seed- 
Catalogue for 1894. 
W. Cutbush & Son, Higbgate Nurseries, London, N.— Chrys¬ 
anthemums. 
E. & W. Hackett, 73, Bundle Street, Adelaide, South Australia.— 
Manual for the Garden and Farm. 
Hogg & Wood, Coldstream and Duns.— Forest, Ornamental, and Fruit 
Trees, Moses, Clematis, and Shrubs. 
J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, S.E.— Vegetable and Flower Seeds. 
J. R. Pearson & Sons, Chilwell Nurseries, Nottingham.— Chrys¬ 
anthemums. 
W. Wells, Earlswood Nurseries, Redhill.— Chrysanthemums. 
