46 
LIST OF AGENTS. 
their shoots in most seasons, are the red or pur- 
plish-twigged osier ( Salix rubra) ; Forby’s willow, 
or fine basket osier ( Salix forbyana) ; the deceptive, 
or white TV elch willow ( Salix decipiens) , and the 
stipuled, or auricled-leaved osier (Salix sUpularis). 
The best of these is, perhaps, Forby’s willow. 
The three-stamened flowered osier (Salix triandria ), 
is nearly as vigorous as the common osier. The 
purple-twigged willow (Salix purpurea), the yolk- 
of-egg-colored willow, or golden osier (Salix vitel- 
lina), and the helix, or rose willow (Salix helix), 
are very desirable species, where small tough rods 
are required. A very valuable osier naturally 
abounds on the great marsh, on Grand Island, in 
Niagara River, which we think highly worthy of 
experimental culture. Various other sorts might be 
mentioned; but the above-named species are con¬ 
sidered as by far the most valuable. 
Soil and Situation. —The soil for basket willows 
should be of a deep sandy loam, well drained, and 
thoroughly prepared; and the situation ought to 
he low, level, and naturally moist ; and, if there is 
a command of water for irrigation, so much the 
better. It will succeed, however, on a somewhat 
dry soil, in which the shoots will not only be 
smaller, but harder, tougher, and more compact and 
durable than when grown in a soil that is rich and 
moist. In dry soils, also, the growth of the plant 
is much slower than when it has been impelled by 
an extraordinary supply of water. The best situa¬ 
tion, when the object is free and rapid growth, is 
along the banks of rivers and brooks, that pass 
through a level country, and on the small islands 
which frequently occur in the midst of streams. In 
hollows, or swales, also, the soil of which is com¬ 
posed of rich, soft earthy particles, and which can 
he laid dry, are the most eligible sites for convert¬ 
ing into osicries; and if stich can be occasionally 
soaked with water during the dry months of sum¬ 
mer, the situation may be considered as perfect. 
Completely draining the site for a basket willow 
plantation is the first step towards its formation, 
and the foundation of its success, and consequently 
of the profit to be derived from it. 
In preparing the ground for an osiery, if the soil 
be poor, it should be as well dressed with stable 
dung as if it were intended for a crop of wheat or 
barley. Lime, as a manure, has been tried, but it 
was found that the twigs became much fired, or 
spotted with a sort of canker, and in attempting to 
bend them, they readily broke at the cankered 
spots. In no case should a plantation of willows 
be attempted, but in prepared ground; except, per¬ 
haps, where a few rows may be introduced upon 
the brink of a river, or on the top of the banks of 
ditches, which form, in most instances, the barrier 
of waters, where the soil can scarcely be dug or 
otherwise ameliorated. 
Propagation and Culture. —All willows may be 
propagated by cuttings ; though some of the 
more rare alpine, kinds with difficulty take root. 
Some species, also, grow very readily from seeds. 
The cuttings for osiers, which may be grown in 
nurseries previously to their removal to their final 
situations, should be made of one-year-old wood, 
about a foot or sixteen inches in length, cut straight 
across at the lower end, and in a sloping direction 
at the upper end. They should be planted perpen¬ 
dicularly in the soil, to a depth of three fourths of 
their length, with the earth firmly pressed to them, 
more especially at their lower extremities. The 
reason the lower ends of the cuttings are cut di¬ 
rectly across, and not sloping like the upper ends, 
is, that they may form equal callosities all around, 
and consequently throw out an equal number of 
roots from these callosities on every side. It has 
been found by experience, that, when a cutting is 
inserted in a sloping direction, roots are protruded 
nearly equally through all that part which is buried 
in the ground, unless the soil has been more closely 
pressed against one part than another. In this case 
the roots will there be protruded in greater abundance; 
and, if the soil has not been pressed to the lower ex¬ 
tremity, it would probably produce no roots at all 
at those points, but rot. The upper extremity of the 
cutting is cut in a sloping direction, for the purpose 
of shedding off the rain. The top end of the 
shoot, as far as it appears soft, being unripe, 
should be discarded ; because such wood will only 
produce weak plants, and will not make such good 
roots the first season, as the firmer parts of the 
shoots will do. Pieces of two-year-old shoots of 
the same length as above, and cut in the same man¬ 
ner, may also be used; but these are more expen¬ 
sive and no better for the purpose than the for¬ 
mer. 
The distances at which osiers for baskets, or 
wicker work, ought to be planted apart are eighteen 
inches between the rows and twelve inches in the 
other direction. At these distances, 29,040 cut¬ 
tings will be sufficient to plant an acre. These dis¬ 
tances will not be found too near for at least five or 
six years; but, after that period, every alternate 
plant should be grubbed up by -the roots, which 
would leave those remaining at two feet apart in 
the rows. The best season for planting cuttings of 
two-year-old wood, in a well drained soil, is late in 
autumn, in consequence of which, the buds will 
swell during the winter, and be ready to grow with 
vigor in the spring; but in a wet soil, and in cli¬ 
mates where they are liable to be loosened by win¬ 
ter frosts, cuttings planted in autumn should be 
made firm a second time in the spring. The proper 
time to plant the slips of one-year-old wood, in a 
high latitude, is a few weeks previous to their 
natural period of putting out leaves. The cuttings 
may first be planted in a nursery and removed the 
autumn or winter following, or they may be plant¬ 
ed at once in the sites where they are finally to re¬ 
main. In either case, if the soil is not sufficiently 
moist, due attention must be paid to give them 
water in dry weather.* 
List of Agents. —We have occasionally been 
asked to publish a list of our agents; but as these 
amount to several thousand, and the publication of 
them would be attended with considerable trouble 
and expense, we have forborne to do so any far¬ 
ther than giving the names of those who are sta¬ 
tionary in the large towns. Any one wishing to 
take the Agriculturist, need not if inconvenient look 
for an agent for it, but remit the amount of the 
subscription through the Post Office at the publish¬ 
er’s risk, directed to C. M. Saxton, 205 Broadway, 
who will immediately send them the paper. 
* See Loudon’s Arboretum, vol. iii., pp. 1456, et seq. 
