BASKET WILLOW. 
309 
look to every source of information by which 
they can gain knowledge in the profession of 
farming, as well as law. One of this class is 
Judge Cone, an attorney of this place, who, 
though far less interested than many other gen¬ 
tleman, seems to take a delight, whenever he 
visits New York, in strolling through your great 
agricultural warehouse, looking by the hour at 
the great improvements which have been made 
in all the implements of husbandry, since the 
day when the old clumsy wooden moldboard 
Carey plow used to kick his shins upon the 
rocky hills of Connecticut. And that is not a 
long age ago, for there I, too, learned the trade 
of plowman, by the same ill-contrived machine, 
and an equal amount of hard kicks. 
Mr. John Cunningham, merchant, manufac¬ 
turer, and planter, is another of the gentlemen 
of Greensborough worthy of mention and com¬ 
mendation in every agricultural paper in the 
country, for he is one of their most active and 
influential friends. He says wherever these are 
taken and read, men improve, and the crops 
are increased one hundred times more than the 
papers cost. Mr. C. has done a great deal 
toward introducing improved tools among the 
farmers of Green county, and is constantly try¬ 
ing by words and example to induce them to 
adopt such a system of tillage as will renovate 
and restore to fertility the old fields that now 
blot the fair face of nature, and make this once 
rich and lovely land look like a land of desola¬ 
tion, wasted by the wicked hand of some des¬ 
troying power, instead of the wasteful igno¬ 
rance and mismanagement of the very people 
who should have preserved it even unto the 
third and fourth generation. 
There are several other gentlemen entitled to 
high credit for the efforts they have made to ar¬ 
rest this destroying process, and save this fine 
country from destruction. 
Union Point .—This is where the road from 
Athens unites with the main stem, seven miles 
below Greensborough, 39 from Athens, and 75 
miles from Augusta. 
Let us rise up and look out upon this blessed 
March morning, so like those of lovely May 
with us, and as we shall find but little to inter¬ 
est us.in looking over the country, we will hold 
a most social and animated discussion with 
these Georgia farmers on our trip up to Athens. 
The rapid movement of the freight train with 
an attached passenger car of a most dirty and 
uncomfortable appearance, won’t prevent our 
conversation. It runs slow and sure. All of 
these pleasant conversations with the cultiva¬ 
tors of the soil tend to improve it. At Athens 
we have much to see and say. Let us first take 
our rest. In another month I hope we shall 
meet again. Solon Robinson. 
BASKET WILLOW. 
Will you be so kind as to permit a working 
man without the necessary qualifications of a 
writer, to call your own and the attention of 
your thousands of readers, to the growth of the 
basket willow, a subject which appears to me 
of considerable importance. There are several 
million dollars’ worth of this article imported 
annually into this country, from Germany and 
France. An erroneous opinion prevails, that 
this shrub cannot be grown here. I will sim¬ 
ply state that I have some small lots of French, 
German and English Nothinghamshire willow 
cuttings, the produce of which is as large, long, 
straight, and pliable as any growing in the 
world. 
Every farmer will acknowledge, meadow 
land to be poor that will not yield a ton of hay 
to the acre, which, when cured and in market, 
seldom sells for more than $12. AH men who 
are acquainted with the growth of willow for 
market, well know that an acre of land ought 
to yield at least, one and a half tons’ weight 
of it. The cost of preparing willow for mar¬ 
ket would not exceed $40 per ton. Now, esti¬ 
mating hay at $12 per ton, and willow at $120, 
deducting from the willow $40 per ton for pre¬ 
paring for market there is a balance in favor 
of the willow of $80 per acre. 
Capitalists may think there would be diffi¬ 
culty in finding a market for a large quantity 
of willow. Although there are some four or 
five importers of this article in the city of New 
York, yet, during the present summer, the sup¬ 
ply was not half equal to the demand, which in¬ 
creases every year. It must be plain to every 
observer, who looks into any of the wooden- 
ware stores and sees the quantity of willow 
ware hanging up, that there must necessarily 
be immense quantities of the raw material used 
yearly in this country. I have endeavored to 
collect all the information possible relative to 
the amount of money paid for willow baskets 
in the city of New York, and find it reaches 
over a $1,000,000, besides the amount for bas¬ 
kets sent to the southern and West-India mar¬ 
kets, which would probably reach double the 
sum paid in New York. 
The willow grctwn here would certainly com¬ 
mand a higher price than the imported article, 
which is pretty well sorted by the French and 
