THE CULTIVATOR. 
Jan. 
T3ie Torenia Asiatica. 
A new and rare green-house plant, the Torenia asi- 
atica , is shown in the above cut. It is a native of 
the East Indies, and needs the shade, moisture, and 
protection of a house, and will not succeed well out of 
doors. It is remarkable for the softness and richness 
of the color of its beautiful blue and purple flowers. 
A single plant, trained in a suspended pot or sieve, in 
a Camellia house belonging to J. Dundas of Philadel¬ 
phia, grew in one summer, with the side branches hang¬ 
ing down around it, so as to measure ten feet in diame¬ 
ter, presenting in all parts a perfect mass of flowers and 
foliage. 
The Osier or Basket Willow. 
It is now six years since the attention of the public 
was directed to the culture of the Osier or Basket Wil¬ 
low in this country, by an article on that subject in the 
Report of the Patent Office. The communication was 
copied from Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine, and repre¬ 
sented the cultivation of this willow as being adapted 
to the soil and climate of the United States—its man¬ 
agement being as easily acquired, the demand as great¬ 
er than the supply, and highly profitable to the culti¬ 
vator. Although s his article was notoriously incorrect, 
having exaggerated greatly the quantity imported and 
consumed in this country, nevertheless its appearance 
in a mercantile publication of respectability, and its 
endorsement by an official report of the government, 
gave to it the weight and authority that attaches to 
genuineness and reliability. To the veritable Ame¬ 
rican, conviction is tantamount to action, and Crocket 
like, “ when he is sure he is right be will go ahead.” 
The only mystery in thi3 case is the oblivious slumber 
into which the subject appears for so long a time to 
have fallen. What cause can be assigned for this pro¬ 
found silence, this persistent sleep ? Where is the 
spirit of Yankeedom ? Certainly we are not to enter¬ 
tain the unnatural supposition, that a people so famous 
as ours for “reckless speculation,” so celebrated for a 
mad pursuit of the “ Almighty dollar,” would be like¬ 
ly to overlook the advantages of an enterprise that af¬ 
forded at the same time the treble attraction of novel¬ 
ty, facility and profit. In what, then, are we to seek 
a cause for this apparent indifference ? Is it that the 
more recent, the more novel Dioscorea Batatas and 
Sorgho Sucre , have displaced the “previous ques¬ 
tion.” It would seem that the dimensions of the Chi¬ 
nese Yam have been puffed up by culture or other pro¬ 
cess, from the questionable “small black lumps,” four 
of which could, be disposed of in the thimble of an old 
lady in the Helderbergs, as described we trust rather 
indignantly, by your Rensselaerville correspondent a 
year or two since, until it has now acquired the pletho¬ 
ric proportions of an esculent three feet in length, as 
exhibited at the New-York State Fair at Buffalo. As 
to the Chinese Sugar Cane , we have reason to know 
that its last winter’s popularity caused Uncle Sam’s 
mail bags to be distended with its seeds, and per con¬ 
sequence , the venders’ pockets to be equally distended 
with the proceeds. Even while we write, its saccharine 
qualities are tested by the glutinous digits of half our 
acquaintance, not to speak of its dulcet virtues, visible 
on the lips of the other half. 
Perhaps another reason for not engaging in a culture 
that requires a few years for perfect development, and 
full returns to be made, may be sought in the preva¬ 
lence of a spirit that can form no application of a pros¬ 
pective benefit—the same spirit that induces some to 
neglect the propogation of fruit trees, and ornamental 
plantations, from the selfish apprehension that they 
may never pluck the fruit, or enjoy the shade. The 
posterity of such persons suffer a virtual disinheritance 
from the short-sighted egotism of their parents. 
Possibly some are wishing to prevent an agita¬ 
tion of the subject, fearing an excitement in that direc¬ 
tion would operate to effect an over-production, thereby 
surcharging the market, and cause a depression in 
ruling prices. What motives soever may influence 
others in withholding their experience from the unini¬ 
tiated, the writer of this will detail his amateur experi¬ 
ments, and hopes he may be the means of calling out 
others, if there be any, to do the same. Of the Patent 
Office Report for 1853, containing the article on willow 
alluded to, there were ordered to be printed for distri¬ 
bution, by Congress, 100,000 extra copies. Supposing 
nine-tenths of these to fall into the hands of political 
partizans who had no interest in reading them, it would 
leave 10,000 copies to be read, and of the readers, per¬ 
haps one in every ten might conclude to try at least 
one acre, which w T ould make one thousand acres plant¬ 
ed of the osier. The above is the only basis on which 
we could make an approximate estimate, however far 
from the truth it may prove. 
Early in the spring of 1854, I addressed different 
gentlemen, strangers to me, soliciting information con¬ 
cerning the willow or osier. These persons politely res¬ 
ponded, and one of them had cuttings of the Salix 
Viminal-is , which he would furnish me at $15 per 
thousand, if ordered immediately. Another statement 
represented the Salix Viminalis as nearly worthless in 
this climate, though chiefly depended on in England 
for osiers. 
I was eventually fortunate enough to communicate 
with Dr. C. W. Grant of Newburgh, N. Y., a gentle¬ 
man whose courtesy and integrity I am happy on this 
occasion to commend. From him I learned, that after 
being disappointed in the S. Viminalis , as many 
Europeans had been before, and not willing to succumb 
