213 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Januaby 4, 1859. 
Die depth of soil. In extremely wet situations, these trenches 
had better be six inches wider. As soon as this soil has become 
moderately dry, let the beds be trend led. as deep as possible, 
‘burying all the turf and weeds at the bottom. The best time to 
do this work, is in July, August, and September. The surface 
may be left rough, in order to obtain the benefit of exposure to 
the summer sun and autumn frost. It will be in fine condition 
when the planting time arrives. 
Planting. —This may be done during the winter ; but if it is 
done before the year is out it will be all the better. Procure 
shoots of the kinds mentioned below ; cut them into lengths of 
eighteen inches ; and, with a common dibber, insert them a foot 
deep in rows, across the beds, two feet apart, and a foot and a 
half from set to. set in the row, taking care to press the earth 
close to each cutting, and as firm as possible. They will require 
no further care till the weeds begin to grow. 
After Management. —During the whole of summer, the hoe 
should be used freely. Not a weed should be allowed to get any 
strength. Should any bad weeds, such as Docks or Water 
Thistles, appear, they should be got clean out with a spud. With 
this care, the Willows will grow' freely ; but 1 would advise not 
to cut them the first year, unless some grow so strong as to 
injure their neighbours. These may be cut down, and used for 
small work, or to make cuttings for some oilier plot. As soon 
as the leaves fall, let the whole plot be carefully dug over, and so 
left to benefit by thq winter frosts. The second summer repeat 
the hoeing process as they need it. If well managed the pre¬ 
vious year, but few weeds will appear; but these few must be 
effectually kept from getting a-head. In the autumn of the 
second year, the whole of the Willows must be cut down, and a 
good mulching of manure given, and dug in. The third season 
will yield a good crop of lino shoots, from four to eight feet long; 
and this crop will repay the whole outlay ; and the plantation 
will, if so managed every season, give' a good profit, and reward 
the owner for all his expense, labour, and care. I have known 
Osier beds, so managed, yield as many Willows as were sold for 
seven, or even eight pounds, per acre. Is not this far preferable 
to that of allowing such marshy plots on an estate,—plots that 
are not only unsightly, but positively pernicious. 
Lastly, it only remains now to give a list of the most profit¬ 
able and useful sorts for this purpose. 
Salix alba.—T his is known as the Huntington Willow. In 
Lincolnshire, and other fenny counties,'this is grown as a pollard. 
It is used for fuel aud poles, and its bark is used for tanning 
leather. Planted in an Osier bed, it affords shoots strong 
enough to make crates, as well as coarse baskets and hampers. 
There is a red-twigged variety that grows to a lofty tree in rather 
drier land. 
*8 alia viMiNAiTS (the Twiggy Willow). —The leaves are 
long, waved at the edges, but not cut, shining green above, and 
silvery underneath. The shoots grow r long, straight, and are 
very tough, and are well adapted for the larger sorts of baskets, 
hampers, hoops and crates. 
*8 alia STiruLAius (the Eared Willow).—The two-year old 
shoots make excellmt. rods for baskets, cradles, and bird cages; 
and the one-year shoots are used as filling—that is, to work in 
among the stronger shoots. The shoots are long, and nearly equal 
in thickness their whole length. The leaves are set on alternately ; 
footstalks long anti narrow, rather cut at the edges, green and 
smooth on the upper surface, and woolly underneath. At the foot 
of each leafstalk there are two short leaves, or bracts, resembling 
a pair of ears, lienee its specific name. 
Salix eubba (the Red Willow).—This is a most excellent 
basket Willow. The shoots are very long, tough, and of a 
purplish colour, smooth, and very pliable. The leaves are very 
narrow, long, often three or four inches, and are bright green on 
both sides. 
*Salix Eoktsyana (Eorby’s Willow).—This is the very best 
Willow for fine work. The shoots are of a yellowish colour, 
smooth, very flexible, and tough. The leaves are saw-toothed, stand 
on long footstalks, dark green above, and pale blueish underneath. 
*Salix tbiandka (Long-leaved triandrous Willow).—A most 
excellent basket Willow. Its shoots are long, slender, pliable, 
and tough, smooth below, but fluted towards the top. The 
leaves are very long, and closely and deeply cut at the edges. 
Salix tittelina (Golden Willow).—This, in good moist land, 
forms a very ornamental tree. Planted as an Osier, it is ex¬ 
ceedingly useful. The shoots are moderately long, and very tough, 
and of a rich shining-yellow colour. It is well adapted for the 
finer kinds of basket-work. 
I am indebted to “ Sowerby’s English Botany ” for the above 
descriptions, by which any observing person may know the dif¬ 
ferent kinds, and select some, or all, of them for his Willow 
grounds. The first species requires a deeper and rather drier 
soil to produce the kind of wood I have described. 1 should prefer 
those marked thus * where they can be procured. The Messrs. 
Backhouse, of York, formerly had the best collection of Willows 
I ever met with in any nursery.—T. Appleby. 
CALCEOLARIA CULTURE. 
I must confess my surprise on reading Mr. Robson’s article 
upon the failure of the Calceolaria. To remove his gloomy fore¬ 
boding of the future failure of this bright gem of the flower 
garden, I do not for one moment pretend to offer anything new, 
or superior, on its cultivation, but, as desired, confine myself to 
facts alone. 
Last season, also in 1857, I planted out 1,000 Calceolarias in 
beds and ribbon borders. 1857 was a most trying season for 
this plant, but last season was much more so. During both of 
these hot summers, out of this 1,000, I lost, at the most, half-a- 
dozen. They were strong, dwarf, bushy plants, and, in respect to 
bloom, all that one coidd desire—right through, and just such 
beds, strips, and girdles, as Mr. Beaton would have pronounced 
excellent. The soil is a close loam, with a stiff loamy subsoil, 
and ragstone bottom. 
This land has been under cultivation for vegetables at least a 
century. The situation is three miles from Maidstone, up the 
Medway, on the southern slope, about 300 yards from the river, 
a situation upon which the sun beats exceedingly. 
Towards the end of September, cuttings were taken from the 
strongest and shortest in joint, and a frame prepared by filling 
within a foot with dung, from an old lining, trodden down: no 
heat arose, of course. On this, six inches of common soil, with 
a barrow-load of road sand added, was put, and trodden down 
very firm, in order that the plants established in it might be re¬ 
moved with a ball. The cuttings were put in firmly, well soaked, 
and shaded from the sun ; they wero neither kept too wet nor too 
dry ; through the winter they were protected from severe frost; 
all air possible given when struck ; and their heads pinched out 
when beginning to grow'. 
Now, about the middle of March, I removed them from tho 
cutting-box to rough cradles—say, on an east, south, or west 
border, first spreading on tho ground selected a heavy coat of 
well-decomposed dung, or leaf mould, dug in and well mixed up 
with the soil, at least eight inches deep. If tho soil is in good 
condition, give a thorough good treading. This is a main point, 
if you want to remove your plants in May with a close ball. 
Commence to nick out with a spade, a bed six feet wide, and put, 
in the young plants, six inches apart—no closer—each way 
pressing the soil tightly around the balls of each plant as you 
proceed; and well water in, if a dry time. Protect with a few 
poles, or hoops, lor mats, against severe frost, not to keep out 
the frost, which is no matter so long as tho sun is not allowed to 
shine on them before they are thawed, which the mats will pre¬ 
vent. The watering of these plants must be thoroughly looked 
to, as they will root fast in this new situation, especially in Aprd. 
Now for the final shift to beds and borders, ail of which have 
been broken up at least fifteen inches deep with a good coat of 
dung, well forked in on the surface. 
Here it is necessary to make your bed firm, by treading, for their 
last reception. I now remove with a spade each plant, cut out 
with a squaro of soil, six inches all ways. 
Suppose these plants had remained in the cutting-box, and no 
attention pai^l to air, or stopping, and then torn limb from joint 
in the effort to divide the mass of roots,—what a contrast they 
would present! I fear neglect is, and has been, more fatal to 
this plant than all the diseases to which they are said to be subject. 
In planting out, a hole should be dug for each with a spade, and 
the soil made particularly firm around each plant, and a regular 
good soaking given with a rose-pot. 
1 will now endeavour to account for their dying off. It is 
often through loose planting, and a rush from the nose of the 
water-pot washing out the mould from the roots : then, during 
the long hot days in June, such plants fade and die on the first 
trial. Hence, the necessity of sound-rooted balls, tightly planted 
in trodden ground. 
The Calceolaria planted well and soaked in, last season, got 
on well without so much care through its first blooming as it 
