BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 433 
In selecting a soil best adapted to the growth of the Salix 
purpurea, a warm, sandy loam should be sought for; a soil that 
will produce good crops of Indian corn, is better adapted to the 
growth of this variety than a soil well adapted to the growth of 
grass. To make the business of growing osiers profitable, a home 
market is needed; therefore if the business is to increase rapidly 
in this country, the manufacturers who use osiers should keep in 
close touch with the farmers, increasing their business as rapidly as 
the demand for their manufactures will warrant, and the farmers 
can be induced to furnish the osiers. 
To prepare land that has not been under cultivation during the 
previous year, for a plantation of willows, a crop of Indian corn 
may be planted and several cords more of manure applied to each 
acre than the crop of corn will be likely to consume ; the cultivation 
of the land should be thorough to prevent any weed seeds from 
ripening. As early in the following spring as the land will work 
readily, it should be ploughed about 8 inches deep. The slips 
for planting should have been cut from the stumps the previous 
autumn, a few weeks before winter sets in, and cut in lengths of 
about 12 inches, tied up in small bundles, and buried in a sand- 
bank, a few inches deep; if on the south side of the bank, it will 
be found when the slips are taken out in the spring, that the new 
roots have already begun to grow. A few days after the land is 
ploughed, the cuttings should be planted; if the soil be fine and 
in good condition, the cuttings may be easily pushed into the 
ground about 9 inches, leaving 3 inches above the surface; it is 
best to set the slips on an angle of 45 degrees from the perpen- 
dicular; if set upright the roots at the lower end will be too deep to 
grow as rapidly as they would if nearer the surface, and the sap 
will not rise to the leaves as readily as on an angle. The cuttings 
should be set in rows 2 feet apart each way. In case the land be 
very weedy the first year, the weeds should be destroyed, but in 
doing so great care should be taken not to start any of the cut- 
tings; for to disturb them before the roots get well started checks 
their growth if it does not kill them. Experience has proved that 
cultivation is unnecessary on high land after the first year. 
Unless the soil be very rich the crop should not be cut until it 
has made two years’ growth, when if cut in the autumn and kept 
in a sandbank over winter it will make excellent slips for new 
