The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1862-03-15
Cultivation and use of Willows.

Cultivation and use of Willows.
The Transactions of the Highland
and Agricultural Society of Scotland
contains an essay on the above subject.
1t was awarded the gold medal of the
Society. A few extracts will be read
with Interest
The Importance of willows to man has
been recognized from the earliest ages.
a crop of willows was considered so
valuable in the time of Cato, that he
ranks the willow field next in value to
the vineyard or garden.
l need not enumerate the various
purposes for which they are employed,
but simply remark that the baske, maker,
the turner and the cooper, would be
less economical and useful were it not
for the genus Salix. Charcoal and eases
of Lead pencils are also made from
willow wood. Boards and planks of the
willow are we'll fitted for scaffolding,
and shooting for cars, lofts, etc.; and
in localities where small timber is scarce,
we cut it up for pailiug rails. Being
of a tough nature and light, it is very
well adap ed for these purposes. The
very best kind of charcoal is made
from willows, and is highly esteemed in
the making of gunpowder. The bark is
used for tanning several kinds of
leather. So from this We may learn
that the consumption of willows, if more
extensively grown, might be greater
and plantations, or large beds of osicrs
might be very advan'a geously grown in
almost any soil. such as banks of rivers,
drained moors, ETC., and annually cut,
would produce sum of money that l
have no doubt would largely remunerate
the grower. And from land that can
no. otherwise be made available for
tillage, Notwithstanding the vicissi udcs
of seasons taking good and bad under
view, the writer has cxperimcntally
ascertaincd that an acre of willows or
osiers will often bring the grower a
larger sum of money than an acre of
wheat and likewise from land that
would be almost useless for other crops.
1t is rather astonishing that the
growth of them is not more attended to
both in England and Scotland
AS regards the nature of the soil and
subsoil suitable for growing them
to the best perfect on, osiers delight in
banks Of rivers or drained moors, and
are greatly invigorated by occasional
food of irriga ions. Plantations of them
may also be formed, and will succeed
well, on low spongy bottoms along the
margins of streams.
In the great majority of farms will be
found level, marshy, wet spots, which,
by drainage, cannot vel. be made avail
able for tlllage, which might be planted
with the willow, and would afterward
recompensc the proprietor or farmer in
two-fold way. The land might be
prepared in various ways for this crop,
owing to the extent and nature of the
soil. Where the land will admit OF
being plowed and narrowed, and has
formerly undergone cultivation, l find
that, at the present prices OF willow sets
or plants, and the expense of labor, it
would not cost more than Sill per acre,
allowing the plans to be plan ed at
distance of % inches by Is inches apart.
But find that for plantations of any
considerable extent for osiers, the ground
should be formed by the spade into beds
of from s to 8 feet broad, with interven-
ing burrows or narrow bitches to carry
off the water. The plantation may be
made at any time between the fall of the
leaf and an advanced period in spring,
but the last two weeks of February, and
the first week of March are the most
proper times for planting the willows
Cuttings Is inches long should be taken
with knife on an upward slope from
we'll ripened wood of either two or three
years growth experimental trial con-
vinces me that they grow more luxu-
riantly when planted about two-tLirds
of their length in the ground, than when
they are less deeply planted.
Having at one time about an acre of
willows under my care, it all received
the same preparation but after the
number of cuttings required were Topped
off from the plants of second years
growth and dressed to the length of Is
inches, caused the sets or cuttings of
No. l, or one-third part of the said acre,
to be put III the soil to the depth of 10
inches. No. 2, as another third part of
the same, had its cuttings planted to
the depth of inches. No. 8, another
third part, planted to the depth of
inches. A decided difference was yearly
to be seen in the growth of the plants
No. producing in autumn of the third
year onc-fourth value more of willows
than No. 2; and No. 2 equivalent, or
nearly so, to the same value over No. 3.
can learn from frequent trials that,
when depth of soil can be obtained,
osicrs succeed best in deep, moist,
free soil-ground dug to the depth of
"a inches, with small quantity of dung
and old lime rubbish put in the bottom
of the trench.
The willow, for the use of The basket
maker, should be cut every year slop-
ingly with the knife, within three buds
OF the point whence the shoot issued,
and will admit of being cut back once in
three years for the use of the cooper,
exactly to the swell of the shoot of the
three years growth-thus COMPRISING
the plant back 10 its ancient dwarf from,
at the same time realizing handsome
return.
Moreover, by treating oscrs in this