Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-05-10
Willow and Its Uses.

The willow of commerce, used for
making baskets aod other willow ware.
is cultivated like corn or beans, or any
other agricultural product; and the com
mon willow, which grows in wild state
upon wet land in various parts of the
world, cannot be made to supply the
place of the cultivated article, as it
rarely possesses the requisite smooth
ness of surface, elasticity, and lack of
pith. The cultivated willows, or 'os-
ters,' as they are technically denomn-
ated, are not necessarily grown upon
wet land. The field where they are to
be planted is as thoroughly prepared as
for any other crop. The planting is
done by setting twigs of willow in the
ground, in rows sixteen to twenty inches
apart, the distance between the twlgs in
the same row being eight to twelve
inches.
The crops of the first and second
years are not very valuable though the
shoots are carefully cut to prevent in
jury to the crop of the third year, which
is expected to pay all the excuses, with
the rent, taxes, etc, Of establishing the
plantation. The field may be kept in
willows ten or twelve years, at the end
of which time the roots are plowed or
grubbed out, and the land is given to
some other crop. The land must be all
the time kept clean Of weeds, and, if it
shows signs of exhaustion, manure must
be applied. The willows are cut in the
autumn, as soon as the leaves fall and
if they are to be''peeled white, they are
done UP in bundles with their butts in
six or eight inches of water, in which
they remain until the following spring
when, as growth begins, the bark peels
off readily. If the osiers are to be
peeled buff" they are bundled and
dried, and are subsequently peeled by
being boiled or steamed, and then
drawn through machine made for the
purpose The baskets made from the
buff are said to be much firmer than
those made from the white rods.
There are several manufacturers OF
willow-ware in Boston, and large mum
Der in New York and other cities; and
they would certainly be willing to pur
chase American willow, if it could be
obtained of as good quality, and at the
same price, as the imported article; but
although there is duty of thirty pei
cent. upon imported willow, it is doubt
full whether person located as far west
as Springfield, Ill.,, could at the present
time raise osiers and deliver them here
as low as they are delivered here from
European countries. They are quite
bulky articles, and the freight charges
upon them over seven or eight hundred
miles of railroad would be quite heavy
mr TO eevsaa c enrf at e an nofnd a6t
some of the poorest qualities can BIZ
purchased at from five to seven cents
per pound The labor employed in rails
ing them is usually very cheap, much
cheaper than can at present be obtained
in this country, and the freight on then
across the ocean is also very low There
is no doubt, however, that they can be
made quite profitable crop in almost
any section of the country, if manufac
tured in the vicinity where they arc
raised; and as labor is now much lower
than formerly, it is safe to predict that
in the future great proportion of the
willow manufactured in the country will
be raised here. Indeed it is to be re-
GREETED that more attention has not al
ready been paid to the subject by agri.
culturists. Willows are quite an import
ant crop in Great Britain; and it is es-
timated that there are, in that country
and Ireland, between six thousand and
seven thousand acres in cultivation
France and Belgium produce large
quantities of excellent osiers, and many
tons of the coarser kinds are exported
from Holland .-COmn1crcioZ Bulletin.