The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-08
WILLOW AND ITS USES.
An Important Industry That SaVan-
nah Might Have.

The Manufacture of Willow ware-A
Suggestion for an Asylum for the
Blind in Which the Inmates Make
Willow Ware Articles-The Acreage
of Willow Land in Georgia-A Great
Industry.
Among the many industries that would
be profitable and that would thrive well
in Savannah is willow ware and basket
manufacturing.
In Germany, France and Holland the
basket willow is planted along the banks
of rivers and other water courses for the
dual object of reclaiming land aud for
the commercial purpose of producing
willow twigs.
There are tens of thousands of acres of
land available in Chatham and adjoining
counties, land which is considered dan
gerous for the profitable production of
rice, on account of periodical and sudden
overtows, which would be adapted for
the cultivation of the basket willow
Such land has usually a rich alluvial soil
and, with the help of irrigation, two
enormous crops could be raised annually.
The very overflow will fertilize the land,
which is practically inexhaustible in fer
tility.
HOW THE WILLOW is PLANTED.
Willow twigs about eight or ten inches
long are planted in rows about three feet
apart; the first growth is cut down close
to the ground, and the cuttings are used
TO replenish any cuttings that have failed
to grow. This cutting down causes the
plant to take firm hold of the ground and
to root well. A light crop may be gath
cred in the first year.
After the first year, such willow plant
lf1On a
an occasional blowing and possibly one
hoeing. A well-set field will yield con-
| secutive crops twice year for lifetime.
| There is nothing that can hurt the will
| low, neither droughts noroverflows even
cattle will not do any damage beyond
trampling and iniuring the bitches.
AN ASYLUM FOR THE BLIND.
The state of Georgia mas no state asy-
| lum for the blind, and there is no reason
| why Savannah should not have such an
| institution, which would at first have to
| be subsidized by the state, but which
would even tually become self-supporting,
as the manufacture of willow ware and
baskets is one of the few pursuits that a
blind person can learn and make a good
| living and support out of same.
| In England, as well as in France and
! Germany, there is numbe of such insti-
| buttons for the blind, where they are re-
| quired to work on willow-ware a certain
number of hours every day The blind
are taught to read by means of raised
| letters and feeling with their finger tips.
| Many learn to write with the aid of a
| guide rule; other branches are taught to
them by means of lectures.
Some blind people have such fine sense
! of touch that they can distinguish dyed
or undyed willow and even red from blue.
Such an institute provides employment
/
| old to learn, and many make good liv-
ing and have families of their own, which
they are enabled to rear and support.
| believe there are several such Institutes
in other states.
MADE sELF-sUPPoRTING.
The greater number become self-sup-
| porting after awhile, through profit on
| the manufactured willowware, after pay
ing fair wages to the blind.
A state institute for the blind would
| probably have 400 or 500 inmates, and
| people who would receive work from the
same. Besides adding new industry to
| Savannah, such an undertaking would be
philanthropy of the highest order, and
| there is but little doubt that the legisla-
ture would literally endow and subsidize
such an institution.
PLENTY OF WILLOW LAND.
The owners of the farm would be per-
| fectly capable and willing to produce all
| the willow necessary for such an insti-
tute at figures that would give them a
fair return for lands that are now all but
worthless. The willow twigs are cut,
dryed and seasoned in the field; later on
and before using the same the willow
is subject TO immersion in water and a
heating process or they are steamed
when the bark is easily peeled off This
work can also be done by the blind by
hand The twigs are then either bleached
or dried as may be required.
| The freight on willowware is always
very heavy on account of the room it Oc-
cupies. BY manufacturing the same here,
what is saved on freight alone would CON
stitute considerable margin. No doubt
| all such an institute could produce would
be consumed within Savannah's CONNER
cial territory.
There is little doubt but that willow
twigs can be produced here as cheaply, if
| not cheaper, than anywhere north, as the
| producer is sure of two heavy crops
against one small one in the north.
All such project needs to become an
| accomplished fact IS a move on the part of
a score or two of our prominent men, and
| Savannah would give an additional proof
of it's charity, and at the same time
| add to its farming and manufacturing in
| terests. To help a human being con-
demned to lifelong darkness to make a
| living and to while away the long and
I endless hours is nothing but charity,
pure and simple. G. w. WARRAND.