Year: 1860

I
the Scientific American, gives the follow
ing useful information upon the cul.iva-
ZION of the Basket Willow. II is disered-
liable to our country, that we should be
importing such quantities Of this article :


Probably nlne-tenths of the Willows
used here are imported; and until wit :
III few years, very little attention was
given to their cultivation but enough
has. now been done to prove that they
can be grown and peeled in sufficient
quantity to supply our market al price
much below what they now command.


The cultivation of willows is very sim
pie; the land must be rich and moist,
but not wet; it is prepared by deep plow-
ing and narrowing, and the cuttings or
''seiis'' (Which are pieces of willows of
last years growiL cut about nine or ten
inches long) are stuck in rows three feet
81 0ne, and cultivated during the first year
as you would choice piece of corn. AT
ter the first year, once hoeing in May or
June IS all the attention they need. The
time of cutting and peeling varies with
the latitude of the place, and there are
three different times and ways in which
they can be peeled. The plan which is
much practiced in England, but very lit
tie Ia this country. is to let them stand
without cutting through the Winter and
until the barA will Slip in May and June
and then cut and peel al the same time.
The objection to this plan is that it Injuries
the plantation and puts back the net crop
to cut them so late in the season, and it
also makes the season for peeling very
short, as there will be but three or four
weeks after the bark will start before they
will be so much grown as to be unfit for
peeling. Another plan which is prac-
ticed to some extent in this country is to
cut them at any convenient time after the
leaves fall, and boil them until the bark
will slip. The objections to this plan are
first, the expense Of boiling, which is con-
siderable if there is a large quantity to
be peeled; and, second, it spoils them
for market, as the boiling causes them to
turn of a reddish brown. The third plan,
and the one which / have proved by ex-
DerienCe to be the most feasible and prof
liable, is TO cut the willows IN the Fall as
SION as the leaves are off, bind them in
eonveniens bundles and pile them up in
ahe held: then lei them lie ulitil tie oc- 4
isurrence Of fail Of snow. sufficient 10
go % with sleiehs and hau them OF to a
piece Of ground which ! have graded and
grayelled for the purpose, and around
which | have raised an embankment, so
that il can be flooded to the pepth of one
foot. On this level ground / set the bun
dies as thick as they can stand, each bun
die standing in peculiar condition. AS
soon as it thaws in the Spring, / turn on
The water so as TO flood the ground TO six
or eight inches depth. and keep it so food
ed until the willows are peeled. They
will put out leaves and the bark will also
start i'm this pond as well as if they were
IN th- field uncut, aud they will remain
In condition to peel much longer. In
the Northern States peellng may be COM
mence in The fore part OF May and con-
linue until July if necessary. Treated ID
this way the willow whIlen much bttten
than by either OF The other processes,
and. of course, command better price IN
market. Formerly, all willows (and al
present a very large part that are used }
are peeled by hand one at a time; but
machinery has be perfected, and is be-
lug rapidly introduced, to do this work,
much faster aud cheaper than can be done
by hand.


would not advise any one to start a
Willow plantation until Ihev have visited
one that is in successful operation, and
learned ali the little matters that cannot
be shown in writing. When this is done
and a plantation started in the right man
ner, there is 10 more sure crop, nor one
that will pay better profit. Two tuns
peeled willows to the acre is no more
than fair average yield, and they will
sell for one hundred dollars per tun
while the cost of cultivaling and peel
ing including interest On capital employ
ed will vary from one to two cents per
pound, according to the place, the price
of labor and the conveniences for getting
water and power to drive the machinery.