CHAP. cm.

JAMCA'CE.*:. Xa'liX.

1461

with an instrument called a shave, and afterwards divided into ribands bya steel comb with sharp teeth. Similar willow hats were formerly manufac-tured in England, and sheets of what is called willow, which is a kind of stuffwoven with fine strips of the wood and afterwards stiffened, are still in commonuse for the framework of bonnets; and, when covered with felt, for light cheapsummer hats. This stuff is chiefly manufactured by the weavers at Spitalfields,where one set of persons cut the willows into thin strips, and others weavethese strips into sheets.

The downy substance which envelopes the seeds is used by somekinds of birds to line their nests; and by man, occasionally, as a substitutefor cotton, in stuffing mattresses, chair cushions, and for other similar pur-poses. In many parts of Germany, it is collected for making wadding forlining ladies’ winter dresses; and a coarse paper may be formed of it. Theshoots of willows of certain vigorous-growing kinds, when cut down to theground, produce, in two years, rods which admit of being split in two forhoops for barrels; while others, in one year, produce shoots more or lessrobust, and of different degrees of length, which are used, with or without theirbark on, for all the different kinds of basket-making and wickerwork. Thislast application, indeed, is by far the most general purpose to which the willowis applied. In the neighbourhood of London, the market-gardeners use thesmaller shoots of T. decipiens for tying up broccoli, coleworts, and other vege-tables sent to market in bundles; and, both in Britain and on the Continent, thesmaller shoots of willows are used for tying the branches of trees to walls orespaliers, for tying up standard trees and shrubs into shape, for makingskeleton frames on which to train plants in pots, for tying bundles and pack-ages, and for a thousand other purposes which are familiar to every gardener,or will readily occur to him in practice. The lop of willows, and all thebranches or old trunks which can be applied to no other useful purpose,make a most agreeable fuel, producing, when dry, a clear fire with little smoke;but, when the wood is moist, it is apt to crack. In the time of Evelyn, willowwood appears to have been that principally used in the manufacture of char-coal, both for smelting iron, and for gunpowder; but, for the former purpose,it has long given way to the coke of mineral coal. It is still in request forgunpowder, on account of its taking fire readily, and is esteemed by paintersfor their crayons.

The uses of the entire plant are various. Almost all the species beingaquatics, and of rapid and vigorous growth, they are peculiarly fitted forplanting on the banks of rivers and streams, for restraining their encroach-ments, and retaining the soil in its place. Various other trees and shrubs,from being also aquatics, and having numerous roots, are, no doubt, adapted forthis purpose, such as the alder; but the willow has this great advantage, thatit grows readily by cuttings, and, therefore, does not require the soil to be dis-turbed by the operation of planting. As coppice-wood, to be cut down everysix or eight years, S. caprea and its numerous varieties are valuable plants;few others producing so great a bulk of hoops, poles, and faggot-wood in soshort a time, in a cold, moist, undrained soil. S. alba is also an excellentspecies for coppice, where the soil is drier and better; and forms a good nursefor plantations of timber trees that are made in moist situations. The shrubbykinds make hedges, both in dry and in moist soil; but, in the latter, suchhedges are of most value on account of the use of their annual shoots inbasket-making. The sorts of willow that can be grown for timber withmost advantage are, S. alba, S. Russellin'na, S. fragilis, S. ciiprea, and someothers, which we have enumerated under the head of Culture. The treeswhich are most ornamental are, the well-known S. babylonica, S. alba mas, 8.alba foem., S. vitellina, S, pentandra, S. acutifolia, S. prse'cox, S. purpurea, S. Helix ,S. amygdalina, and some others. S. caprea is remarkable for the profusion of itsflowers; S. vitellina, for its yellow' bark; S. decipiens, for its white cane-likeshoots; and S. acutifolia, and S. prae'cox for their purple shoots, covered, whennot exceeding three or four years’ growth, with a delicate bloom, like that of

5 c 4