1470

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

TART III,

whole current of the sap being taken up by the buds already fully formed.“The cleaning of the plants,” Sang continues, “is done with a sharp knife; and,if it has been regularly attended to from the establishment of the plantation,it is neither troublesome nor expensive : indeed, this care is necessary, wereit only for keeping the plants free from destructive insects. The shootsshould not be cut till the second autumn after planting; for, by being allowedto remain uncut for such a length of time, the stools become stronger and moreable to produce a good crop, than if cut at an earlier period. Indeed, by thethird autumn after planting, under the above management, the crop will beof very considerable value.” {Ibid., p. 332.)

Cutting. The proper season for cutting basket willows is the autumn,immediately after the fall of the leaf. The advantage of cutting at thisseason is, that the buds which are left to produce the shoots for the succeed-ing crop immediately begin to swell, and grow in strength during the winter;and, consequently, they make much earlier and stronger shoots in the followingspring. Immediately after cutting the rods, they are tied up in bundles, eachgenerally about 3 ft. 9 in. in girt, and if they are not intended to be used green,that is with the bark on, they are set on their thick ends in standing water,to the depth of 3 in. or 4 in. Here they remain during winter and spring,till the shoots begin to sprout, which generally happens, in the neighbourhoodof London , about the end of February, when they are ready to be peeled.Sometimes it happens that osiers are cut with the leaves on, in which case theyshould never be tied up in bundles, on account of the fermentation that wouldbe produced by binding them closely together in that state; but the rodsshould be set up thinly and loosely on end, their tops leaning against a rodsupported on two props.

In Cambridgeshire , when a basket-maker purchases green rods, he measuresthe bundles, or bolts, as they are termed, by a band an ell long (I J yard, or3 ft. 9 in.) ; which band, previously to tying it round the rods, he marks at thepoint to which the given length extends with this he binds the bundle as soonas it appears large enough to fill the band, and afterwards completes the bundleby pushing under the band as many rods as he can. For this purpose, the largerods are laid aside, from their filling up the given space more quickly than thesmaller ones; and all the rods must be laid parallel to one another in thebundle. Three bands are bound round each bundle; viz. one towards eachextremity, and the third in the middle. The one nearest the lower end, whichshould be at the distance of 1 ft. 6 in. from the bottom, is the measuring band.In forming their bundles, basket-makers tie up a small armful (whicli they callacalf), and place it in the middle of the bottom of the bundle, so that the endsextend about 1ft. beyond the bottom, and tie it up in this state. By liftingup the bundle a few times, and letting it fall on its base to the ground, thecalf is driven up, and, acting as a wedge, tightens the bundle. A machinecalled a dumb-boy, made of wood and rope, is used by some purchasers forcompressing the greatest possible number of rods into a bundle. Anothermachine, called a cow, which is made of iron, has a still greater power otcompression than the dumb-boy. The usual price for common green osiers,in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, is Is. 6 d. per bundle. About London , thebundles are of the same size, and the price varies from 2s. to 3s. per bundle.

The Operation of Peeling is very simple, and is commonly done by infirm orold men or women, at so much a bundle. The apparatus for peeling consistsof two round rods of iron, nearly |in. thick, 1 ft. 4 in. long, and tapering 8little upwards, welded together, at the one end which is sharpened, _so that theinstrument may be easily thrust down into the ground. When the instrumenis inserted in a piece of firm ground, the peeler sits down opposite to l,takes the willow rod or twig in his right hand by the small end, and P’) ts , afoot or more of the thick end into the instrument, the prongs of which hepresses together with his left hand, while with his right he draws the wilin'towards him ; by which operation the bark will at once be separated fr<® ^wood : the small end is then treated in the same manner, and the peeling