CHAP. CIII.

sai.ica'ceae. .S'a'LIX.

1471

completed. (Sang.) Another mode is, to fix a plank on legs at a convenientheight, so as to form a stool, or small bench, having holes bored in it with aninch auger: into these is put a stick, the upper end of which is cleft ;and through this cleft the willow twigs are drawn, to separate them from thebark, in the same manner as through the iron rods. (Mitch. Dend., p. 60.)After being peeled, the rods will keep in good condition for a long time, till aproper market is found for them. It may be useful here to remark, thatosiers in the peeled state will keep better to wait a market, than if left withthe hark on; and that they never fail to produce a greater return in the peeledstate, after paying for the labour of peeling, than they do when sold immediatelyafter they are cut from the stools. (Plant. Kal, p. 534.)

Whitened, or peeled, rods are tied up in bundles, the band oT which is 3 ft.Gin. long, and sold, about London , at from 5s. to Vs per bolt, or bundle. Therods which have the best sale in the London market are those of S. tridndrn.Green rods are sold by the score bolts, and whitened rods are sold by theload of 80 bolts. In Covent Garden Market, in and around which there areseveral basket-makers, the rods of S. viminalis are by far the largest broughtto market; and, whether with or without the bark on, to them is exclusivelyapplied the term osiers. All the other kinds of willow rods are exclusivelytermed willows; and those most frequently exposed for sale, with the barkon, areS. decipiens andS. triandra. All the larger baskets, and all the ham-pers, are made of the rods of S. viminalis. In Germany , and also frequentlyin Scotland , the willows, after being cut and tied up in bolts, are stacked, orkept in an airy shed; and, when the bark is to be removed, it is effected byboiling or steaming them. The rods, thus prepared, are considered to berather more durable than when the bark is separated in consequence of therising of the sap; and they may be used immediately after cutting, instead ofremaining in a useless state for several months.

Basket-making, in the commonest form of the manufacture, is a very simpleoperation; and in most parts of Europe it was formerly understood by everycountry labourer, and practised by him for himself or his master, as it still isin Russia, Sweden, and other countries of the north. In Britain , and es-pecially in Scotland , it was the custom, some years ago, for every gardener tounderstand basket-making, and it generally formed a part of his occupation inthe winter evenings; but this is no longer the case : gardening is now be-come a more intellectual occupation, and the rising generation of gardenersare obliged to spend their evenings, and every spare moment, in reading.Still, we think that every gardener, forester, and woodman ought to knowhow to make a common garden basket, and more especially those wicker-work structures which are now in very general use for the protection of half-liardy trees and shrubs, when young, and planted out in the open garden,these wicker structures are formed on the familiar principle of wattling ahurdle or wickerwork fence, and, therefore, we shall not enter into detailsrespecting them in this place, but refer our readers to the Gard. Mag., vol. xiii.,m which they will find a copious article, illustrated by engravings, on thefabrication of wickerwork for garden purposes. We shall here confine our-selves to giving a slight outline of garden basket making, as practised in Scot-land and Germany , by gardeners.

Lvery basket, according to the Scotch and German mode of construction,consists of two parts; the main ribs, or principal parts of the framework°f the structure; and the filling in, or wattled part, or web. The principal™ s > 111 common baskets of a roundish form, are two : a vertical rib, or hoop,e upper part of which is destined to form the handle; and a horizontal° r f'iffl, which is destined to support all the subordinate ribs, on• the wands are wattled. The two main ribs are first bent to the re-quired form, and made fast at their extremities by nails or wire. Theyoth t " Cn ^°’ ne ^ together in their proper position, the one intersecting the0 f . er ’ al, d_they are afterwards nailed together, or tied by wire, at the pointsintersection. The operation of wattling is next commenced, by taking the

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