OSIER (Fr. probably of Celtic origin), the popular name of those species of (q.v.), which are chiefly used for basket-making and other wicker-work. They are of low bushy growth, few of them ever becoming trees, their branches long and slender;: and they are the more valuable in proportion to the length, slenderness, suppleness, and toughness of their branches. Their leaves are long and narrow, lanceolate, or nearly so', obscurely notched on the margin, almost always smooth on the upper side, but generally white and downy beneath. The COMMON OSIER (salix Dintinalis), a common native of wet alluvial grounds in Britain and many parts of Europe, is one of those which some times become trees, although when cultivated for basket-making, it is not permitted to do so. It has two distinct stamens in the flowers of die male catkins; and the stigmas of the female catkins are long and slender. It is often planted to prevent the banks of rivers from being washed away. Its branches are used for makina. hoops and coarse baskets. There are several varieties in cultivation, not easily distinguished except by a very prac ticed eye, but much more useful than the original or wild kind, which is apt to break, and therefore of little value. More suitable for the finer kinds of basket-making are salix Fiu.hyana, sometimes called the FINE BASKET OSIER, and S. rubra, known near London as the GREEN-LEAVED OSIER or ORNARD; S. triandra, a triandrous species, known to English osier-cultivators and basket makers as the SPANIARD ROD; whilst S. titellina, a pentandrons species, sometimes becoming a tree, is the GOLDEN Custatt or golden willow, remarkable for the bright-yellow color of its branches, as well as for their pliancy and toughness. There are other species, not natives of Britain, which are also valuable; but the osiers chiefly cultivated belong to those which have been named, or are very nearly allied to them.
Osiers are very extensively cultivated in 'Holland, Belgium, and France, on alluvial soils, especially near the mouths of rivers; and from these countries great quantities of " rods" are imported into Britain. They are cultivated also to a considerable extent in some parts Of England, particularly on the banks of the Thames and the Severn, and la the level districts of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, etc. They are nowhere exten sively cultivated in Scotland. Islets in the Thames and other rivers, entirely planted
with osiers, are called Osier hats. Osiers grow particularly well on grounds flooded by the tide. Much depends on the closeness of planting of osier grounds; as when space is too abundant, the shoots of many of the kinds do not grow up so long, slender, and unbranched as is desirable. The French cultivators, when they wish osiers for the finest. kinds of basket-work, cut branches into little bits with a bud or eye in each, and plant these pretty close together, so as to obtain weak but fine shoots; but generally cuttings of 15 or 16 in. in length are used, and of tolerably thick branches; and these are placed in rows, from 18 in. to 2 ft. apart, and at distances of 15 to 18 in. in the row. Osier plantations in light soils continue productive for 15 or 20 years, and much longer in rich alluvial soils. Osiers succeed best in rich soils, but not in clays. No cultivation is required after planting; but the shoots are cut once a year, at any time between the fall of the leaf and the rising of the sap in spring. After cutting, they are sorted; and those intended for brown baskets are carefully dried and stacked, care being taken that they do not heat, to which they are liable, like hay, and by which they would be rotted and rendered worthless. The stacks must be carefully protected from rain. The osiers intended for white baskets cannot at once be peeled; but after being sorted, they are placed upright in wide shallow trenches, in which there is water to the depth of about 4 in. or in rivulets, being kept secure in their upright position by posts and rails; and thus they remain till they begin to bud and blossom in spring, which they do as if they remained on the parent plant, sending forth small roots at the same time into the water. They are then, in ordinary seasons, easily peeled by drawing them through an instru ment called a break, but in cold springs it is sometimes necessary to lay them for a while under a quantity of litter. After being peeled, they are stacked, preparatory to sale.
It is impossible to form an estimate of the quantity produced in Great Britain, but our imports'amount annually to about 200,000 bundles; nearly one-half are from Holland, and the remainder from the Manse towns, Belgium, and France.