OSIER (OF.. Fr. osier, from Gk. oic-os, oisos, oro-uov, oisgon, oto-va, oisya, sort of osier; con nected with Gk. tria, itea, Lat. vitex, withy, ritis, vine. OPruss. ritro, OHG. weda, Ger. Weide, AS. repig, Eng. ?pithy). The popular name of the bushy willows used for making wicker-work. Their loug and slender branches are valuable in proportion to their length, slen derness, suppleness, and toughness. The common osier (Solis riminalisl, a European species com mon in wet alluvial grounds. sometimes becomes a tree, although when cultivated for hoops and basket-making it is not permitted to do so. It is often planted to prevent the washing of river banks. It has several cultivated varieties much more useful than the original o• wild species, which are apt to break. and therefore are of little value. More suitable for the tine kinds of bas ket-making are So/ix purpun•cu, sometimes called the fine basket osier. and a variety known as the ;:reen-leaved osier or ornard. and Saha- triandra, known to English osier cultivators and basket makers as the Spaniard rod. s'alix alba, which sometimes becomes a tree, is the golden osier or golden willow., remarkable for the bright yellow of its branches. as well as for their pliancy and toughness. There are other species, such as sulix rapr•eu, s,uli,n Nelda, and Sour fragilis, which are also valuable: hut the osiers chiefly cultivated belong to the species which have been named. or are very nearly allied to them. Since some of the European species do not stand the AllletiCaIl climate very well. Sali,r serirea, ;Mix petilaris, Sails. lasiandra, and Sail,- herigata, all ..\merican species, are recommended for grow ing in the lnitgid States.
tusr rs are' extensively cultivated on alluvial soils. especially on the tide-tlowled river basins of Holland. Belgium. and France, whence large quantities of rods are exported. ,Much depends on t he e1e,sniss of planting. as when space is too
abundant the shoots of many of the kinds branch more than is desirable. Mien osiers for the finest kinds of basket-work are desired, single oyc cuttings are planted close together, so as to tlitain weak lint tine shoots. For ordinary work, cuttings 15 to 16 inches long and of tolerably thick branches arc planted in rows from 18 inches to two feet apart, and at distances of 15 to IS inches in the row. Osier plantations in light soils continue productive for 15 or 20 years, and much longer in rich, alluvial soils. Clay soils are unsuitable. Usually no cultivation is required after planting, although shallow culti vation is recommended to keep down the weeds. The shoots are cut a year. during the resting period. They are then sorted, and those intended for brown liaskets are dried and stacked, out of danger of rain, care being also taken to prevent heating, to which, like hay, they are liable, and by which they would he rendered worthless. Osiers intended for white baskets cannot at once lie peeled; but after being sorted, they are tied in bundles. placed upright in wide shallow trenches or rivulets in which there is about four inches of water, till they begin to bud and blossom in spring. They are then, in ordinary seasons, eas ily peeled by drawing them through an instru ment called a break, but in cold seasons it is sometimes necessary to lay them for a while under a quantity of litter. They may also lie peeled by steaming or boiling the dried shoots. There are extensive plantations in the vicinity of Rochester and Liverpool, New York; Detroit, ichigan ilwaukee, Wisconsin Ohio: :Ind Baltimore, Md. In 1S90 there .was produced in the United States willow ware valued at 83,630.000, an increase of 61 per cent. over the production of 1880.