COMMERCIAL WILLOW GROWING.

Bruce Herald, Volume LV, Issue 66, 28 August 1919, Page 3

COMMERCIAL WILLOW GROWING.

Although, the wealth. whioh a nation may reap from her forests is becoming more and more appreciated' as the, years go by, the ordinary man ia probably not inclined to give a very prominent place to the humble wiUow in any scheme of afforestation which he may bo thinking out. It is a fact, however, that the •planting of certain varieties of willow may -prove a veTy profitable investment. During the past year logs of the crack willow (salix fragilis), sometimes better known as the cricket-bat willow, have, left Canterbury for the military artificial-limb factory in Wellington. .This is the variety which has been proved in both Great Britain and America to be most suitable for artificial limbs. In Conversation with Mr A. W. Adams, of Sheffield* a son of the late Mr T. W. Adams, who has much of his father 's interests in forestry, the writer learned that at Home this willow commands a higher price per foot than the - best oak, so keenly is it in demand for cricket bats. Mr Adams himself, who has a large varioty of willows growing on his property, planted this particular species upon the sand of the riverbed'. The method of planting was simple, only a crowbar being used. The sticks were about the thickness of a fork handle, and of a length just high enough for the tops to be out of the reach of sheep. They have grown up with beautifully clean, straight poles, and in 15 years, some of. them have reached a height of fully 50ft. -With no market at hand, Mr Adams has been using somo of tho willows on tie farm for stakes ; ho likes them better than any other sap wood of which he has had ex- "... perience. They are very tough, and, once thoroughly dry, do not split as badly as gums. Probably these willows are growing under ideal conditions—withthe water right below them—but they are on land that is otherwise waste, and, they have required no attention since planting. Surely that planting was a profitable example. There are hundreds of acres of similar "waste" lands throughout Canterbury.