The earlier arts among mankind, in an uncivilized condition, are restricted to operations on materials which undergo slight and imperceptible changes; and implements are fabricated from substances almost in their natural state. The process of interweaving twigs, reeds, or leaves, is seen among the rudest nations of the world, and there is known even an inferior specimen of art among the natives of Van Dieman's Land, consisting of a bunch of rushes tied together at either end, which, spread out in the middle, forms a basket. But the sudden alteration of shape obviously renders this construction less convenient; whence the same and other tribes make a basket of leaves interwoven, and that so skilfully executed, that it retains either milk or water. A bundle of rushes spread out may be compared to the warp of a web, and the application of others across it to the woof, also an early discovery, for basket-making is literally a web of the coarsest materials. By experience those materials are refined and ornamented, and in the most improved stages of manufacture, neat and useful implements and utensils are produced. Scarcely any nation has been entirely ignorant of the art; and our ancestors in this island made baskets which, we learn, were carried to Rome either for use or ornament.

Basket-making, however, has by no means been confined to the fabrication of those simple and useful utensils from which its name is derived. Of old, Basket-the shields of soldiers were fashioned of wicker- work, either plain or covered with hides, and the like has been witnessed among modern savages. In Britain, the wicker boats of the natives, covered with the skins of animals, attracted the notice of the Romans; and Herodotus mentions boats of this kind on the Tigris and Euphrates. But there was this difference, that the former seem to have been of the ordinary figure of a boat, whereas the latter were round and covered with bitumen. Boats of this shape, about seven feet in diameter, are used at the present day on these rivers; and boats of analogous construction are employed in crossing the rivers of India, which have not a rapid current. At Hurial, a town on the western side of Hindostan, the river Toombudra is not fordable from June to October; during which interval, round basket-boats are used to transport people, goods, and cattle, to the opposite sides. They are of all sizes, from three to fifteen feet in diameter, but shallow, not being above three feet in depth; and some will carry thirty men. They are of very simple construction: A number of pieces of split bamboo, twenty for example, are laid on the ground, crossing each other near the centre, and there fastened with thongs; the ends of the bamboos are then elevated by several persons, and fixed asunder at due distance by means of stakes, in which position they are bound by other long slips of bamboo. The latter are introduced alternately over and under the pieces first crossed, and tied at the intersections to preserve the shape. This being completed, beginning from the bottom to the centre, the parts above the intended height or depth of the basket-boat are cut off; and it is liberated from the stakes reversed, and covered with half-dressed hides sewed together with thongs. Nothing can be more expeditious or more simple than the fabrication and materials of these vessels, if they merit that name. One may be made by six men in as many hours. Only two substances, almost always accessible, are used,—hides and bamboo. They are navigated either by paddles where the water is deep, or are pushed over a shallow bottom with long poles; and the passengers within are safely transported, being kept dry by planks and pieces of wood at the bottom. The basket-boats on the river Kristna, in the same country, are about twelve feet in diameter, and four feet deep. Whole armies are thus enabled to continue their march, and even heavy artillery has been in the same manner conveyed across rivers. Sometimes the boats are towed by bullocks fastened to them, and goaded on in the proper direction. We may also observe, that in different parts of the world, whole houses, cottages, fences, and gates, are formed of basket or wicker-work. On the Continent, a two horse carriage, called a Holstein waggon, of very considerable size, and fit to carry several persons, is composed solely of basket-work; the same is done in Britain with regard to the bodies of gigs; and an appendage of the stage-coaches is literally designed the basket; besides a vast variety of works on a smaller scale.

In respect to the materials employed, besides those specified as belonging to the ruder nations, there are many which are equally the product of nature and art. Twigs, branches, straw, and whalebone, are all of the number. The natives of some parts of South America make baskets simply of rushes, so closely interwoven as to hold water, and thousands of them are annually sold in the Spanish provinces. The Caffres and Hottentots are alike skillful with the roots of plants. Thus it does not belong to Europeans to rival an uncivilized tribe in the exercise of a simple art. But of all materials, osiers or willows are in most general use.

Osiers, employed for basket-making, are either taken entire, cut from the root, split asunder, or stripped of their bark, according to the work to be produced; but in the latter case, they are previously soaked in water. The stripping is performed by drawing the willows through an iron-edged implement called brakes, which removes the bark, and the willows are then cleaned, so far as necessary, by the manual operation of a sharp knife. Next they are exposed to the sun and air, and afterwards placed in a dry situation. But it is not less necessary to preserve willows with their bark in the same manner, for nothing can be more injurious than the humidity inherent in the plant; and previous to use, they must be soaked some days in water also. The barked or white osier is then divided into bundles or faggots according to size; the larger being reserved to form the strong work in the skeleton of the basket, and the smaller for weaving the bottom and sides. Should the latter be applied to ordinary work, they are taken whole, but for implements of slight and finer texture, each osier is divided into splits and skains; which names denote the different degrees of size to which they are reduced. Splits are osiers cleft into four parts, by means of a particular implement employed for that purpose, consisting of two edge tools placed at right angles, whereby the rod is longitudinally divided down the pith. These are next drawn through an implement resembling the common spoke-shave, keeping the grain of the split next the wood or stock of the shave, while the pith is presented to the edge of the iron, which is set in an oblique direction to the wood: And in order to bring the split into a shape still more regular, it is passed through another implement called an upright, consisting of a flat piece of steel, each end of which is fashioned into a cutting edge, like that of an ordinary chisel. The flat is bent round, so that the two edges approach each other at a greater or less interval by means of regulating screws, and the whole is fixed in a handle. By passing the splits between the two edges, they are reduced to skains, the thickness of which is determined by the interval between the edges of the tool. All the implements required by a basket-maker are few and simple: they consist, besides the preceding, of knives, bodkins and drills for boring, leads for keeping the work steady while in process, and where it is of small dimensions, a heavy piece of iron, called a beater, which is employed to beat the basket close as it is augmented. Thus a basket-maker has this great advantage over many other artificers, that he can establish himself in his profession at the most inconsiderable expense either for tools or materials.

An ordinary basket is made by preparing the requisite number of osiers, and preserving their length considerably greater than that of the finished work. They are ranged in pairs on the floor parallel to each other, at small intervals, in the direction of the longer diameter of the basket; and this may be called the woof, for, as we have said, basket work is literally a web. These parallel rods are then crossed at right angles by two of the largest osiers, with the thick ends towards the workman, who places his foot upon them; and weaving each alternately over and under the parallel pieces first laid down, they are by that means confined in their places. The whole now forms what is technically called the slat or slate, which is the foundation of the basket. Next, the long end of one of the two rods is taken, and wove under and over the pairs of short ends all round the bottom, until the whole be wove in. The same is done with the other rod; and then additional long osiers are also wove in, until the bottom be of sufficient size, and the woof be occupied by them. Thus the bottom, or foundation on which the superstructure is to be raised, is finished; and this latter part is accomplished by sharpening the large ends of as many long and stout osiers as may be necessary to form the ribs or skeleton. These are forced or plaited between the rods of the bottom, from the edge towards the centre, and are turned up in the direction of the sides; then other rods are wove in and out between each of them, until the basket is raised to the intended height, or, more correctly speaking, the depth it is to receive. The edge or brim is finished by turning down the perpendicular ends of the ribs, now protruding and standing up over each other, whereby the whole are firmly and compactly united. A handle is adapted to the work by forcing two or three osiers sharpened at the end, and cut to the requisite length, down the weaving of the sides, close together; and they are pinned fast, about two inches from the brim, in order that the handle, when completed, may be retained in its proper position. The osiers are then either bound or plaited, in such fashion as pleases the taste of the artist.

This is the most simple kind of basket; from which others differ only in finer materials, and nicer execution; but in these there is considerable scope for taste and fancy, and implements are produced of extreme neatness and ingenuity in construction. Some are formed of twigs or straw entire; others of sections, split of various thickness, coloured, plaited, or plain; and baskets of endless variety in size, figure, and texture, are fabricated according to the artist's inclination. The skins are frequently smoked and dyed, either of dull or brilliant colours, and, by intermixing them judiciously, a very good effect is produced.

From the simplicity of this manufacture, a great many individuals, independent of professed basket-makers, are occupied in it; and, fortunately, it affords employment to the blind in the several asylums established for their reception. Not that persons suffering privation of sight are incapable of more ingenious and delicate mechanical exercises; but the facility of teaching and acquiring the principles of basket-making being alike obvious, is one of the strongest recommendations in its favour. At Liverpool, where there is an asylum of this description, the art is practised with success; and in the city of Edinburgh, a number of the blind find employment of the same kind, in the asylum established there.

The best materials for basket-making have been principally imported into Great Britain from France and Holland; but the duration of the war induced the inhabitants of this country to endeavour to obtain a supply at home. Cultivation of the osier was imperfectly understood in England, and in Scotland it scarcely received any attention whatever; whence, as a suitable encouragement, that patriotic Society, whose notice is specially directed to the improvement of arts and manufactures, some years ago, offered premiums to those cultivators who should raise the greatest quantity, not being less than 6000 plants on an acre.

It became an object with such cultivators to ascertain, not only the quantity that could be obtained, but the quality of the produce, which was of the greater consequence, as many plants, passing under the general name of osiers, and even possessing their external characters, are ill adapted for the work intended. But considerable light has been thrown on the subject by Mr Philipps of Ely, who was early rewarded by a premium on account of the utility of his observations. He remarks that the osier is a species of salix, of which there are many varieties; and these may be comprehended under two classes; the first containing nine or ten species. None, however, excepting one, the grey or brindled osier, is of use. This, in common with the others, has a light coloured leaf, but is distinguished by the bark being streaked with red or blood colour; and it is of late introduction into Britain on the Isle of Ely, where the observer's experiments seem to have been chiefly made. It grows vigorously, is very hardy and tough, and bleaches well. All the others of the same class prefer a wet soil, where they grow quickly and large, and will flourish even in the most barren kind of peat; but they are coarse and spongy, have a thick pith, and are perishable. Nevertheless, they are sometimes used for coarser workmanship, and are profitable to those who live in the vicinity of places where there is a great demand for osiers, and cheap conveyance. During the interruption of continental intercourse, they were much resorted to by basket-makers; but their inferiority has brought the English baskets into disrepute in foreign markets. The second class, according to Mr Philipps, contains four or five different species. One of these, the Welsh willow, is very tough and durable, but not of a favourable colour; there are two varieties, red and white; the former of which is preferred, and forms part of every plantation, from its particular utility in tying up the bundles of willows, after they have been barked or whitened. Their bitterness is such as to be a protection from the depredations of cattle. Besides these, there are the west country Spaniard, the new willow, the French, and red Kent willow. The first has been superseded by others of superior quality, but experience proves that an acre will carry 2000 plants more of them, with greater advantage, than of some in higher repute. But the best of all is esteemed the French willow; especially as being most adapted for smaller and finer work in baskets, fans, hats, and other light articles. It is rather of slow growth, but extremely taper, pliant, close grained, tough, and durable. Great quantities of it are always imported from the continent, its culture being more neglected here than that of others; however, it must be distinguished from a species resembling it, which is characterized by the leaves snapping in a manner as brittle as glass, when drawn through the fingers. Plantations of the French willow have been strongly recommended, as forming a useful commodity, and being always in demand. Having attained the requisite maturity, all willows are cut over and made up into bunches in iron hoops, an ell or 40 inches in diameter, for the manufacturers, and are sold, either in this way or in loads; the price being subject to fluctuation, according to scarcity or abundance.

In regard to the cultivation of osiers, very different opinions prevail; originating, it is probable, from too limited experiments, combined with the diversity of soil and climate. Mr Philipps, whose opinions are entitled to attention, conceives, that autumn and not spring is the most proper season for planting willows; the stagnation of the juices, he considers the true criterion whereby to regulate the period, but not on account of the set so much as on account of the trunk; for if the shoot be severed when the sap is in circulation, the parent plant bleeds to death. The osiers which he planted in the first week of October, he found to have struck roots about Christmas, though there was no external sign of vegetation. In prosecuting this subject, Mr Philipps observes, that he made a plantation in autumn, and filled up part of the ground which was vacant in the following month of March with additional sets. The latter were the further advanced in May, but in June the autumn plants had the advantage, and continued growing well, while many of the others died. In summer, he remarks, "when the fibres have been formed before the winter, or when a tendency to form them has been observed by the swelling of the bark, and particularly at the eye, the plant is enabled to charge itself with a sufficient portion of the juices to answer the demand of spring." Therefore, he concludes, that the proper rule is to plant as early in autumn as the shoots may be cut, without injuring the parent stock. The cultivator lays out the ground in beds or burrows 18 feet broad, digging ditches nine feet wide on each side. The upper surface of the ditches, to the depth of 14 inches, is thrown on the beds, and the remainder of what is excavated from them is used for turf or fuel. The beds, now consisting of about two feet and a half thick of solid earth above the surface of the substratum of peat, are planted in the following autumn, and produce good crops.

Experiments have been made by various cultivators respecting the suitableness of different soils, and after having borne different kinds of grain. Mr Sheriff has related a profitable mode of culture practised by him in Scotland; and also makes some judicious observations on the subject in general. He remarks, that the finest and most valuable twigs can be procured only from land cured of chilling, weeping springs; and if the soil is not of considerable thickness, it must be rendered so by manure. Moderate moisture is favourable to the production of fine twigs, but water constantly stagnant is ruinous. He proposes to make the cuts or shoots from 15 to 17 inches long, and to allow four or five inches to remain above ground, to be cut over by the surface of the soil, when the heads of the stocks shall, in a series of years, have become too bushy. By this operation, the vigour of the plant is renewed in the most decided manner. Mr Sheriff forgets, however, that, in the time he mentions, a much greater protrusion from the earth will have taken place by the simple vegetation of the plant than necessary to leave room for cutting off the head. It is necessary, in his opinion, to trim and dress the stocks from decayed wood, and to retain only as many buds on each as the plant may be expected to bring to perfection in length and strength of shoot. Thus the superabundant stumps of old wood are cut down, the weakest shoots extirpated in November and December, or March and April, and seldom more than two buds should be left on those selected to stand and produce the next summer's growth. He considers the leading errors of those who have attempted the cultivation of osiers to consist in employing improper soil, peat earth, perhaps, or poor bogs; and also in defective preparation of the soil, though suitable in other respects. Failure may, besides, arise from planting bad or useless species of osiers; putting too few cuts in the ground; neglecting their subsequent culture, particularly during the first spring and summer after plantation; allowing the shoots to be cut over after Christmas, and before the middle of March, which may admit of the stocks being much weakened by hard frosts succeeding heavy rains, immediately after the twigs have been cut, and before the wounds from the knife have healed. By pursuing a system analogous to what is here exposed, he calculates the profits of an acre of osiers at about L. 18, 10s.; and he mentions that he contracted to receive a sum between L. 220 and L. 250, for the produce of twelve statute acres and a half. It does not appear, however, that this was an annual crop, and it is rather to be inferred that willows of several years growth formed part of it. Mr Sheriff's experiments and observations were rewarded with the gold medal of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures. Another cultivator, Mr Wade, calculated his profits on fourteen acres, which were planted with 12,000 sets each, at intervals of 26 inches by 10, as amounting to L. 10 per acre.

Among the experiments on the quality of soil may be instanced a plantation made in spring, of large cuttings, 18 inches long, thrust so far into the earth as to leave four or five inches protruding. Part of the ground had been in wheat after summer fallow, and part, which was also planted, had been sown with grass seeds. The plants made a more vigorous shoot in spring than at any subsequent period, and but few failed of the whole. Those which succeeded the wheat produced the best osiers, and those which were planted among the grass seeds the worst. Both stood on a strong clay soil. From the difference seen here, it has been concluded, that, as the cleanest ground produced the best crop, summer fallowing would be advantageous. Another example is given, where, of 350 sets planted in garden ground, of which the soil was clay, 341 succeeded, producing, in the first year apparently, a bundle 38 inches in circumference, and some of the osiers above 10 feet long. They were planted in the latter end of March, arranged in rows, between which was sown a crop of beans. Both the interval separating the plants and their age are arbitrary, as is also the extent of the plantation, and we must likewise add the quality of the soil, for experiments have not been made on a sufficient scale to determine the fact. The most superficial observer cannot fail to have remarked the comparative slenderness of all plants crowded together, and the superior strength of those apart from each other. The sets of osiers, for several reasons, should be inserted in regular rows: their age does not appear important, and no where is a more vigorous crop produced than from the root of the oldest tree deprived of its trunk. In general, previous preparation of the ground is profitable; and plantations may thence be formed, which are to be annually cut over for baskets and such light utensils; but the shoot is allowed to grow two, or even four years, if strong rods are required for larger and coarser workmanship. The rapidity and certainty with which this plant vegetates, preserves it in a manner under absolute control, and adapts it particularly for a variety of mechanical purposes. Many cultivators recommend deep insertion of the shoot into the ground; but here there is a limitation; for if too deeply inserted, the vegetation will be less vigorous. At the same time, the powerful tendency to vegetation in a willow is rather an exception to ordinary rules, and although the lower part be injured, roots may spring nearer the surface. But it is not to be overlooked, that if a tree be transplanted into too deep a pit, the root, instead of striking out new fibres, remains inactive, and the tree withers and decays; or if seeds be deposited too deep in the earth, no vegetation will ensue; whereas, even those on the surface will put forth a radicle, and establish themselves there. In the former case, they either lose the germinative faculty, or are destroyed; but, if a tree be transplanted into a shallow pit, the root will spread, and the whole exhibit luxuriant vegetation. These are facts which demand greater attention than they usually receive, and the depth at which the shoots of osiers are inserted should be carefully observed. Nevertheless, we must repeat, that it does appear deep insertion is not equally noxious to them as to other plants.

It is commonly understood, that willows flourish no where but with abundance of water. Undoubtedly, adequate humidity is very essential; but this general position is quite erroneous, as experiment and observation daily testify. Willows growing in water have almost invariably a sickly aspect, few strong or healthy scions spring from them, and their vegetation is never so vigorous as when they are at some distance from it. Every plant has a predilection for a particular place, where the conditions of its aliment and vegetation concur. The willow requires a considerable degree of humidity, though it will also be seen vigorous on drier soils; but the vicinity of water is an essential quality in selecting a suitable spot for a plantation. The purposes to which the plants are to be applied must be considered, and the circumstances of their growth so regulated, that they become suitable and adapted for them. There is little doubt, that, with due notice and consideration, this plant may receive great amelioration by culture.

All plantations must be well fenced against cattle, as the willow, both shoot and leaf, is a favourite kind of food; and as some particular caterpillars infest the plant at certain seasons of the year, striping it totally bare and injuring its vegetation, care should be taken to remove them as effectually as possible.