Osiers particularly invite the attention of those who are
desirous of planting coverts for game. They are a paying crop, and a quick
crop, giving cover sooner and of better quality than almost any other form
of underwood, and are also very ornamental. It is true that they are cut
yearly, but this is not till the shooting season is over. Meantime there
is no covert which pheasants like so much as osier-beds, especially if
they are near water.
On Chiswick Eyot, which is entirely planted with osiers, there are
standing at the time of writing six stacks of bundles set upright. Each
stack contains about fifty bundles of the finest rods, nine feet high.
Thus the eyot yields at least three hundred bundles. This osier-bed is cut
quite early in the year, usually in January, and by February all the fresh
rods are planted. Before being peeled the osiers are stood upright in
water for a month, and some begin to bud again. This is to make the sap
run up, I presume, by which means the bark comes off more readily. I
believe that the Chiswick osiers, being of the largest size, are used for
making crates, and that they are cut early because there is no need to
peel them.
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