Milford News | 1928-08-17 | Page 7 | Not Much Demand Now for Handmade Basket

Not Much Demand Now for Handmade Basket The art of the osier, which, is basket bas-ket making, is one of the oldest of the handicrafts and was once a very important industry of England, but the statement is made that it will soon be exterminated unless some encouragement en-couragement is given to the workers. German and Japanese baskets are displacing the product of the other countries where tiie art flourished first. A great deal of labor is required re-quired to cultivate the willows and prepare them for wicker work. The willows are cut with a short curved knife in the early months of the year. They are then soaked in running water wa-ter for six months. This is known as pitting the willows, and it is necessary ne-cessary to take off the bark to produce pro-duce white willows. The finished willows are then dried and straightened, straight-ened, when they are ready for flip hamper makers and cane workers at the factories. .