The dead bitter-sweet vine was withdrawn from the hickory, and from its root a handle was carved and bent. On many occasions I have twisted vines of bitter-sweet and the fox-grape around saplings of oak, hickory, and chestnut, and have obtained very satisfactory results.
Where a vine is situated some distance from the sapling selected for a cane, the vine can be “piped” (laid under the ground) up to the sapling, and then twisted around it and securely fastened at the top with wire, from three to four feet above its root. If the sapling is so situated that it obtains a bountiful supply of food and sunlight, a unique cane of natural growth will be the result.
Having taken a hint from nature in the case of the bitter-sweet vine and the hickory sapling, I extended my experiments in many directions. Taking three cuttings (slips) of basket-willow, I planted them close together as shown in Fig. 2. After they had taken root and begun to push out branches, I reduced the number of branches to one for each cutting, always retaining the most vigorous branch.
As the three willow-trees increased in height the side branches were constantly cut off. This treatment forced the growth of the willows upward, so that when they had attained a height of five feet I bound them together with a living cat-brier vine, which was planted at their base, and in course of time obtained a light walking-stick of novel pattern as shown in Fig. 3. Another very interesting experiment was grafting three willow stocks together so that they formed a union, and became as it were one tree. This was done by carefully cutting away two slices from three young willows so as to form an obtuse angle as shown in Fig. 4.
The angles so formed were carefully and accurately fitted together as shown in the section Fig. 5. To hold the willows closely together, and to exclude all air, I wrapped them tightly with strips of unbleached cotton-sheeting. As soon as they showed signs of life at their tops by sending out young branches, I felt certain that a union of their barks would form at the points indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5. But it was not till several trials had been made that I was successful in this novel experiment of combining three willow saplings.
It very often occurs that after a tree has been cut down a number of canes or suckers will start up from the stump. These suckers make excellent walking-sticks when properly cured and peeled. For a lady’s riding-whip I know of nothing better than three willow withes plaited together. This plaiting must be done when the willow withes are young, and when attached to the parent tree, on which they are allowed to remain for a year after having been plaited together. By this time they will have grown firmly together in consequence of the bark conforming to the bent strands of the plait.
The following kinds of native woods are used for walking-sticks:
Holly.—Sticks of this wood are found growing out from the sides of older growths, and shooting up in nearly a straight line. Occasionally they may be cut with a crutch-piece across the growing end, or with a crook or knob. These are the most valuable. They may be found on a well-grown sapling in the deep woods. This should be pulled or dug up for the sake of its roots. Saplings and hedge-sticks may often be found from three to four feet long, and from three-eighths to a quarter of an inch in diameter. These are not suitable for walking-sticks, but they make excellent whip-handles. The holly makes tough, supple, and moderately heavy walking-sticks, and its close-grained wood admits of much skill in carving the knob formed by the root and its rootlets.
Ash.—Respectable sticks of this wood may sometimes be cut out of a hedge or pulled from the side of an old stump. Ash sticks must also be roughly trimmed and well seasoned before they are barked and polished. The root knobs admit of excellent grotesque carving.