The rods most in favour for rustic mosaic are those of the hazel. They are to be bought cheaply and abundantly when the undergrowth of woods is cut. They have a smooth and pretty bark, and the useful size is from ¾ in. to 1½ in. Sticks of other kinds of the same size can also be used: birch and wild cherry may be named among those with smooth bark, and wych elm and maple among those with rough; willow or withy, again, is of most common growth, and exceedingly useful. In river-side neighbourhoods it is often the cheapest and most plentiful of all woods. For mosaic work, it is always peeled, for its bark is unattractive, and its light colour when stripped makes it tell well in contrast to the dark bark of other woods. If used, as it often is, for outdoor purposes in garden carpentry, it should always be peeled. Country carpenters have a saying that withy lasts twice as long without its bark as with it; and in this there is much truth, for the loose bark holds the wet to the wood and causes it to rot. To make it peel freely, it should be cut just as the young leaves make their appearance. The like holds good with other woods; but if it is desired that the bark should hold firmly, the wood should be cut down in dead of winter, when all the sap is down.
Fig. 178.
Fig. 179.
Figs. 178 and 179.—Plan and Elevation of Table for Octagonal Summer-house.
The top of the table is supposed to be mainly composed of peeled withy. The pattern contains only the double dark line bounding the star and the single strip round the edge in hazel. So much white will not look amiss in this place, and withy is easily worked. Hazel and most woods twist so much in the grain that it is rarely safe to split them except with the saw, but withy—in short lengths like these, at least—can be split with a hatchet.