305. Willow Ware.

Great quantities of willow ware have been imported from France, but of late years some attention has been paid to the growing of it near Philadelphia. Our climate is said to be well adapted to its growth, and the willow raised to be of a superior quality. Willow grows in damp places. Most basket makers buy the willow, and split it themselves. All the most tasteful and elegant baskets used in this country are imported from France. Basket making is one of the principal employments engaged in by the blind. It requires some strength, but more skill and practice. A basket maker's tools can be bought for $5, and last a lifetime. On looking for women basket makers in Philadelphia, we found a German widow, who could not make herself understood in English, but my companion conversed with her in German, and learned that she had supported herself and son for six years, by making baskets for the trade. She buys the willow ready for use at seven cents a pound. She sells small round baskets, with covers and handles, at $2.25 a dozen. She looked very poor, but clean, and had evidently a room to sleep in besides the one we saw, where she works and cooks. A German woman, in New York, making small fancy baskets on blocks, told me she could earn from fifty cents to $1 per day. Her husband dyes the willow. A German woman asked me $1.50 for a basket she had paid fifty cents for making—at that rate her profits were considerable. I met a German boy with baskets, who said he could make from seventy-five cents to $1 a day by his work. His father, mother, and sisters also work at the trade. I saw a woman who merely colors willow. She could make a comfortable living at it, if she could give all her time to it; but she cannot, as she has two small children, and must give part of her time to them. In Williamsburg, I had a long talk with a basket maker. He says it is best for an apprentice to learn basket making of a practical worker who has not many hands, and who will give instruction himself. He can give the more time to his learners. He spent seven years learning the trade in England. It requires knowledge of form to make the baskets of a handsome shape. He showed me a book giving directions how to proportion baskets. He thinks a right smart person might learn the business in two years, when they could earn from $10 to $15 a week. The basket makers have a society in New York that discourages the work of women in that line, by not allowing its members to sell to any store for which a woman works. The excuse is, it throws men out of work. Yet the man told me that there are probably not more than two hundred basket makers in the United States, and that it is a good business. He has more work than he can do. (Oh, what injustice to woman!) The Dutch, he says, make baskets at a lower price than the members of the society, and consequently they are discountenanced by the members. Inexperienced or careless workers are apt to cut their hands with the willow while at work. A woman who sells baskets told me that basket making is a poor business now. A man that worked for her during the summer said that, working from early in the morning till late at night, he could not make more than $4.50 a week, and if his wife had not worked out, they could not have made a living. She says the duty on willow is high, and transporters ask any price they please, as it occupies considerable room, and does not pay very well as freight. When American supplies are brought in, it is cheaper. The women that supply her do the lighter parts of the work; and their husbands, the heavier. A willow ware manufacturer in Waterbury, Vermont, writes: "The work is light and healthy. It is paid for by the piece. Women are paid less, because they are not so strong, and can live cheaper. It requires about one year to learn the business. Learners are paid by the week, about $2. Ingenuity and some taste are needed for a basket maker. A great many women might advantageously learn the trade, if they would. They can work at it all the year. We should like to employ a few girls to learn the trade and make baskets, but have been unable to do so yet, as it is very difficult finding help enough to do housework in this vicinity." A German, who learned his trade with the basket maker of his Majesty, in Dresden, replies to a circular asking information on willow work: "Women are employed at this trade at several places in Germany. They are paid by the piece. In this country, if they are able to finish the work as well as men, they are usually paid the same wages. Coarse work can be learned in much less time than fine. It is in some places the custom to have five persons to make a basket, each doing a separate part. I think the prospects for work good. Women can make the finer work quicker than men, but men succeed best in making coarse work."