Page:EB1911 - Volume 03.djvu/500

 woven under and over the sticks all round the bottom until it be of sufficient size, and the woof be occupied by them. Thus the bottom or foundation on which the superstructure is to be raised is finished. This latter part is accomplished by sharpening the large ends of as many long and stout osiers as may be necessary to form the stakes or skeleton. These are forced between the bottom sticks from the edge towards the centre, and are turned up or “upset” in the direction of the sides; then other rods are woven in and out between each of them, until the basket is raised to the intended height, or, more correctly speaking, the depth it is to receive. The edge or border is finished by turning down the ends of the stakes, now standing up, behind and in front of each other, whereby the whole is firmly and compactly united, and it is technically known as the “belly.” A lid is constructed on the same plan as that of the bottom, and tied on with hinges formed of twisted rods; simple handles may be made by inserting similar rods by the sides of two opposite stakes and looping them under the border to form rope-like handles of three strands. This is the most simple kind of basket, from which others differ only in being made with finer materials and in being more nicely executed; but in these there is considerable scope for taste and fancy, and articles are produced of extreme neatness and ingenuity in construction.

In addition to willows many other materials are employed in the fabrication of wicker-work. Among the more important of these is the stem of Calamus viminalis or other allied species—the cane or rattan of commerce—which is used whole or made into skains. Since 1880 the central pith of this material, known as “cane-pulp” or “cane-pith,” has been largely used in Great Britain and on the continent of Europe in the manufacture of furniture and other finer classes of work. About the same period plaited rush and straw, often coloured, came into use together with enamelled skains of cane. It must be admitted, however, that basket-work in these developments has encroached somewhat on the domain of cabinet-making; for wood and nails are now much used in constructing basket-work chairs, tables and other furniture.

With splits of various species of bamboo the Japanese and Chinese manufacture baskets of unequalled beauty and finish. The bamboo wicker-work with which the Japanese sometimes encase their delicate egg-shell porcelain is a marvellous example of manipulation, and they and the Chinese excel in the application of bamboo wicker-work to furniture. In India “Cajan” baskets are extensively made from the fronds of the Palmyra palm, Borassus flabelliformis, and this manufacture has been established in the Black Forest of Germany, where it is now an important and characteristic staple. Among the other materials may be enumerated the odorous roots of the khus-khus grass, Anatherum muricatum, and the leaves of various species of screw pine, used in India and the East generally. The fronds of the palm of the Seychelles, Lodoicea sechellarum, are used for very delicate basket-work in those islands. Strips of the New Zealand flax plant, Phormium tenax, are made into baskets in New Zealand. Esparto fibre is used in Spain and Algeria for rude fruit baskets. Various species of Maranta yield basket materials in the West Indies and South America; and the Tirite, a species of Calathea, a member of the order Zingiberaceae, is also employed similarly in Trinidad. Baskets are also frequently made from straw, from various sedges (Cyperus), and from shavings and splints of many kinds of wood.

The chief centres of English basket manufacture outside London are Thurmaston near Leicester, Basford near Nottingham, and Grantham. Large but decreasing quantities of light basket-work are made for the English market in Verdun, in the department of the Aisne, and in other parts of France; and great quantities of fancy and other work are produced in Belgium, in the Netherlands and in Germany, notably at Lichtenfels in Bavaria, at Sonnefeld in Saxony and in the Black Forest.

The import and export values of baskets and basket-ware, and of willows and rods for basket-making, have been enumerated in the Board of Trade returns for the United Kingdom since 1900, in which year basket-ware from foreign countries was imported to the value of £239,402. In 1901 the imports increased to £264,183; then they declined to £227,070 in 1905. The main sources of supply are shown in this comparison of 1900 and 1905:

The increase from Japan (for 1904 the value was £52,377) and the decrease from France are remarkable.

The import values of foreign willows increased from £52,219 in 1900 to £62,286 in 1905, the most important exporting countries being:—

Small British re-exports of willows (£1808 in 1900 and £371 in 1905) and of baskets (£3785 in 1900 and £6633 in 1905) to foreign parts and British possessions are tabulated. No particulars of exports of British produce and manufacture are specified in the returns.

 BASKET-BALL, a game adapted to the open air, but usually played upon the floor of a gymnasium and in the cold season. It was the invention, in 1891, of James Naismith, an instructor in the gymnasium of the Young Men’s Christian Association training-school at Springfield, Massachusetts. A demand had arisen for a game for the gymnasium class, which would break the monotony and take the place, during the winter months, of football and baseball, and which was not too rough to be played indoors. The idea of the game was first published in the Triangle, the school paper. It soon became one of the most popular indoor games of America, for girls as well as for men, and spread to England and elsewhere.

Basket-ball is played on a marked-off space 60 ft. by 40 ft. in extent, though in the open air the dimensions may be greater. In the middle of each short side and 10 ft. above the floor or ground, is placed a basket consisting of a net suspended from a metal ring 18 in. in diameter, backed, at a distance of 6 in., by a back-board 6 ft. long and 4 ft. high. The object of the game is to propel an inflated, leather-covered ball, 30 in. in circumference, into the opponents’ basket, which is the goal, by striking it with the open hands. The side wins that scores most goals during two periods of play divided by an interval of rest. Although there is practically no limit to the number of players on each side, all indoor matches are played by teams of five, in positions opposing one another as in lacrosse, centre, right and left forwards and right and left guards (or backs). A referee has the general supervision of the game and decides when goals have been properly scored, and an umpire watches for infringements of the rules, which constitute fouls. There are also a scorer and timekeeper.

The game is started with the two opposing centres standing within a 4-foot ring in the middle of the floor. The referee puts the ball in play by tossing it into the air over the heads of the centres, who jump into the air for its possession or endeavour to bat it towards the opposing goal. From this moment the ball is in play until it falls into a basket, or passes the boundary-lines, or a foul is made. After a goal has been scored, the ball is again put in play by the referee in the centre. Should it be thrown across the boundary, a player of the opposing side, standing on the line at the point where the ball went over, puts it in play by passing or throwing it to one of his own side in any direction, there being no off-side rule—another point of similarity to lacrosse. His opponents, of course, try to prevent the pass or intercept the throw, thus securing the ball themselves. When a foul has been called, a player of the opposing side is allowed a “free throw” for his opponents’ basket from a mark 15 ft. distant from it and without interference. A goal scored from a