Page:EB1911 - Volume 20.djvu/385

Rh beginning of the “pit” strippings. The willows are cut at the first indication of the sap rising and “couched” in rotten peelings and soil at a slight angle, the butts being on the ground, which should be strewn with damp straw from a manure heap. The tops are covered lightly with rotted peelings and by periodical application of water, fermentation is induced at the bottom, heat is engendered, the leaves force their way through the covering and peeling may begin. Peeling is chiefly done by women and lasts from early May to the middle of July. After stripping, the rods are bleached in the sun and stored for sale as White. If the rods are to be buffed they are immersed in large tanks of boiling water from 4 to 6 hours. They are then allowed to cool and mellow, are stripped and carefully dried in sun and air and remain dyed a rich tawny brown or buff colour. Brown rods may also be buffed by sinking them in cold water which is heated to boiling point, and maintained at that temperature for the requisite period. Sticks (two or three yearling osiers) are also grown for whitening and buffing: the less ligneous varieties of S. viminalis are best adapted for this purpose. Osiers or willows when tied for market vary locally in girth. In the west of England, the Thames valley, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk a “bolt” of green stuff measures 42 to 45 in. in circumference at 10 in. from the butt; a bolt of white or brown, 40 in. In the northern and midland counties the stuff is invariably sold by weight. On the continent of Europe osiers or willows are bunched in sizes of one metre in girth at the butts and (except in Belgium) are also sold by weight.

The cost of planting an acre of fine willows varies greatly; it was estimated by R. L. and R. Cotterell of Ruscombe, Berks, as follows: trenching and cleaning ground, £12; sets, 20,000 at 5s. per 1000, £5; planting and levelling £1. Hoeing, first year, £2; succeeding years about £3, 15s. per annum. After 12 to 15 years the heads become “tired,” and should be grubbed up. The first year's crop, known as the “maiden” crop, is of small value but should be cut and the ensuing years of maturity will yield crops of about 130 bolts, green, per acre, worth £9, 15s. If whitened, the loss in bulk and in rejection being two-thirds, this would produce about 44 bolts, which at £30 per load of 80 bolts, the appreciated market value of 1907, would be worth £16, 10s. The cost of whitening is 1s. 6d. per bolt, but against this the value of the rejected Ragged, sold as Brown, should be set off. In years of abundant crops and short demand, prices have fallen to £24 per load.

The cost of planting and the outlay for manuring and weeding during the years of maturity of the crop, are higher in the Midlands and the yield was estimated by Ellmore at 6 to 10 tons per acre, green, worth from £3, 10s. to £6, per ton. White rods, costing from £3, to £3, 7s. 6d. per ton for extra labour, will realize from £22 to £24 per ton. Buff rods costing (with coal at 10s. per ton) £5 per ton extra, will realize from £22 to £32 per ton. From 2 to 3 tons of green are required to produce one ton white or buff. Wm. Scaling of Notts estimated the entire cost of an osier plantation at £33, 12s. per acre for the first year and the outlay for the next two years at £7, 5s. and £6, 15s. respectively. The maiden crop he valued at £8, 12s. and the second and third years' crop at £17 and £22.

A table given by Krabe, based on results obtained for 12 plantations amounting to 20 hectares (50 English acres) during 20 years showed the value of produce per Prussian acre (.2553 of an hectare) to be in the 1st year, £3, 6s. In the 2nd year the value of the produce was £8, 19s; in the 3rd year, £9, 15s.; in the 4th year, £8, 10s.; in the 5th year, £8, 1s.; in the 6th year, £7, 6s.; in the 7th year, £5, 19s.; in the 8th year, £8, 9s.; in the 9th year, £5, 5s.; in the 10th year, £6, 10s.; in the 11th year, £5, 11s.; in the 12th year, £4; in the 13th year, £6, 1s.; in the 14th year, £2, 9s.; in the 15th year, £2, 8s.; in the 16th year, £1, 18s.; in the 17th year, £2, 7s.; in the 18th year, £2, 2s.; in the 19th year, £3. 13s.; and in the 20th year, £1, 11s.

The cultivation of osiers is attended with many disturbing causes—winter floods, spring frosts, ground vermin and insect pests of various kinds, sometimes working great havoc to the crop.

The best comprehensive work on the subject is that by Krabe, which has passed through several editions. A pamphlet on the cultivation of osiers in the Fen districts is issued in England by the Board of Agriculture.

 OSIMO (anc. , q.v.), a town and episcopal see of the Marches, Italy, in the province of Ancona, 10 m. S. of that town by rail. Pop. (1901) 6404 (town); 18,475 (commune). It is situated on the top of a hill 870 ft. above sea-level, whence there is a beautiful view, and it retains a portion of its ancient town wall (2nd century ). The restored cathedral has a portal with sculptures of the 13th century, an old crypt, a fine bronze font of the 16th century and a series of portraits of all the bishops of the see; the town hall contains a number of statues found on the site of the ancient forum and also a few good pictures. The castle (1489) was built by Baccio Pontelli. Silk-spinning and the raising of cocoons are carried on.

 OSIRIS, one of the principal gods of the ancient Egyptians. See, section .

 OSKALOOSA, a city and the county-seat of Mahaska county, Iowa, U.S.A., about 62 m. S.E. of Des Moines. Pop. (1900) 9212, of whom 649 were foreign-born and 344 were negroes; (1910 U.S. census) 9466. It is served by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Iowa Central railways, and by interurban electric lines. The city is built on a fertile prairie in one of the principal coal-producing regions of the state. At Oskaloosa is held the Iowa yearly meeting of the Society of Friends; and the city is the seat of Penn College (opened 1873), a Friends' institution, and of the Iowa Christian College (incorporated as Oskaloosa College in 1856 and reincorporated under its present name in 1902). At the village of University Park (incorporated in 1909), a suburb adjoining the city on the E., is the Central Holiness University (1906; coeducational), where the annual camp meeting of the National and Iowa Holiness Associations is held. Coal-mining is the most important industry in the surrounding region. There are deposits of clay and limestone in the vicinity, and among the city's manufactures are drain and sewer tile, paving and building bricks, cement blocks, and warm-air furnaces; in 1905 the factory products were valued at $779,894. Oskaloosa was first settled in 1843; it was selected in 1844 by the county commissioners as a site for the county-seat, and was chartered as a city in 1853. It is said to have been named in honour of the wife of the Indian chief Mahaska (of the Iowa tribe), in whose honour the county was named; a bronze statue of Mahaska (by Sherry E. Fry, an Iowa sculptor) was erected here in 1909.

 OSMAN, the usual form of the Arabic name , as representing the Turkish and Persian pronunciation of the name. It is used, therefore, for (1) the founder of the Osmanli or Ottoman dynasty, Osman I., who took the title of sultan, ruled in Asia Minor, and died in 1326, and (2) the sixteenth sultan Osman II., who reigned 1616–1621 (see : ). For the third Mahommedan caliph see and.

 OSMAN (1832–1900), Turkish pasha and mushir (field marshal), was born at Tokat, in Asia Minor, in 1832. Educated at the military academy at Constantinople, he entered the cavalry in 1853, and served under Omar Pasha in the Russian War of 1853–56, in Wallachia and the Crimea. Appointed a captain, in the Imperial Guard, he went through the campaigns of the Lebanon in 1860 and of Crete in 1867 to 1869, under Mustapha Pasha, when he distinguished himself at the capture of the convent of Hagia Georgia, and was promoted lieut.-colonel. He served under Redif Pasha in suppressing an insurrection in Yemen in 1871, was promoted major-general in 1874, and general of division in 1875. Appointed to command the army corps at Widin in 1876 on the declaration of war by Servia, he defeated Tchnernaieff at Saitschar and again at Yavor in July, invaded Servia and captured Alexinatz and Deligrad in October, when the war ended. Osman was promoted to be mushir, and continued in the command of the army corps at Widin. When the Russians crossed the Danube in July 1877, Osman moved his force to Plevna, and, with the assistance of his engineer, Tewfik Pasha, entrenched himself there on the right flank of the Russian line of communication, and gradually made the position a most formidable one. He repulsed the three general assaults of the Russians on the 20th and 30th July and the 11th September, inflicting on them great loss—some 30,000 men in the three battles. He held the position, after being closely invested, until the 9th December, when, compelled by want to cut his way out, he was severely wounded and forced to capitulate. This famous improvised defence of a position delayed the Russians for five months, and entailed their crossing the Balkan range in the depth of winter after the third battle of Plevna. The sultan conferred on Osman the Grand Cross of the Osmanie in brilliants and the title of “Ghazi” (victorious), and, when he returned from imprisonment in Russia, 