n 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 L239,402. In 1901 the imports
increased to L264,183; then they declined to L227,070 in 1905. The main
sources of supply are shown in this comparison of 1900 and 1905:

+----------+---------+---------+---------+
| | 1900. | 1905. | |
+----------+---------+---------+---------+
| Belgium | L72,031 | L77,766 | +L5,735 |
| Holland | 58,214 | 54,407 | - 3,807 |
| France | 55,870 | 27,910 | -27,960 |
| Germany | 33,155 | 22,892 | -10,263 |
| Japan | 8,140 | 25,536 | +17,396 |
| Portugal | 5,066 | 3,971 | - 1,095 |
+----------+---------+---------+---------+

The increase from Japan (for 1904 the value was L52,377) and the decrease
from France are remarkable.

The import values of foreign willows increased from L52,219 in 1