Pollard

a tree cut back nearly to the trunk so as to produce a great number of spreading branches. In many parts of Europe, especially France and Holland, pollarding is a common practice. The roadways are lined with pollarded willows, poplars, and other trees. The branches are cut off yearly and at regular intervals. The trunks present an unsightly, stubby appearance, but appear to be sound and rugged. Judging from their size, many of these hoary old pollards are centuries old. The shoots of the willow pollards are much used in basketry. The branches of other pollards are cut chiefly into stove length and tied up into bundles called faggots and are sold as firewood. In Paris, for instance, a bundle of small twigs made into a faggot perhaps eighteen inches in length and ten inches in diameter is worth twenty cents at retail. Pollards are of common occurrence in basket-making countries, but otherwise are seldom seen excepting in countries where fuel is very high. See Willow