Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/465

CAN the infected tree, or where the leaves curl, to be taken off smooth and even ; the gum is likewise to be pared down close to the bark, and rather a little within it, but not so as to destroy the rough coat; the fissures, out of which it oozes, are next to be opened to the bot- tom, the blotches to be cut away, and the canker extirpated: all the wounds are then to be anointed with the medication, a little being smeared over that part of the canker which was not large enough to be cut. The tree must also be scored, and the moss rubbed off ; but care should be taken to avoid breaking off a single branch, as this would be productive of dan- gerous consequences. , " A tree thus managed (says Mr. Bucknall), will, with its remaining free shoots, run large ; which, as they require a great how of sap, will keep the roots in con- stant employ, and thus necessarily establish it in permanent health." He also remarks that, where the sole object is to remove the canker, hog's lard will be found of consi- derable utility; but, if wet also is to be guarded against, it is by no means so beneficial as tar. There is also another method of curing this disease, which has been tried with success; namely, where a branch of a valuable tree is likely to be destroyed by the canker, to inclose the affected part, and some inches above it, in a garden pot of earth, previously divided, support- ed by stakes, and tied together round the branch, which will then strike roots in the mould; and which, after some months, may be cut off, and planted in the ground : thus preserved, it will produce a new tree. NO. IV.— VOL. I. [4 CAO L4 - CANKER-WORM, a species of insects particularly destructive to corn, grass, and every other vegetable in which it can harbour. It has been erroneously supposed, that excessive and continual wet weather will destroy them, but this is so far from being true, that an instance has occurred of tiieir hav- ing been found buried six feet deep, in a firm soil. These worms, every fourth year, become flies, when they deposit their spawn on the ground, and thus produce maggots. Soot has been strewed on the land infested with these vermin, and various other remedies have been tried, but without success ; except that practised in the county of Norfolk, where, some years since, the can- ker-worm was particularly perni- cious. The expedient alluded to, is as follows : when they become flies, and are settled on the trees, especially those of oak, elm, and maple, they are shaken off, so as to drop on pack-sheets, or tilters, spread under them for that pur- pose. If, in this manner, they are destroyed soon after their first ap- pearance, when in the state of flies, and before they can do far- ther mischief by lodging on the ground, their numbers will be con- siderably diminished, and, in a few years, they will be almost wholly exterminated. Canthandes. See Spanish Fly. CAOUTCHOUC, Elastic Re- sin, ox India rubier, is a substance produced from the Syringe Tree, or Jatropha elastica, L. which is a na- tive of South America. It oozes in tlie form of vegetable milk, from incisions made in the tree, and is , principally collected in wet wea- ther, when it flows abundantly. . E f Various