CAP 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



CAP 



yet many of these operations are frequently carried on by the 

 same person ; some weavers'bleach their own yarn and cloth, 

 others their cloth only ; some heckle their tow, and some put it 

 out to spinning ; others buy the tow, and put it out ; and some 

 carry on the whole of the trade themselves. When this trade 

 is conducted by different persons, their interests often clash ; 

 by under-retting the Hemp, the grower increases the weight ; 

 by slightly beating it, the heckler increases the quantity of 

 tow, but leaves it fuller of bark ; by drawing out the thread 

 beyond the staple, the spinner increases the quantity of yarn, 

 but injures the quality ; by forcing the bleaching, the white- 

 ster increases his profit, but diminishes the strength of the 

 yarn : and we generally find, that in manufacturing cloth, 

 strength is- sacrificed to fineness and colour. This is the 

 practice in Suffolk. The expense of an acre of Hemp may 

 be estimated at eight or nine pourlrts, and the average pro- 

 duce at forty-five stones, which produces sl6. 17*. 6d. at 

 7. 6d. per stone : some crops produce fifty-five stones, and 

 even more, but are counterbalanced by others which fall as 

 low us twenty-five ; and the price also varies from 6s. to 9s. 

 and 10s. per stone, according to the quality of the produce. 

 The priricipal objections to the Hemp crops are, that their 

 coming in the middle of harvest is embarrassing, and that the 

 attention they require is very great during every stage of their 

 progress, especially where they are only a secondary con- 

 sideration : the cultivation of Hemp is nevertheless of great 

 consequence to the country, particularly as it affords much 

 employment for the industrious poor, and therefore certainly 

 deserves every encouragement from the legislature. 



Canterbury Bell. See Campanula. 



Cape Jasmin. See Gardenia. 



Caper. See Capparis. 



Caper Bean. See Zygophyllum. 



Capparis; a genus of the class Poly and ria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth four-leaved, 

 coriaceous ; leaflets ovate, concave, gibbous. Corolla : petals 

 four, obtuse, spreading, very large. Stamina : filamenta 

 numerous, filiform, patulous ; antherae oblong, versatile, 

 inclined. Pistil: germen pedicelled ; style none; stigma 

 obtuse, sessile. Pericarp: berry corticose, one-celled, pe- 

 dicelled. Seeds: numerous, reniform, nestling. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix : four-leaved, coriaceous. Petals: four. 

 Xttimina: long. Berry: corticose, one-celled, pedicelled. 

 This genus consists of shrubs ; the leaves are simple, fre- 

 quently having in the berry-bearing sorts, two spines at the 

 base, but in those which bear pods they are commonly 

 naked or biglandular ; the flowers are solitary, axillary, or 

 in a kind of corymb, terminating. Every species, except 

 the first, being a native of hot climates, requires the protec- 

 tion of a stove, to survive the rigour of an English winter : 

 they are propagated by seeds, which must be procured from 

 the countries where they naturally grow, since they do not 

 produce them in England ; the seed must be sown in small 

 pots filled with light sandy earth, and plunged into a hot- 

 bed of tanner's bark, which should be now and then mode- 

 rately refreshed with water ; they frequently remain in the 

 ground a whole year without vegetating ; and must be 

 screened during the winter, and plunged, in the following 

 spring, into a fresh hot-bed of tanner's bark, which, if the 

 seeds were good, will soon compel the plants to appear. In 

 warm weather they require little water, but mucli air ; and 

 when they are large enough to remove, must be each trans- 

 planted into a separate small pot, filled with the same earth, 

 and replaced in the hot-bed again, observing to shade them 

 until they have taken fresh, root ; after which, fresh air must 

 be every day admitted to them, in proportion to the warmth 



of the season. In the autumn they must be removed into the 

 stove, and plunged into the bark-bed, where they should con- 

 stantly remain, as they require the same treatment as other 

 tender exotic plants from the same countries, with this differ- 

 ence only, that they require little water, especially in winter, 

 for the roots of these plants are very subject to rot with wet. 

 If the seeds be brought over in their capsules, they will keep 

 much better than without them ; but they should be secured 

 from insects, by wrapping them in well-dried tobacco leaves, 

 for without this precaution they will be destroyed before 

 they arrive. The seeds are said to germinate immediately, 

 and therefore cannot well be sent dry to Europe, which, to- 

 gether with the great difficulty of preserving the plants, ac- 

 count for the present scarcity of them in our stoves. 



The species are, 



1. Capparis Spinosa; Prickly Caper Bush. Peduncles 

 one-flowered, solitary ; stipules spiny ; leaves annual ; cap- 

 sules oval. The common Caper-bush is a low shrub, ge- 

 nerally growing out of the joints of old walls, the fissures 

 of rocks, and among rubbish; the stems are woody, and 

 covered with a white bark. It grows wild in the southern 

 countries of Europe, and in the Levant, on rocks, walls, and 

 in dry places : Mr. Ray observed it on the walls of Rome, 

 Sienna, and Florence, wild ; and cultivated in the neighbour- 

 hood of Toulon. " It is surprising," says Dr. Smith, " that 

 this beautiful shrub, which in the south of France is as com- 

 mon as the bramble is with us, and which even at Paris 

 grows luxuriantly when trained against a wall in the open 

 air, should be almost unknown in English gardens, where we 

 can scarcely produce a flower, unless by sieving it with every 

 possible*precaution !" The flower-buds, which are produced 

 in great plenty on the wild plant, are well known as a pickle ; 

 and in Italy, the unripe fruit is prepared in the same manner. 

 The pickled Caper bud has the character of an antiscorbutic, 

 and of removing hepatic and other visceral obstructions; but 

 the part of the plant which has chiefly been recommended 

 for medicinal purposes, is the bark of the root. Its taste is 

 somewhat aromatic, bitterish, and acrid. It thrives best in an 

 horizontal position, so that when planted either in pots or the 

 full ground, it seldom thrives, although it may be kept alive 

 for some years. In the warmer parts of Europe, they are pro- 

 pagated by seeds, but the importers of orange-trees bring roots 

 of this plant annually from Italy, some of which, when planted 

 in walls, have lived a few years, but have not lasted long. 



2. Capparis Zeylanica. Peduncles one-flowered, solitary ; 

 stipules spiny ; leaves ovate, sharp at both ends ; stem 

 shrubby, six feet high, upright, but weak ; branches diva- 

 ricating ; stamina thrice the length of the corolla. Native 

 of hedges in Ceylon and Cochin-china. 



3. Capparis Horrida. Peduncles axillary, by two ; sti- 

 pules prickly ; branches flexuose ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 mucronate, smooth. Found by Koenig in Coromandel. 



4. Capparis Sepiaria. Peduncles umbellcd ; stipules spiny ; 

 leaves annual, ovate, emarginate; brunches round and woody j 

 spines stipular, double-recurved, short, black. Native of 

 the East Indies. 



5. Capparis Frondosa. Peduncles umbelled ; leaves every 

 where crowded ; height above seven feet, extending as far 

 as twenty; branches very few, and scarcely divided. Native 

 of thickets in South America. 



6. Capparis Ferruginea. Peduncles umbelled ; leaves per- 

 manent, lanceolate, tomentose beneath ; flowers eight-sta- 

 mined. This is a small tree or shrub, with striated rufous, 

 or ferruginous coloured branches ; corollas white ; flower- in 

 a sort of corymb, terminating, on bifid or trifid peduncles, 

 and fragrant. This plant is strongly impregnated with an 



