84 TO PREVENT CANKER IN MAIN STEM. 



the main stem and branches from the canker : 

 this it will effect, and keep them free from 

 moss, and other diseases, by applying the com- 

 position as it is directed, once in about two 

 years. I have made the foregoing observa- 

 tions, to prevent any mistaken idea, of apply- 

 ing it to a tree, which is probably smothered 

 with the insect in summer, and perhaps 

 not half the eggs hatched. Wherever the 

 brush should pass by, they will of course come 

 to life, and there remain till they are suffi- 

 ciently strong to leave the cotton-like web, 

 when they instantly crawl to the ground, and 

 finding the principal part of the tree not fit 

 food for them, they will be sure to leave it, 

 and will not deposit their eggs there again : 

 indeed, I would undertake^ if twenty thousand 

 clean standard apple trees were planted on 

 good soil, and treated as will be hereafter 

 described, that they should be as sound in fifty 

 years hence as when first planted ; but the se- 

 lection of clear trees ought not to be unnoticed, 

 particularly where large orchards are planted. 



TO PREVENT THE CANKER IN THE MAIN STEM, 

 &C. THE MOST NECESSARY. 



Par. 101. To prevent the canker in the 

 main stem must be allowed by all to be the 

 most necessary to keep the tree in good bodily 



