€ANKER-WOKM. CARAWAY.-^CARDOON. 



67 



the dibber, taking care not to plant too deep, and to press 

 the earth firmly to the lower extremity of the root. If this 

 last point is not attended to, the plants will either die, or, if 

 kept alive by the moisture of the soil, or rain, their progress 

 will be very slow. When the distance between the ridg- 

 iets [or rows] is twenty-seven inches, the plants are set about 

 two feet asunder in the rows, and the quantity required for 

 an acre is about 6000 plants." The after-culture, preser- 

 vation, uses, &c., have been sufficiently detailed in the pre- 

 ceding pages, under this head. 



CANKER-WORM.— Insects. 



CARAWAY. — Carum carui. — The caraway is a bien- 

 nial plant, a native of England, being occasionally found in 

 meadows and pastures. It rises a foot and a half high, with 

 spreading branches ; the leaves are decompound ; the leaf- 

 lets in sixes ; it produces umbels of white flowers in June. 



Use, — The plant is cultivated chiefly for the seed, which 

 is used in confectionary and in medicine. In spring, the 

 under leaves are sometimes put in soups ; and in former 

 - times the fusiform roots were eaten as parsnips, to which 

 Parkinson gives them the preference. In Essex, large 

 quantities of the seed are annually raised for distillation with 

 spirituous liquors. 



" Culture, — It is raised from seed, of which a quarter of an 

 ounce is sufficient for a seed-bed four feet by five. Sow 

 annually, in autumn, soon after the seed is ripe : the seed- 

 lings will rise quickly, and should be thinned to a foot's dis- 

 tance each way. In default of sowing in autumn, sow in 

 March or April, either in drills or broad-cast ; but the plants, 

 so raised, will not in general flower till the following year. 

 When the seed is ripe, the plant is generally pulled up in 

 gathering, especially in field culture." — Loudon, 



GARDOON.— 0/7iam cardunculus. — The cardoon is a 

 hardy, perennial plant, a native of Candia, introduced into 

 England in 1658. It is a species of artichoke, and grows 

 wild in the south of France. 



Propagation, — " Though a perennial, it often dies in the 

 winter, and therefore requires to be raised from seed almost 

 every year ; and, for a bed four feet wide by eight feet, two 

 ounces are sufficient. Formerly the plants were raised on hot- 

 beds, and transplanted in May and June, but now the seed is 

 generally sown where the plants are to remain." — Loudon. 



