490 On the Green-Moss on Trees. 
thought would well soak the roots, the outside border being covered 
with litter, we emptied it on with a bucket, the litter serving to keep it 
from running off. The cake of manure which the wash had left on the 
surface inside the house, we forked in, adding a portion of fresh earth, 
after which we gave the surface a sprinkling of clear water, with a com- 
mon watering pot and rose, to take away any bad smell, which was 
soon gone. This was done in the beginning of January, and about the 
end of the month we commenced forcing. I shall only add, that we 
had a most excellent crop of fruit, and plenty of fine wood, which is 
what we all aim at. 
James Wilson. 
Cresswell-Hall, March 7, 1832. 
Article V. — On the Green Moss an Trees. By A JouR- 
i^EYMAN Gardener. 
You must have observed, in your walks through the orchard and fruit 
garden, the unsightly appearance of the trunks of the older trees, being 
entirely destitute of bark, and standing like skeletons; — now, pray what 
can be the cause of this.^ Is it owing to canker in the roots.' or, is it 
a natural disease incident to old trees ? I am inclined to think the 
latter is not the case, for 1 have seen comparatively young trees nearly 
as destitute of bark as the old ones : canker may be one cause, but I 
attribute it mainly to another, viz., to the bark itself. You will observe 
on trees, on rocks, on walls, on soil, and in fact, on every thing that is 
exposed to the action of the atmosphere in a fixed state, a green cover- 
ing, which when minutely examined, appears like a green powder, and 
it allowed to remain, would form into patches of moss. This seems 
to lie the most minute of the vegetable creation, and I beHeve the very 
foundation of it, and but for the industry of man, this would be the 
clothing Nature would every -where assume in our moist climate. The 
particles of this green powder must be exceedingly minute, as it remains 
invisible, until great masses are collected together. Now, it is obvious 
that where this adheres to a tree, it must close up its pores, and thereby 
prevent the vessels from being acted upon by the external air. I 
likewise think it receives nourishment by exhausting the sap in the 
bark, which will first begin to crack, and afterwards die and fall off. 
I am the more induced to form this opinion, by having seen an experi- 
ment tried to destroy it : this was done l)y using the common solution 
of soft soap and sulphur-vivum mixed with boiling lime-water, till it 
became of the consistence of paint. This, wlien cold, was applied with 
a paint brush to part of the branches of a young tree that were covered 
