Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/254

232&#93; *34l MOS ease which greatly- impedes the gro^'th of trees, and at the same time very materially injures the fruit of orchards. The remedy usually employed Js, to scrape otF the moss with a kind of wooden knife, that will not wound the bark or branches ; or to rub them with a strong hair- cloth, immediately after a heavy shower of rain. But the most ef- fectual method, in Mr, Buck- NALj.'s opinion, consists in washing ail tile branches witlr soap-suds, pnd a hard brush, every spring and autumn. The action of rubbing, he observes, v,'ill so far invigorate the tree, as amply to compensate t>oth the labour and expcnce : the plant will not be injured by this operation, which he directs to be performed in the same manner as a groom curries or scrubs the legs of a horse. — The most efficacious preventive, however, is to remove the cause, by draining all super- ^uous moisture from the roots ; »nd, when the trees are first plant- ed, b)' placing them on the surface ©f the ground, and raising a small juound of good fresh mould around them. The moss, vegetating on shrabs, &c. is of various kinds, according to the nature and situation of the 6oil, It' the young branches of trees be covered with long and sliaggy moss, they will speedily pe- jrish ; and can only be preserved by cutting them otf near the trunk ; or, by lopping the head of the shrub, &c. if it be found necessary; as it will sprout again m ith increas- ed luxuriance. In thick planta- tions, however, and in a cold ground, the trees will always be covered with rcoss : in such cases, ■they rnusE be thinned, aiid tiie i&p4 drained, or veil stirred, •r.'fh B V 9 fij ^ MOS Where shrubs, fruit-trees, kf, are covered with moss, in conse- quence of the soil being, too dry, it w;ll be useful to spread large quan- tities of river or pond-mud about the root, and to open the ground for the admission of the manure : such expedient will not only cool the land, and greatly suppress the future growth of moss, but at the same time prevent the fruit from tailing cfF too early — a circum- stance that frequently happens in orchards planted in very dry soils. But, though moss be in general de- structive to the vegetation of shrubs and trees, yet, if growing only on the 720?-^ side of tiieir trunks, it is attended with considerable advan* tage ; insomuch, that it serves both to shelter them from the se- verity of the north winds, and also to direft the wandering traveller ia bis course ; because it ahva)-s points out that quarter of the com- pass. MOSS, the Marsh, or Mnium, L.a genus of perennial plants, com- prising 32 species, most of which are natives of Britain. — The follow- ing only deserves to be mentioned, namely, thefontanum, or Fountain Marsh Moss j it grows in low wet meadows, turf-bogs, and springs ; where ii flowers from !May till August. This kind of moss, which may be seen at a considerable dis- tance, serves as an excellent guide for discovering clear and cold springs : wherever it thrives, fresh Abater may be found, without the trouble of sinking deep wells, MOSS-LAND, an expresion used in Scotland, and also in vari^ ous parts of Enc,l and, for denoting what is more properly called a MoEAss, Bog, or Fen. The theory of mosses is foreign tp pur plaa 3 and a« wt have aU leadj^