AND GENEKAL HORTICULTURE. 



243 



MAN 



ing it is by composting it with double the 

 amount of soil, weeds, or organic matter of 

 any description (see Composts), spreading it 

 over the ground, and keeping it as near the top 

 of the soil as possible. Applied at the rate of 

 100 bushels per acre it is of great benefit to 

 grass lands, and all Cereals, Beet-root, Sain- 

 foin, Clover, Peas, etc. Such a compost is 

 also an excellent top dressing for lawns, 

 especially in shady situations, if they get full 

 of moss. To some plants such as manj' Coni- 

 fers, Rhododendrons. Azaleas, and almost all 

 members of the Heath family, its presence in 

 the soil is undoubtedly injurious. For Guano, 

 Bone Dust, Ashes, etc., see Fertilizers. 



Manure, Liquid. Manure of almost any 

 description is quicker in its action, and may 

 be most efficiently applied in the form of 

 Liquid Manure. It has also the great advan- 

 tage of economy as it can be applied at any 

 season when nourishment is required by the 

 growing crops, or by plants in pots. Cow 

 Manure forms one of the best substances for 

 this purpose as it possesses none of the 

 caustic principles so prevalent in chemical 

 preparations, and will never injure, no matter 

 how strong it is made. Manure from sheep- 

 pens, poultry or pigeon-houses, is also excel- 

 lent for this purpose when procui'able, but 

 must be used with more caution. Guano, 

 about one pound to twenty gallons of water, 

 or one pound of Sulphate of Lime with half a 

 pound of Nitrate of Soda, are also excellent, 

 but these also must be used with caution. 

 Soot, placed in a bag and left soaking in the 

 water, is an excellent liquid manure always 

 tending to produce healthy foliage of a dark 

 green color. Stir up well a few times, then 

 allow the liquid to stand and become clear, 

 the clearer the better. It is only that which 

 dissolves in the water and becomes invisible, 

 the same as sugar dissolves in tea, that is of 

 real benefit to plants, yet some persons stir 

 up the mud at the bottom of the casks, sus- 

 pending visible matter in the water. This is 

 generally useless, and often worse, in seal- 

 ing up the pores of the soil. 



Liquid Manure, when kept in casks for 

 some time, is apt to become offensive, though 

 that which escapes is just what plants re- 

 quire, the very essence of the Tiquid. This 

 may be kept in it by adding a little Sulphate 

 of Iron, an ounce or two probably sufficing. 

 A ready and clean method of preparing Liquid 

 Manure at once, is by stirring a quarter of a 

 pound of Guano well into a four-gallon can or 

 pail of water, or half that quantity of Nitrate 

 of Soda or Sulphate of Ammonia, and apply- 

 ing forthwith where it is needed. The 

 strength named is for garden crops ; half that 

 quantity is sufficient for plants in pots, and 

 more should not be used by the inexperi- 

 enced. 



Manubes, Absorbents for. This term Is 

 used in horticulture for such materials as ab- 

 sorb and retain the liquid portions of manure, 

 among which may be mentioned Charcoal, 

 dry Peat or Muck, Saw-dust, or in short any 

 material that will absorb urine or other 

 liquid forms of manure that is not hurtful to 

 vegetation. Since 1855 a material has come 

 largely into use in the vicinity of New York 

 for stable-bedding of horses and cows in lieu 

 of straw. It is imported from Germany, and 

 is known as German Peat Moss. It is simply 



MAR 



the decayed Sphagnum of the swamps, from 

 which the water has been expressed, thor- 

 oughly dried, packed in bales and shipped to 

 this country where it is sold at about fourteen 

 dollars per ton. We have had it in use in our 

 stables for over two years and find it to be 

 not only much cheaper than straw, but it has 

 at least three times the value as a deodorizer, 

 and as an absorbent for manure. There is, 

 no doubt abundance of such deposits in the 

 United States, which will doubtless be util- 

 ized as soon as their great value becomes ap- 

 preciated 



Maple. The common name for the genus Acer. 



Marajah Palm. See Bactris. 



Mara'nta. Arrowroot. Named after B. Ma- 

 ranti, an Italian botanist. Nat. Ord. Scitam- 

 iiiece. 



A genus of tropical herbaceous plants, pretty 

 extensively disseminated from the West to 

 the East Indies. Some of the species are 

 among the finest ornamental leaved plants in 

 cultivation. M. zehrina (known also as Cala- 

 thea zebrina) has leaves two feet long and six 

 inches wide, of a rich deep green, beautifully 

 shaded with a purplish green, and has a soft 

 appearance, resembling the finest velvet. It 

 is a native of Brazil, and was introduced in 

 1815. M. Sanguinea, an excellent plant for 

 house or window culture is now known as 

 Slromanthe (which see). Many other well- 

 known species are equally ornamental, and 

 occupy a prominent position in choice collec- 

 tions. Several of the species are cultivated 

 in the East and West Indies for the starch 

 that is contained in their tubers, which is 

 very nutritive, and is commercially known as 

 Arrowroot. The term Arrowroot is said to bo 

 derived from the fact that the native Indians 

 used the roots of these plants as an applica- 

 tion to wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows. 

 The green-house kinds are of easy culture, 

 heat and water being the main requirements 

 while growing ; they should also be shaded 

 from tlie sun. We have found it an excellent 

 and economical plan to grow them during the 

 summer months in between large foliaged 

 plants, such as Palms, which give them the 

 necessary conditions of shade and moisture. 

 Increased by division. See Calathea, to which 

 many Marantas have been transferred. 



Mara'nteae. A tribe of ScUaminece. 



Mara'ttia. Named after J. F. Maratti, an Ital- 

 ian botanist. Nat. Ord. Polypodmcece. 



A well-mai'ked genus of hot-house or green- 

 house ferns, natives of South America and the 

 Eastern and Pacific Islands. Being swamp- 

 loving plants they will grow more luxuriantly 

 if placed partially in water ; propagated by 

 spores. 



Marcgra'via. In honor of George Marcgrave, a 

 German who published a Natural History of 

 Brazil, in 1718. Nat. Ord. TernstrcemiacecB. 



M. umbellata, one of the best known species, 

 is a sub-parasitical ci-eeping shrub. At first 

 it is radicant, like some Ferns, but as it ad- 

 vances the stem becomes shrubby, adhering 

 still by its fibers to the trunk of some tree, to 

 the top of which it frequently runs, at length 

 dividing into loose pendulous branches, com- 

 monly terminating with umbels of white 

 flowers. It is a native of the cool wooded 

 mountains of Jamaica. It appears in such a 



