AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



253 



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fact, a shrub, and if preserved carefully 

 through the winter, in two or three years its 

 stem will become quite woody. In this state it 

 is called the Tree Mignonette, and is supposed 

 by many to be a different species. It is a 

 native of Barhary, and grows wild on the 

 sandy shore of Algiers. The name Mignon- 

 ette, which is French for "the little dar- 

 ling," is supposed to have been given to it on 

 account of its seeds having been first sent to 

 England from Paris. It is rather singular, 

 however, that it should be known by a French 

 name in England, while in France and Ger- 

 many it is known by its Latin name of Reseda. 

 Mignonette should alwaj-s be sown in light, 

 sandy soil, if possible ; as, when grown in a 

 rich loam, it loses its fragrance. With a 

 little management, it may be contrived to 

 have Mignonette in flower every month dur- 

 ing the year without the aid of a regular 

 gardener. In order that the plants may flower 

 in winter, the seed should be sown in the 

 open border in July ; or, if it be more con- 

 venient, the seeds may be sown in pots in 

 that month, placing the pots in any situation 

 where they will have abundance of light and 

 air. In September the plants should be put 

 in the pots in which they are to flower, and 

 only a sufficient number left in each to make 

 the pots look full without the plants being so 

 crowded as to occasion them to be drawn up. 

 This number must, of course, vary according 

 to the size of the pot ; but it should never ex- 

 ceed eight, or be less than three. The pots 

 should then be taken into the house, and 

 placed in any convenient situation in a room 

 without a fire, till they have formed their 

 flower-buds, which will be the latter end of 

 October. They should then be removed to a 

 window in a room where the temperature 

 does not exceed 50° at night, when they will 

 throw out an abundance of branches, and will 

 continue flowering beautifully during Novem- 

 ber, December, and January ; and, if they are 

 regularly watered eveiy day, till the following 

 March. When it is wished to obtain a plant 

 of Tree Mignonette, a healthy, vigorous plant 

 of Mignonette sown in a pot in April should 

 be selected, and the flower-buds should be 

 taken off as fast as they appear. In autumn 

 all the lower side shoots should be cut off, so 

 as to shape the plant into a miniature tree, 

 and it should be transplanted into a larger 

 pot, with fresh soil, formed of turfy loam 

 broken small. It should then be removed to 

 a green-house or warm room, and by being 

 regularly watered every day, and kept toler- 

 ably warm, it will remain in a growing state 

 all the winter, and by spring its stem will be- 

 gin to appear woody. It should be treated in 

 the same manner the following year, all the 

 side branches being cut off as thoy appear, 

 except those that are to form the head of the 

 tree ; and by the third spring it will have bark 

 on its trunk, and be completely a shrub. It 

 may now be suffered to bloom, and its flowers 

 will continue to be produced every summer 

 for a great many years in succession, 



Mignonette does best in a cool climate, our 

 summers sometimes being too warm to grow 

 it in perfection ; but for fall flowering nothing 

 can surpass its luxuriance, beauty, or fra- 

 grance. For this purpose sow the seed in 

 July or early in August in a well-prepared 

 bed of deep rich soil. It is of the utmost im- 



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poi-tance that the seeds of Mignonette, when 

 sown in the hot months, should be well 

 firmed. Our plan is to sow in drills two or 

 three inches deep and eighteen inches apart. 

 After sowing the seed it is carefully and reg- 

 ularly trodden down with the foot, and then 

 raked lengthwise of the rows to make the 

 ground level. In this way the seed will ger- 

 minate in the hottest or drj-est weather, while 

 it is almost certain to fail if left loose. Thin 

 the plants out to six inches apart each way, 

 and from the first of September until quite 

 cold weather there will be a profusion of 

 fiowers. 



Mignonette for cutting in winter is 

 most successfully grown in a span-roofed 

 house with solid side benches. These should 

 be thoroughly drained and heavily manured 

 with well-rotted cow manure which should be 

 well mixed with the soil to the depth of at 

 least eighteen inches. The seed may be sown 

 in rows six inches apart, directly upon the 

 beds, about the middle of August, and thinned 

 out from four to six inches apart, according 

 to the strength of the variety sown. The 

 plants thrive much better if the surface of the 

 soil is gone over frequently and kept loose, 

 care being taken that no chick-weed is left, as 

 it luxuriates in the cool, rich border, and will 

 cause no end of trouble later in the season. 

 Water should be carefully and systematically 

 applied, the beds thoroughly watered when 

 necessary, and withheld till the appearance 

 of the soil or plants indicates the need of 

 more moisture. 



To keep the stems straight and marketable 

 a system of brushing may be adopted, using 

 branches suitable to the height of the Mignon- 

 ette. By thus keeping the plant as upright 

 as possible, and breaking the shoots well 

 back in picking, the last shoot gathered in 

 June will be nearly as firm as those picked in 

 November and December. To have sturdy, 

 short-jointed Mignonette the temperature 

 must be kept low, not over forty degrees at 

 night, no matter if it occasionally touches the 

 freezing point; plenty of air being given 

 whenever the weather will permit. It will 

 not mature as fast as if kept warmer, but the 

 spikes will be all the finer, more marketable, 

 and, of course, more valuable. 



Mika'nia. Climbing Hempweed. Named after 

 Joseph Mikan, Professor of Botany at Prague. 

 Nat. Ord. CompositcB. 



A genus of hardy and half-hardy twining 

 plants, allied to Eupatorium. M. scandens, 

 common from Long Island lo Kentucky and 

 southward, is a perennial, with axillary clus- 

 ters of flesh-colored flowers. M. violacea, a 

 tender species with dark, velvet-like foliage, 

 is now much used as a drooping plant for 

 baskets, vases, etc. Propagated by cuttings. 



Mildew. The term used for the parasitical 

 fungus so common to vegetation, both under 

 glass and in the open air. Like nearly all 

 other parasites hurtful to plants, it seems to 

 us that Mildew only attacks plants when, 

 from some cause or other, they are in an 

 abnormal state. For instance, we find that if 

 some varieties of Roses and Grape Vines, 

 cither under glass or in the open air, are 

 exposed to excessive drought, so as to 

 enfeeble the leaf action, or if exposed to a 

 sudden change of temperature, they are 



