MI L 



378 



MIX 



bulbous perennials. Offsets. Sandy 

 loam. 



MILLINGTONIA simplidfolia. 

 Stove evergreen tree. Cuttings. Peat 

 and loam. 



MILLIPEDE. See Julus. 



MILTONIA. Three species. Stove 

 orchids. Mr. Paxton says, " that to 

 propagate them, the stems should be 

 cut half through, young plants are then 

 emitted ; cut through the stem quite, 

 a montii before separating the young 

 plants ; plant in rough peat and pot- 

 sherds." 



MIMETES. Eight species. Green- 

 house evergreen shrubs. Ripe cuttings. 

 Light turfy loam. 



MIMOSA. Twenty-two species. 

 Chiefly stove evergreen shrubs. M. 

 pudica, an annual. M. viva, an her- 

 baceous perennial. Young cuttings. 

 Loam, peat, and sand. 



MIMULUS. Seventeen species. 

 Chiefly hardy herbaceous perennials 



MITE. Acarus. 



MITELLA. Five species. Hardy 

 herbaceous perennials. Division. Peaty 

 soil. 



MITRASACME. Three species. 

 M. canescens, a green-house herbaceous 

 perennial ; the other two annuals. 

 Seeds. Sandy peat and loam. 



MIXTURE OF SOILS is one of the 

 most ready and cheapest modes of im- 

 proving their staple, and thus render- 

 ing them more ferlile ; and upon the 

 subject I have nothing to add to the 

 following excellent remarks of my bro- 

 ther, Mr. Cuthbert Johnson : — 



" I have witnessed even in soils to 

 all appearance similar in composition, 

 some very extraordinary results from 

 their mere mixture. Thus in the gra- 

 velly soils of Spring Park, near Croy- 

 don, the ground is often excavated to a 

 depth of many feet, through strata of 

 barren gravel and red sand, for the 

 purpose of obtaining the white or silver 



increased by division or seed. Com- j sand, which exists beneath them. When 



this fine sand is removed, the gravel 

 and red sand is thrown back into the 

 pit, the ground merely levelled, and 

 then either let to cottagers for gardens, 

 or planted with forest trees ; in either 

 case the effect is remarkable; all kinds 

 of either fir or deciduous trees will now 

 vegetate with remarkable luxuriance ; 

 and in the cottage garden thus formed, 

 several species of vegetables, such as 

 beans and potatoes, will produce very 

 excellent crops, in the very soils in 

 which they would have perished pre- 

 vious to their mixture. The permanent 

 advantage of mixing soils, too, is not 

 confined to merely those entirely of 



mon soil. The green-house and half- 

 hardy species require a light rich soil, 

 and increase by cuttings. The annuals, 

 seeds. Common soil. 



MIMUSOPS. Six species. Stove 

 evergreen trees. Ripe cuttings. Light 

 loamy soil, or loam and peat. 



MINT. See Mentha. 



MIRABILIS. Five species and 

 several varieties. Green-house fusiform 

 rooted perennials. Seeds. Light rich 

 soil. 



MERBELIA. Six species. Green- 

 house evergreen shrubs. Young cut- 

 tings. Loam, peat, and sand. 



MISLETOE {Viscum album) is some 



times required to be introduced upon the an earthy composition ; — earths which 

 trees of the shrubbery, and other parts j contain inert organic matter, such as 



of the pleasure ground. The easiest 

 and best way to propagate it is by 

 placing ripe seeds on the smooth 

 branches of the common apple, pear, 

 or white thorn, in February or March, 

 without in any way damaging the bark 

 on which they are placed. The seeds 

 should be fixed on the under side of 

 the branch, as there they are shaded, 

 and more likely to escape being eaten 

 by birds when they begin to vegetate. 

 Misletoe may be grafted on the apple 

 tree : but success is so precarious, that 

 few succeed at present. — Gard. Chron. 

 MITCHELLA repens. Hardy herba- 

 ceous creeper; increased by cuttings 

 of the stem. Peat, or peat and sand. 



peat or moss earth, are highly valuable 

 additions to some soils. Thus, peat 

 earth was successfully added to the 

 sandy soils of Merionethshire, by Sir 

 Robert Vaughan. . The Cheshire farm- 

 ers add a mixture of moss and cal- 

 careous earth to their tight-bound 

 earths, the effect of which they de- 

 scribe as having ' a loosening opera- 

 tion ;' that is, it renders the soil of 

 their strong clays less tenacious, and, 

 consequently, promotes the ready ac- 

 cess of the moisture and gases of the 

 atmosphere to the roots. The culti- 

 vator sometimes deludes himself with 

 the conclusion that applying sand, or 

 marl, or clay, to a poor soil, merely 



