MUL 



382 



MUS 



clear away every little branch, and 

 leave it quite bare; dig a hole four feet 

 deep, plant the naked branch and make 

 it firm in the ground; leave around it a 

 little basin of earth to hold water, and 

 if the season be dry, give it every 

 morning a bucketfuil of water through- 

 out the summer. In two years it will 

 have made a good head, and will bear 

 fruit." — Gard. Chron. 



Pruning. — Standards do not require 

 pruning, further than to remove the 

 dead wood and irregular growths. On 

 walls and as espaliers train in all the 

 lateral annual shoots, for near the ends 

 of these next year is the fruit mostly pro- 

 duced, and pinch off all foreright un- 

 fruitful buds as they are produced. In 

 training, always make the branches 

 descend below the horizontal. 



Forcing. — The mulberry bears forc- 

 ing excellently, and will ripen its fruit 

 early in June. It will bear a very high 

 temperature. It may also be grown of 

 a dwarf size in pots, and be thus 

 forced. 



MULCHING, is placing mulch, or 

 long moist stable litter, upon the sur- 

 face of the soil, over the roots of newly 

 planted trees and shrubs. The best 

 mode is to form a trench about six 

 inches deep, to put in the mulch, and 

 cover it with the earth. This prevents 

 the mulch being dried or scattered by 

 the winds, and is more neat than ex- 

 posing it on the surface. Mulching 

 keeps the moisture from evaporating, 

 and prevents frost penetrating to the 

 roots, straw being one of the worst 

 conductors of heat. 



MULE or Hybrid, is a plant raised 

 from seed generated by parents of dis- 

 tinct species, and consequently un- 

 fertile. See Hybridizing. 



M U L L E R A moniliforinis. Stove 

 evergreen tree. Young cuttings. — 

 Loam and peat. 



MULTIPLICATE FLOWER. See 

 Double Flower. 



MUNDIA spinosa, and its variety. 

 Green-house and evergreen fruit shrubs. 

 Young cuttings. Sandy peat. 



IMUNTINGIA cnlahura. Stove 

 evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Light 

 loamy soil. 



MURALTIA. Fourteen species. — 

 Green-house evergreen shrubs. Young 

 cuttings. Sandy peat. 



MURRAY A. Two species. Stove 



tree. Ripe cuttings, with their leaves. 

 Turfy loam and peat. 



MURUCUYA. Two species. Stove 

 evergreen climbers. Cuttings. Loam 

 and peat. 



MUSA. The Banana and Plantain 

 belong to this genus, of which there 

 are ten species. Stove iierbaceous 

 perennials. Suckers. Rich soil. The 

 most valuable of the species is M. 

 cavendishii; and upon its culture, and 

 upon that of the whole genus, we have 

 the following observations by Mr. W. 

 Buchan, gardener at Blithfield : — 



" To bring musas to a high state of 

 perfection, they should be grown in a 

 house entirely devoted to them. It 

 may have a ' ridge and furrow' roof, 

 nearly flat, and should be divided into 

 pits about two feet six inches square, 

 in order to grow the plants separately, 

 so that when they have done fruiting, 

 each may be removed and replaced 

 without disturbing its neighbour. The 

 stem of this musa seldom attains a 

 greater height under the most favoura- 

 ble culture than six feet; and allowing 

 two feet for the expansion of its foliage, 

 a house ten feet high in front and twelve 

 feet in the back, with sliding lights in 

 the front and ends, would suit it admi- 

 rably. But it may be easily fruited, 

 and with good success, in a pit where 

 there is sufficient height without crowd- 

 ing the leaves. 



" The soil which suits all kinds of 

 musa best is a mixture of half rotten 

 dung and half sandy loam, with about 

 one-fourth sandy peat, well mixed to- 

 gether. The pits or tubs, in which 

 latter M. cavendishii may also be 

 fruited, should be well drained, as the 

 plant requires to be supplied liberally 

 with water at the root when growing. 



" They should never cease growing, 

 and never be allowed to want heat and 

 moisture from the time they are planted 

 in the pit or tub, until the fruits have 

 attained their full size. A strong moist 

 heat, never below 75'^ or 80° Fahren- 

 heit, should be constantly kept up ; the 

 plants frequently syringed over head, 

 and exposed to full light, without any 

 shade. This should be continued until 

 the fruits are set and have attained 

 their full size, taking care, however, 

 not to wet the flowering plants. Young 

 healthy plants will throw up their fruit 

 in nine or ten months after being 



evergreens; one a shrub, the other a planted out, if treated as above; and 



