MIRBELIA 



56o 



MIXTURE OF SOILS 



M. longifto'r a ca'rnea, (flesh-coloured). 2. Pink. August. 



Germany. 

 viola' cea (violet-coloured). 2. Pink. August. 



Germany. 

 ,, multiflo'ra (many-flowered). 2-3. Bright purple. 



N.W. Amcr. 1876. 

 suave'olens (sweet-scented). See M. LONGIFLORA. 



MIRBE'LIA. (Named after C. F. B. Mirbel, a physio- 

 logical botanist of Paris. Nat. prd. Leguminous Plants 

 [Leguminosae]. Linn. lo-Decandria, i-Monogynia. Allied 

 to Oxylobium.) 



Greenhouse evergreens, from Australia. Cuttings of 

 the half-ripened shoots in May, under a bell-glass, and in 

 sand, over well-drained, sandy peat ; sandy peat, with 

 a few nodules of fibrous loam and charcoal. Winter 

 temp., 40 to 48. 



M. Baxte'ri (Baxter's). See OXYLOBIUM SCANDENS. 

 dilata'ta (wide-leaved). 3. Yellow. July. 1803. 

 floribu'nda (many-flowered). 2. Purple. March. 



1838. 

 grandifto'ra (large-flowered). 2. Yellow. June. 



1825. 



Meissne'ri (Meissner's). See M. DILATATA. 

 oxylobioi'des (Oxylobium-like). Yellow. Australia. 

 pu'ngens (stinging). 2. Yellow. June. 1824. 

 reticula'ta (netted). 3. Yellow. June. 1792. 

 specio'sa (showy). 2. Purple. June. 1824. 



MISCA'NTHUS. (From mischos, a fruit-stalk, and 

 anthos, a flower ; the spikelets of flowers are stalked. 

 Nat. ord. Gramineae.) 



Hardy ornamental grasses. Divisions and seeds. 

 Ordinary soil. 

 M. japo'nicus (Japanese). 3-6. August, September. 



Japan. 

 variega'tus (variegated). Leaves striped with 



cream. 

 ,, ,, zebri'nus (zebra-striped). Leaves transversely 



barred with yellow. 



,, saccha'rifer (sugar-bearing). 6-8. Japan. 

 sine'nsis (Chinese). 3-5. September. China and 

 Japan. 



MISTLETOE. (Vi'scum a'lbum.) Name derived from 

 the Saxon for the same plant, Miselta. The best months 

 for sowing it are February and March. Make two cuts 

 in the shape of the letter V, on the under-side of the 

 branch of an apple-tree. Make the cuts quite down to 

 the wood of the branch ; raise the tongue of bark made 

 by the cuts, but not so as to break it, and put underneath 

 one or two seeds freshly squeezed from the Mistletoe 

 berry. Let the tongue back into its place, and the 

 process is completed. If the seed is good, the seedlings, 

 not unlike cucumber plants, soon appear. They remain 

 attached to the branch, and do not seem to injure the 

 tree. 



Open the bark underneath the branch to receive the 

 seed, because it is thus preserved from an accumulation 

 of rain water, and is shaded from the sun. 



There is really no necessity, however, for opening the 

 bark at all, if the berries are rubbed upon a piece of smooth 

 and healthy live bark, preferably young, till they adhere 

 by their own viscid juice. The berries should be pro- 

 tected from birds till they germinate. 



The Mistletoe may also be propagated by grafts ; and 

 it is said that it will succeed upon any tree. It is cer- 

 tainly found upon the pine in Germany ; and we have 

 seen it on the common walnut and black walnut in 

 Buckinghamshire. It will grow, yet with difficulty, 

 upon the oak ; but it readily takes upon the apple, pear, 

 poplar, and willow. Mr. Beaton says (Card. Mag., iii. 

 207, N.S.), the first weeks of May are best for grafting 

 the Mistletoe, and it should never be inserted less than 

 five nor more than ten feet from the ground. Make an 

 incision in the bark of the tree, and insert into it a thin 

 slice of Mistletoe, having a bud and one leaf at the end. 

 Grafts larger than half an inch in diameter require a 

 notch to be cut out of the branch, the incision to receive 

 the scion being made below this notch, and a shoulder 

 left on the scion to rest on the notch, as in crown-grafting. 

 Budding the Mistletoe may also be practised in the middle 

 of May. Mr. Beaton says it is only a modification of 

 grafting, a heel of wood being retained below the bud 

 for insertion. 



MITCHE'LLA. (Named after Dr. Mitchell, of Virginia. 

 Nat. ord. Rubiads [Rubiaceaa]. Linn. 4-Tetrandria, i- 

 Monogynia.) 



Hardy herbaceous creeper. Division, cuttings under 

 a hand-light, and layering the running stems; sandy, 

 fibrous peat, either in a sheltered American border, or 

 in a pot protected like the generality of alpine plants. 

 M. re' pens (creeping). J. White. June. N. Amer. 

 1731. " Partridge Berry." 



BUTE. See ACARUS. 



MITE'LLA. (The diminutive of mitra, a mitre ; re- 

 ferring to the shape of the seed-pods. Nat. ord. Saxi- 

 frages [Saxifragaceae]. Linn. lo-Decandria, z-Digynia. 

 Allied to Heuchera.) 



Hardy, white-flowered, herbaceous perennials, from 

 North America. Division of the roots in spring ; com- 

 mon garden soil. Pretty for border or rock-work. 

 M. Brewe'ri (Brewer's). . White. California. 

 cordifo'lia (heart-leaved). See M. NUDA. 

 diphy'lla (two-leaved). J. April. 1731. 

 nu'da (naked-stemmed). J. July. 1758. 

 penta'ndra (five-stamened). . Yellow. June. N.W. 



Amer. 1827. 



prostra'ta (lying-down). See M. NUDA. 

 renifo'rmis (kidney-shaped). See M. NUDA. 

 tri'fida ( three-clef i-petaled). J. May. 1827. 



MITRA CA'RPUM. (From mitra, a mitre, and karpos, 

 a fruit. Nat. ord. Rubiads [Rubiaceasj. Linn. 4- 

 Tetrandria, i-Monogynia. Allied to Richardsonia.) 



Stove annuals, with white flowers. Seeds in a hotbed, 

 in March, potted and hardened off to bloom in the stove 

 and greenhouse during the summer. 

 M. Fische'ri (Fischer's), i. July. Jamaica. 1821. 



,, hi'rtum (hairy). See M. VILLOSUM. 



,, stylo'sum (long-styled), i. August. Manilla. 1819. 



,, villo'sum (shaggy). J. July. Jamaica. 1816. 



MITRA RIA. (From mitra, a mitre ; referring to the 

 seed-pod. Nat. ord. Gesnerworts [Gesneraceae]. Linn. 

 i4-Didynamia t 2-Angiospermia. Allied to Columnea.) 



Evergreen shrub. Cuttings of the half-ripened shoots 

 in sand, under a bell-glass, in summer ; better-ripened 

 shoots under a hand-light, in a shady place. A beautiful 

 spring plant for the greenhouse, and supposed to be hardy 

 enough for all sheltered places out of doors ; sandy peat 

 and fibrous loam. 



M. cocci'nea (scarlet). 4. Scarlet. July. San Carlo de 

 Chiloe. 1848. 



MITRIOSTI GMA. (From mitra, a mitre, and stigma ; 

 in allusion to the club-shaped or spindle-shaped stigma. 

 Nat. ord. Rubiaceas.) 



Evergreen stove shrub. Cuttings in sand, in bottom- 

 heat, and kept close. Fibrous loam, peat, and sand. 

 M. axilla're (axillary). 2-5. White, sweet-scented. 

 March. S. Africa. 



MIXTURE OP SOILS is one of the most ready and 

 cheapest modes of improving their staple, and thus 

 rendering them more fertile ; and upon the subject we 

 have nothing to add to the following excellent remarks 

 of 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 gravelly soils of 

 Spring Park, near Croydon, 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 sand which exists beneath them. When this fine 

 sand is removed, the gravel and red sand are 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 

 increased luxuriance ; and in the cottage-gardens 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 previous to 

 their mixture. The permanent advantage of mixing 

 soils, too, is not confined to merely those entirely of an 

 earthy composition : earths which contain inert organic 

 matter, such as peat or moss earth, are highly valuable 

 additions to some soils. Thus, peat earth was success- 



