340 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



MAYFLOWER. A New England name for Epigsea 

 repens (which see). 



MAYTENUS (from May ten, the Chilian name of 

 the genus). STN. Hcenkea. ORD. Celastrinece. A genus 

 comprising about fifty species of unarmed, greenhouse 

 or half-hardy, evergreen shrubs or small trees, natives 

 of the tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate Southern 

 regions of America. Flowers white, yellow, or reddish, 

 small, axillary, solitary or fasciculate, or cymose. Cap- 

 sule coriaceous, one to three-celled. Leaves alternate, 

 often distichous, petiolate, coriaceous, serrated. The 

 wood of the arborescent species is extremely hard, and 

 the leaves of the Peruvian kinds are much liked by 

 cattle. The species are not largely grown in this 

 country. For culture, see Celastrus. 



M. Boaria (Boaria). /. white, scattered. I. opposite or alternate, 

 oblong, smooth, serrated, h. 10ft. Chili, 1822. Greenhouse 

 shrub. 



M. chilensls (Chilian), ft. greenish-yellow. May. I. elliptic- 

 oblong, tapering to the base, taper-pointed, with serrated edges. 

 Chili, 1829. Half-hardy tree or shrub. (B. B. 1702.) 



MAZUS (from mazes, a teat ; tubercles closing the 

 mouth of corolla). STN. Hornemannia. ORD. Scrophu- 

 larinea}. A small genus (four species) of low, hairy or 

 glabrous, herbaceous plants, inhabiting India, Eastern 

 Asia, the Malayan Archipelago, and Australia. Corollas 

 pale bluish or white ; pedicels alternate ; racemes ter- 

 minal, sub-secund. Lower leaves and those of the 

 young shoots opposite, those of the floral branches 

 commonly alternate, inciso-crenate or thickly toothed. 

 The undermentioned species is the best. It is an in- 

 teresting, distinct, and pretty perennial, with a vigorous 

 habit, rapidly forming dense tufts, scarcely 3in. in height. 

 It thrives in pots or cold frames, or in the open air, 

 and is best placed in firm, open, bare spots on rock- 

 work, in free, sandy soil, in warm positions. Pro- 

 pagated by divisions. 

 M. pumllio (dwarf).* fl. pale violet, borne on very short stems. 



Early summer. I. spathulate, slightly waved at the edges. 



Australia, &c., 1823. 



ME ADI A. A synonym of Dodecatheon (which see). 



MEADOW FINK. A common name of Dianthus 

 deltoides. 



MEADOW RUE. See Thalictrum. 



MEADOW SAFFRON. See Colchicum. 



MEADOW SWEET. See Spirsea Ulmaria. 



MEALY BUG (Coccus adonidum). This well-known 

 insect pest to cultivated plants belongs to the order 

 Homoptera, and is very nearly allied to the equally 

 hurtful Scale insects, and the Aphides, or Greenflies. 

 From the latter class it differs in its broader and more 

 flattened form, in having two filaments at the end of 

 the abdomen, in never having honey-tubes, and in the 

 males having only two wings. Scale and Mealy Bug are 

 really group names, that include several kinds under 

 each; and, together, they form the family Coccidce, the 

 males of which are minute, and of the structure described 

 above, having no beak with which to feed. The females 

 are usually very much larger than the males, are wing- 

 less, and have a beak. In the Scale insects, the female, 

 after a time, becomes quite inert, and dies, attached to 

 some branch, and covered over with a shield-like coat 

 on the back. In the Mealy Bug, the female remains 

 able to move during life ; and her body is covered, not 

 with a shield-like skin, but with cottony tufts of a white 

 substance, the rings of the body remaining quite distinct 

 when the coating is removed. The substance is secreted 

 in the form of a sticky fluid, which, on the death of the 

 insect, assumes the cottony appearance. With this sub- 

 stance the female covers up her eggs. 



A number of kinds of Coccus have been described ; but 

 the commonest and most injurious in glass houses is 

 C. adonidum. This insect attacks almost all greenhouse 



Mealy Bug continued. 



and stove plants, Vines, &c., but is partial to Dracaena 

 and its allies, asclepiads, and the members of certain 

 other orders. The male is small, of a pale red colour, 

 covered with a white bloom. It has white wings, the 

 front margin of which is spotted with red ; the tail fila- 

 ments are white, and the antennae moderately long. The 

 female is oblong, wingless, red, but covered with white 

 powder, and has the antennas shorter than in the male. 

 She can move freely till the time of laying her eggs has 

 arrived, when her body remains, as a shield for her 

 eggs, under the cottony substance previously referred to. 



Numerous remedies against Mealy Bug have been pro- 

 posed. Probably, the best are washing and scrubbing 

 the branches and diseased leaves with a wash contain- 

 ing soft soap or infusion of tobacco. Spirits of wine 

 (35 p.c.), applied with a small brush, is said to destroy 

 the insects without injuring the plants. Gishurst's Com- 

 pound, oils, and Vine dressings, have also been recom- 

 mended as applications to woody parts, such as branches. 

 All of these are useful insecticides, but are liable to 

 injure the green parts of plants. Smoking, as practised 

 for Aphides, does not materially injure the Mealy Bug's 

 eggs, so that it should be repeated in a few days. 

 Where a greenhouse is much infested, it should be 

 thoroughly cleaned out, and all but the more choice 

 plants should be destroyed. See also Insecticides. 



MEASURES. As Measures in use for the sale of 

 garden produce vary so much in different parts of the 

 country, it will be impracticable to refer to them all 

 here in a few general remarks. Baskets for fruit and 

 vegetables are of various sizes and shapes, according to 

 the several purposes for which they are required. The 

 appended list includes most of the different Measures in 

 use for the London markets. Being frequently made of 

 very thin deal strips, which are more or less flexible, 

 they vary a little in size. Especially is this the case with 

 punnets, so largely used in London for holding nearly all 

 kinds of fruit and salading, in small quantities, for sale. 

 Grapes are put up in 21b. and 41b. punnets; new pota- 

 toes in 21b. punnets. Apples and pears arc put up in 

 bushels, sieves, or half-sieves. Weights are always 16oz. 

 to the pound. 



Bunch. This term is used in speaking of herbs, &c. The size 

 varies according to the season. A bunch of turnips consists of 

 twenty to twenty-five ; of carrots, thirty -six to forty ; of greens, 

 as many as can be tied together by the roots. 



Bundle. A bundle of broccoli, celery, &c., contains six to twenty 

 heads ; seakale, twelve to eighteen heads ; rhubarb, twenty to thirty 

 stems, according to size ; and of asparagus, from 100 to 125. 



Bushel Basket. When heaped, a bushel basket ought to contain 

 1 imperial bushel. Diameter at bottom, lOin. ; at top, 14in. ; 

 depth, 17in. Walnuts, nuts, apples, and potatoes are sold by this 

 measure. A bushel of the last-named, cleansed, weighs 561b., but 

 41b. additional is allowed if they are not washed. A junk contains 

 two-thirds of a bushel. 



Bushel Sieve. There are 10J imperial gallons to a bushel sieve. 

 Diameter at top, 17jin. ; at bottom, 17in. ; depth, lljin. 



Hand. A bunch of radishes, which contains from twelve to thirty, 

 or more, according to the season. 



Mushroom Punnets. These measure 7in. by lin. 



Pottle. A long, tapering basket, that holds rather over li pints. 

 A pottle of strawberries should hold J gallon, but never holds more 

 than 1 quart. A pottle of mushrooms should weigh lib. A pottle 

 of potatoes, = J peck, should weigh 3ilb. 



Radish Punnets. If to hold six hands, Sin. diameter by lin. deep ; 

 or for twelve hands, 9in. by lin. 



Saladinrj Punnets. The size of these is 5in. by 2in. 



Seakale Punnets. Diameter at the top, Sin. ; at the bottom, 7iin. 

 depth, 2in. 



Sieve. This contains 7 imperial gallons. Diameter, 15in. ; depth, 



Sin. A sieve of peas is equal to 1 bushel ; a sieve of currants, 20 

 quarts. A half-sieve contains 3i i 

 12iin. in diameter, and 6in. in depth. 



, 

 3i imperial gallons. It averages 



Land Measures. In measuring the surface of land of 

 considerable extent, what is known as Gunter's Chain is 

 commonly employed by surveyors. It consists of 100 

 links, each measuring 7'92in. in length. The total length 

 is, therefore, 66ft. = 22yds. = 4 poles. This Measure is 



