THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Mildew continued. 



racearum, on various flowers; Microsphcera Berberidis, 

 on Barberry leaves ; M. Grossularice, on Gooseberry bushes ; 

 and Phyllactinia suffulta, on many trees and shrubs. 



Remedies. White Mildews, caused by Oidium, being 

 the only kinds that directly concern horticulturists to any 

 extent, the present remarks are restricted to these. 

 As the parasites are external to the host-plants, they 

 can be attacked directly, and can be eradicated without 

 much injury to the latter. Sulphur has proved to 

 be the most reliable means of destroying the fungus. 

 Flowers of sulphur may be dusted over the leaves and 

 other diseased parts ; or it may be applied with a syringe, 

 if mixed in water. If applied to bunches of grapes, the 

 sulphur must, of course, be washed off before they are 

 sent to the table or the market. Another useful appli- 

 cation is prepared by boiling lib. of flowers of sulphur 

 and lib. of quicklime, in five pints of water, in an earthen 

 pot, for ten minutes. It should be constantly stirred 

 while it is boiling, then allowed to settle, and the clear 

 liquid poured off for use. The plants should be syringed 

 with a mixture of this preparation with 100 times its 

 bulk of water. Washing the greenhouse flues with a 

 mixture of ilb. each of flowers of sulphur and of quick- 

 lime, in three gallons of water, is also recommended. 

 The fumes emitted under this treatment kill the fungus. 

 The door of the house should be kept closed for about 

 an hour, to retain the fumes, and then the place should be 

 well aired. Ewing's Mildew Composition, much diluted 

 (loz. to 1 gallon of tepid water), is used with the syringe, 

 and is also very effective. Mildew is apt to prove most 

 destructive in ill-ventilated situations, and it may often 

 be checked, or even prevented by attention to ventilation. 



MILFOIL. See Achillea. 



MILKMAID, GOLDEN. See Ilex Aquifolium 

 aurea picta latifolia. 



MILK VETCH. See Astragalus. 

 MILKWORT. See Polygala vulgaris. 

 MILXWORT, SEA. See Glanx. 



MILLA (named after J. Milla, a gardener to the 

 Spanish Court, in Madrid). OBD. Liliacece. A mono- 

 typic genus. The species is a hardy bulbous plant. It 

 thrives well when placed in sunny spots in the open 

 border, in good, well-drained, loamy soil. Propagated 

 by seeds, or by offsets. 



M. biflora (two-flowered). fl. umbellate (in natural state soli- 

 tary, or often twin) ; perianth snowy-white inside, greenish out- 

 side, salver-shaped ; tube elongate-campanulate ; limb flat, six- 

 parted. August, continuing a long time in succession, and 

 remaining open at night. I. cylindrical, subulate at apex, 

 flstulose, glaucous, almost equal with the scape. A. 6in. Mexico. 

 (B. B. 1555 ; F. d. S. 1459.) 



M. hyacinthina (Hyacinth-like). A synonym of Brodicca, lactea. 

 M. ixioides (Ixia-like). A synonym of Cattiprora lutca. 



MILLETTIA (named after J. A. Millet, a French 

 botanist of the eighteenth century). STN. Benebera. 

 OBD. LeguminoscB. A genus comprising about forty 

 species of sometimes tall, climbing trees or shrubs, of 

 which one inhabits Australia, and the rest the warmer 

 parts of Asia or Africa. Flowers purple, pink, or 

 whitish ; racemes terminal, or at the apices of the 

 branches, paniculate ; standard ample, spreading or re- 

 flexed. Leaves impari-pinnate ; leaflets often evergreen, 

 penniveined and reticulate veined, and, for the most part, 

 stipulate. The species described below is probably the 

 only one yet introduced. For culture, see Dolichos. 



I. megasperma (large-seeded).* fl. purple, in 

 racemes. I. pinnate, glabrous, glossy, dark green. 

 &c. A handsome, evergreen, woody climber, wit 

 Wistaria sinensis. (B. M. 6541.) 



loose panicled 

 en. Queensland, 

 with the habit of 



MILLINGTONIA (named after Thomas Milling- 

 ton, an English botanist of the eighteenth century, and 

 a writer on vegetable physiology). OBD. Bignoniaceae. 



MiHingtonia continued. 



A monotypic genus, the species being a handsome stove 



evergreen tree, with deeply cracked and spongy bark. 



For culture, see Jacaranda. 



M. hortensis (garden). /. pure white, delightfully fragrant, 

 numerous, large ; corolla with a very long tube, divided into 

 five segments, the two uppermost of which are more or less grown 

 together ; panicle cross-armed, ramifications horizontal, the first 

 tnchotomous, then dichotomous, with generally a simple flower 

 in the fork. Jr. divided into two cells by means of a partition 

 running parallel with the direction of the valves. I. opposite, 

 impari-pinnate ; leaflets quite entire, lin. to Sin. long. h. 80ft. 

 Birma, 1820. (B. F. S. 249.) 



MILLIPEDES (Chilognatha). This group of Myria- 

 poda is of greater importance to gardeners, and de- 

 mands fuller consideration here, than their allies the 

 Centipedes. Millipedes are usually nearly cylindrical 



FIG. 570. MILLIPEDE. 



(see Fig. 570), less often a good deal depressed 

 and flattened, and the origins of the legs are usually 

 brought very close to the middle line of the body 

 below, instead of being rather widely separated. The 

 legs are thus hidden from view below the body in the 

 living animal ; they are also short and individually weak, 

 but are very numerous, though very far below the num- 

 ber indicated by the name Millipede, or Thousand-feet. 

 The three rings immediately behind the head each bear 

 one pair of legs ; but each of the rings behind these 

 seems, at first sight, to bear two pairs of legs. This 

 is due to the rings of the abdomen becoming tightly 

 joined together two and two, while the limbs remain 

 useful for movement, and fully formed. The last pair 

 are not enlarged or noticeable, as in the Centipedes. 

 As in the former group, so in the Millipedes, the only 

 kinds met with here are small, seldom, if ever, surpass- 

 ing 2in. in length ; but, among the species of warmer 

 lands, many kinds are upwards of Gin. long, and are stout 

 in proportion to their length. Almost all of this group 

 are in the habit, when disturbed, of curling up the body 

 into a spiral, so as to protect the head, with its various 

 organs, from injury. The Millipedes do not possess 

 poison-tubes. They feed, in great part, on decaying 

 vegetable tissues, and they may frequently be met with 

 among dead leaves and other rubbish. In gardens, they 

 may often be found under, or in, flower-pots ; and they do 

 damage, at times, to the potted plants, as well as to 

 fleshy roots and tubers in the soil, and to fallen fruits, 

 or to Strawberries. Occasionally they also injure ger- 

 minating seeds of various cultivated plants, such as 

 Beans, Turnips, &c. It may, at times, be found neces- 

 sary to diminish their numbers where they are very 

 plentiful. The most hurtful kinds are found to be Julus 

 guttulatus, J. terrestris, and Polydesmus complanatus 

 the List-named being the flattened Millipede so abundant 

 everywhere. 



Remedies. These are seldom pressingly required. Deep 

 trenching tends to lessen any superabundance. Traps 

 may be used, in the form of pieces of carrot, or fallen 

 fruits, laid on the soil. These should be frequently 

 examined, and the Millipedes on them destroyed. 



MILTITZIA. A synonym of Emmenanthe (which 

 see). 



MILTONIA (named after Viscount Milton, after- 

 wards Earl Fitzwilliam). OBD. Orchidece. A genus 

 comprising about a score species of very beautiful, 

 epiphytal orchids, with showy flowers. They are, with 

 the exception of one from Peru, all Brazilian, and 

 are allied to Oncidium and Odontoglossum, but distin- 

 guished from both by the short column. Flowers large ; 

 sepals and petals alike ; lip undivided, sessile, continuous 

 with the column, marked with interrupted lines near its 



