2074 MUCKLAND-GARDENING 



MUEHLENBECKIA 



and 500 pounds of nitrate of soda to the acre. Never 

 sow spinach on a new muck, as it will not do well. 



Vegetable crops adapted to muckland. 



The main crops grown on muckland in the north- 

 eastern states are onions, celery, and lettuce, but there 

 are many other crops that yield good returns to the 

 grower. Potatoes grown on muckland are, as a rule, 

 not very good for eating purposes but they make the 

 choicest kind of seed stock. A good business could be 

 worked up on muckland-grown seed potatoes. 



Sweet corn grows very well on muck and the yield 

 is large, but it must be grown for canning purposes as 

 the season is not long enough fully to mature the crop. 

 Peas for canning purposes do well. Beets for winter use 

 or for canning while small yield large crops. Carrots 

 yield enormous crops of excellent quality. Parsnips 

 do well on well-drained muck but not unless the water- 

 table is low. Horse-radish grows to perfection and the 

 quality is good. Spinach grows better on old muck 

 than on any other kind of soil, and the quality is far 

 superior to upland spinach, as it is entirely free from 

 grit. Asparagus grows to perfection on well-drained 

 muck but the water-level must be kept down below 

 the crowns during the winter months or it will rot them. 

 Cauliflower grows well on muckland. Cabbage does 

 very well on shallow muck, but is likely to head soft 

 on deep muck. Asters and sweet peas for cut-flowers 

 grow to perfection on muck, and there is a good demand 

 for the blossoms in the large cities. Gladioli grown for 

 bulbs do very well on muck. 



Tillage and handling of muckland. 



There are many different opinions as to how muck 

 should be tilled. Some growers believe in deep plowing 

 so as to get the best of conditions possible for a good 

 root-growth. However, deep plowing should never be 

 practised hi the spring. If virgin muck soil is brought 

 to the surface in spring or summer, it will bake and 

 form lumps much like soft coal, and will not hold 

 the moisture and therefore the crops will not do well. 

 The deep plowing should be done in the fall after the 

 frost has worked on the virgin subsoil which when 

 brought to the top becomes pulverized and will be in 

 fine condition for cropping the next spring. When the 

 frost is out of the ground hi the spring, break the soil 

 up thoroughly with a cultivator to a depth of 6 inches, 

 and put on the first application of fertilizer. Work 

 this well into the soil by dragging it three or four times 

 and then go over the land with aleveler, after which the 

 seed is sown. 



Deep cultivation in the early spring helps to dry out 

 the soil and warms it up, and causes the roots of the 

 crop to work deeply into the ground. As the crops grow 

 and the weather and soil warm up, cultivation must be 

 continued, but of less depth so that the roots are not 

 cut off. If shallow cultivation is practised at first, the 

 root-growth will all be near the surface and when 

 dry weather sets in, roots will have no moisture and 

 Jhe plants stop growing until they can send roots down 

 into the moist soil. A mulch of dry muck for a depth 

 of 1 or 2 inches will carry the crop through a dry spell 

 in good condition. In wet weather the land should be 

 left in ridges after cultivating, as this helps to dry it. 

 In dry weather, however, it should be left as level as 

 possible hi order to hold the moisture. 



HENRY GREPFRATH. 



MUCUNA (Brazilian name). Legumindsse. Under 

 this name several annual bean-like vines have been 

 grown in the southern states for forage, green-manuring 

 and ornament. The genus, as accepted by the stand- 

 ard works, has recently been divided, however, and the 

 giants cultivated in this country are separated under 

 tizolobium (which see). 



Mucuna, as thus re-defined (Bort,Bull. No. 141 Bur. 

 PL Ind., U. S. Dept. Agric., and Piper & Tracy, Bull. No. 



179, same), is a genus of perennials, whereas Stizolobium 

 is annual or essentially so; in Mucuna, the hilum on 

 the seed is much elongated and band-like, extending 

 nearly all the way around the seed; in Stizolobium, the 

 hilum is linear,, elevated and oblong-crateriform, extend- 

 ing from one-fifth to nearly one-fourth of the circum- 

 ference of the seed; there are also marked differences in 

 germination. As thus restricted, Mucuna appears to 

 have no species cult, hi this country. L. H. B. 



MUEHLENBECKIA (after Dr. Muehlenbeck, a 

 Swiss physician). Polygondcese. A rather small group 

 of climbing or erect, usually slightly shrubby plants, 

 all inhabitants of the South Temperate Zone. 



Leaves alternate, with sheathing stipules at the base: 

 fls. unisexual, small, fascicled in the If .-axils; perianth 

 with 5 nearly equal lobes; stamens 8; ovary 1-celled, 

 1-ovuled; styles 3: achene obtuse or acute, 3-angled, 

 crustaceous, about equaling the succulent perianth. 

 Ornamental plants, various in appearance. Species 

 about 15. 



A. Stigma fringed. 

 B. Sts. very flat and broad. 



platyclada, Meissn. (Coccdloba platydada, F. MuelL). 

 A very interesting, erect, shrubby plant with broad, 

 flat, ribbon -like, glossy, delicately striate branches 

 replacing the Ivs., which are scanty or entirely want- 

 ing: Ivs. membranous, oblong-lanceolate, sometimes 

 hastate: bracts and stipules very short: fls. white, in 

 few-fld. clusters: achenes included in the fleshy peri- 

 anth, which at maturity is bright red or at length deep 

 purple and quite showy. Solomon Isls. B.M. 5382. 

 Frequently grown in greenhouses because of the odd 

 flat sts. and showy fr. 



BB. Sts. slender and nearly terete: Ivs. fiddle-shaped. 



varians, Meissn. Somewhat shrubby at base: sts. 

 smooth, herbaceous, filiform, twining; internodes 

 elongated: sheaths white, narrow, 3 lines long: Ivs. 1 

 in. or less long, petioled, ovate, acuminate, deeply lobed 

 at the middle on each side, fiddle-shaped; sinus broad 

 or narrow-obtuse; otherwise entire: racemes axillary, 

 solitary or in 2's, simple or bifid, forming a terminal 

 leafy panicle 3-4 in. long; fls. subsessile, similar to those 

 of Polygonum avicvlare. Habitat (?). 



AA. Stigma papillose. 



B. Sts. low, rarely twining: Ivs. 3-5 lines long. 

 complexa, Meissn. WIRE PLANT. A twining or 

 drooping, somewhat shrubby plant: st. slender and 

 much-branched, glabrous except when very young: lys. 

 very small, 3-5 fines long, light green, about equaling 

 the petiole, mostly fiddle-shaped, rarely hastate; sheaths 

 small, tubular, deciduous: fls. 1-6, in somewhat race- 

 mose, pubescent clusters, green and inconspicuous: fr. 

 with a succulent, transparent, whitish, persistent 

 perianth. New Zeal. B.M. 8449. A graceful basket 

 plant. Fr.-clusters glistening, showy. It is sometimes 

 called Polygonum by florists. A popular high-climbing 

 vine in Calif., on chimneys and elsewhere. Of variable 

 habit. 



BB. Sts. coarser, twining, reddish: Ivs. larger. 



chilensis, Meissn. Somewhat shrubby, glabrous: 

 branches strongly sulcate, loosely twining, angular, 

 "bright red:" Ivs. somewhat fleshy or coriaceous, 

 petioled, triangular or hastate-cordate, ovate, oblong 

 or lanceolate, truncate or attenuate at base, 1-nerved; 

 margin entire, somewhat revolute, smooth: racemes 

 axillary and terminal, solitary, simple, lax and leafless, 

 rarely contracted; bracts about equaling the pedicels: 

 achenes subglobose, 3-angled. Chile and Peru. 



M. adpressa, Meissn. Large, diffuse, bushy plant, with small 

 pink fls. in paniculate spikes: Ivs. up to 2 in. long, broadly oblong, 

 often cordate, glabrous. Austral. B.M. 3145 (as Polygonum). 

 Cult, in Eu. M nana, Hort., is said to be a dwarf form. The 

 botanical status is uncertain. 



