MOTH MULLEIN. 



MULBERRY TREE. 



are found to be the best for keeping all articles 

 from moths and other vermin. The cloth lin- 

 ings of carriages can be secured forever from 

 the attacks of moths by being washed or sponged 

 on both sides with a solution of the corrosive 

 sublimate of mercury in alcohol, made just 

 strong enough not to leave a white stain on a 

 black feather. Moths can be killed by fumi- 

 gating th.e article containing them with tobacco 

 smoke or with sulphur, or by shutting it in a 

 tight vessel and then plunging the latter into 

 boiling water, or exposing it to steam, for the 

 space of 15 minutes, or by putting it into an 

 oven heated to about 150 degrees of Fahren- 

 heit's thermometer. 



Stored grain is exposed to much injury from 

 the depredations of two little moths, in Europe, 

 and is attacked in the same way, and apparent- 

 ly by the same insects, in the United States. 

 See CORK-MOTH, GRAIN-WEEVIL, and INSECTS. 



MOTH MULLEIN. See MULLEIN. 



MOTTLED. In botany, signifies marked 

 with blotches of colour of unequal intensity, 

 passing insensibly into each other. It is syno- 

 nymous with maculated; as, for instance, in 

 the stems of common hemlock (Cow'uw macu- 

 latum'). 



MOULD. A general name for the finely 

 divided earthy substance that forms the upper 

 stratum or surface soil of land, and in which 

 all kinds of vegetables strike root and thrive. 

 See ANALYSIS OF SOILS, EAHTHS, and Hi- Mrs. 



MOULD-BOARD. See PLOUGH. 



MOULD ON HOPS. A vegetable disease, 

 which is liable to affect the hop plant, in the 

 more advanced periods of its growth, and pro- 

 duce much mischief to the crop. See MILDEW 

 and HOPS. 



MOULDEB AERT. This implement of Flem- 

 ish husbandry resembles a large square malt- 

 shovel : it is strongly prepared with three bars 

 of iron on the lower side, secured by 12 bolts, 

 and is drawn by a pair of horses with swingle- 

 trees. It is used for transporting compost, 

 mould, &c., from one spot to another. Its usual 

 dimensions are as follows: breadth across, 3 

 feet 6 inches ; length, 3 feet; height of back, 1 

 foot 6 inches ; length of handle, 4 feet. The 

 person who drives, with long reins, by pressing 

 moderately on the handle as the horses go for- 

 ward, collects and transports about 5 cwt of 

 earth to the place where it is to be laid down, 

 which is done in the most expeditious manner, 

 by his letting go the handle ; this causes the 

 front edge of the implement to dip and catch 

 against the ground, whereby it is at once turned 

 over and emptied of its load. The extremity 

 of the handle, to which a rope is affixed, by 

 this upsetting strikes against, and rests upon, 

 the swingle-tree bar, and in this manner the 

 mouldebaert is drawn along towards the heap 

 of earth or compost; the driver then, by taking 

 up the rope, draws back the handle, collects 

 his load as before, proceeds to the spot which 

 is to receive it, and the horses are never for a 

 moment delayed. 



MOULTING. Tffe fall of the plumage of 

 birds. It may be either partial or total: the 

 complete moult generally takes place annually ; 

 the partial moult occurs at the change of plum- 

 age to which some species of birds are subject 



! at the breeding season. The moult is always 

 | accompanied by the developement of a new 

 I plumage, which may be of a different colour 

 from that which is lost. 



MOUNTAIN ASH. See ROWAN TREE. 

 MOUNTAIN EBONY (Bauhinia; in memo- 

 ry of John and Caspar Bauhin, botanists of the 

 I sixteenth century). A genus of showy and 

 I interesting evergreen shrubs, which will suc- 

 ceed well in a mixture of sand, loam, and 

 peat. 



MOUNTAIN LAUREL. See KALMIA LATI- 



FOLfA. 



MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY (Betula knta). 

 Black Birch. See Biuni. 

 MOUSE-EAR CHICK WEED. See CHICK- 



WEKT). 



MOUSE -EAR SCORPION-GRASS. See 

 SCORPIOX-GRASS. 



MOW. A pile or heap of corn, straw, or 

 hay placed together for the purpose of being 

 kept dry. See STACK and RICK. 



MOW-BURNT. A term applied to such 

 substances as are over-heated in the mow by 

 the process of fermentation. 



MOWING. The act of cutting down corn, 

 grass, &c., by the scythe. 



MOWING MACHINES. See REAPIX; MA- 

 MUCILAGE. A turbid, slimy fluid, pro- 

 duced by treating some vegetable substances 

 with cold water, others with hot. It resembles 

 gum, but is distinguished from it by not form- 

 ing a thick curd with the solution of Goulard's 

 extract. See STARCH, LINSEED, MARSH MAL- 

 LOW, &c. 



MUCK. A farming term for any sort of ma- 

 terial, such as dung, straw, &c., that is moist, 

 or in a fermenting or decomposing state. 



MUD. The mechanically suspended matters 

 of water deposited at the bottom of rivers, ponds, 

 ditches, &c. As much of this kind of material 

 should be collected as possible, and be thrown 

 up into heaps in order to become mellow. It 

 contains much carbonaceous matter, and is an 

 excellent manure, either in the simple or com- 

 pound state, mixed with compost, or with a 

 bushel of lime or salt to each cubic yard. 



MUD WORT (Limosella ; from limos, mud, in 

 allusion to the habitation of the species ; 

 whence, also, the English name). , The com- 

 mon mudwort (L. aquatica) is an English 

 annual subaquatic plant, growing in muddy 

 spots, where water has stagnated during winter. 

 The herb is diminutive and quite smooth. 



MUGWORT (Artemisia vulgaris}. This spe- 

 cies of Artemisia grows very common about 

 English hedges, in waste ground, and the rough 

 borders of fields. This species is weakly aro- 

 matic, and bitterish ; and has, from remote 

 antiquity, been esteemed an active warm me- 

 dicine in decoction. 



MULBERRY TREE (Morus ; from the Celtic 

 word mor, signifying black, in allusion to the 

 colour of the fruit). The species of Morus, or 

 mulberry, grow from 10 to 30 feet high. A 

 moist situation and loamy soil, with a free ex- 

 posure to the sun, suit them best. 



1. The common mulberry (M. nigra) is in 

 general cultivation for the sale of its fruit, 

 which is well known. 



835 



