1014 



MIGNONETTE 



MILKWORT 



material with a little rough stuff from the potting bench 

 and pot the plants firmly, leaving the space of an inch 

 at the top of the pot for water. Watering should be 

 done sparingly until the plants fill the pots with roots. 

 By this time the plants should be 4 inches tall, and the 

 center shoot should now be pinched out to induce enough 

 of the side shoots to form the foundation of the plants. 

 The center shoot will produce 2 or 3 side shoots below 

 where it was pinched, and with 6 or 7 bottom side shoots 

 will form the basis of the plant. Rub off any other side 

 shoots as they appear. After the plants have grown to 

 a height of 6 or 7 inches they must be staked and tied ; 

 a stake in the center for the center shoot and one for 

 the side shoots will be sufficient. After the plants have 

 attained a height of 10 or 12 inches, and before the flower 

 heads begin to show, pinch the center out of all the 

 shoots with the finger and thumb at the same time so as 

 to induce the plant to flower all at one time, for if pinched 

 two or three weeks apart the flower heads will come 

 irregularly and the plants will not look so well. As soon 

 as the flower heads begin to show the plants should have 

 a little weak liquid manure twice a week and as they 

 develop and the roots get crowded in the pots they will 

 require more feeding. Put about a bushel of sheep ma- 

 nure in a bag and drop it in a barrel of water for two or 

 three days before using. This makes a very good liquid 

 food for the plants; also chicken manure treated the 

 same way but used in lesser quantity about a half a 

 bushel to 50 gallons of water will be about right. If the 

 plants have been carefully watered and attention paid 

 to staking and training, the grower will be amply re- 

 warded with nice specimen plants having from 12 to 20 

 flower spikes to a plant. 



Seed-saving. Plants wanted for seed should be care- 

 fully selected. Only the very best plants with clean, 

 healthy foliage and large bracts or flower heads, with the 

 florets set close together, are the ideal plants for seed. 

 If the plants are growing in a house or near other plants 

 that are not so good they should be covered with mos- 

 quito netting to prevent the bees from cross-fertilizing 

 them. After the heads have set, say from 20-25 pods, 

 the center should be pinched out, for if allowed to grow 

 and set more the seed will be of an inferior quality. 

 When the seed begins to turn brown in the seed-pods the 

 pods should be picked off and laid in an airy room for a 

 day or two on paper, so that none may be lost. After the 

 pods are dry, so that the seed will rub out clean, the seed 

 should be cleaned, put in a package and placed in tin 

 boxes to keep from mice, as these pests are very fond 



of it. 



ROBERT MCMILLEN. 



MIGNONETTE VINE. See Boussingaultia. 



MIKANIA (Prof. J. G. Mikan, of Prague, or his son 

 and successor, J. C. Mikan, who collected in Brazil). 

 Compdsitce. This includes M. scandens, the Climbing 

 Hempweed, a common native weed, but a pretty one. It 

 has distinct foliage, the Ivs. being somewhat heart- 

 shaped or halberd-shaped, and long-acuminate. The fls. 

 are very small, numerous, pinkish, and borne in dense 

 clusters 1-2 in. across. These clusters, as in all the spe- 

 cies, are composed of many small heads, each containing 



4 fls., surrounded by an involucre of 4 bracts. The genus 

 contains about 60 species, mostly found in the warmer 

 parts of America. Shrubs or herbs, the latter twining, 

 rarely erect: Ivs. opposite, usually stalked: heads spi- 

 cate, racemose, corymbose or panicled: fls. mostly white 

 or yellowish. Nearest to Eupatorium, but the latter has 

 an indefinite number of involucral bracts instead of 4, 

 and contains erect plants. 



scandens, Willd. CLIMBING HEMPWEED. Described 

 above. Moist ground, New Eng. to Fla. and Tex. G.W.F. 

 34. Very rarely offered by dealers in native plants. 



Sanderi, Hort. Hothouse climbers, with variegated 

 foliage. Int. 1899 by Sander & Co., who say the Ivs. are 

 richly embellished with dark velvet-purple patches ; 

 veins of mature Ivs. white. The Ivs. are about 6 in. long, 



5 in. wide, boldly toothed. 



M. violdcea, offered by Pitcher & Manda in 1895, is little 

 Known. 



MILDEW. This name is given to a group of fungous 

 diseases which attack leaves, shoots, flowers and fruits. 

 The true or powdery Mildews (Erysiphero) appear as 

 a thin, white, powdery coating on the surface of the 

 plants. The disease is usually accompanied by dis- 

 tortion and dwarfing, and often death of the affected 

 parts. In some cases, however, as in the maple Mildew, 

 the affected areas of the leaves retain their chlorophyl 

 and remain green in the autumn long after the rest of 

 the leaf is dead and yellow. The mycelium is always 

 superficial, forming spots or more or less extended areas 

 on the affected organs. The injury is done by numerous 

 haustoria, which penetrate, the cells of the host and ab- 

 sorb nutriment for the mycelium, and also serve as 

 organs of attachment. During the summer Mildews are 

 propagated by 1-celled spores, many of which are cut off 

 in succession from erect, simple branches all over the 

 diseased surface. Other spores, by means of which the 

 fungus passes through the winter, are produced in sacs 

 inclosed within hollow spherical receptacles, called peri- 

 thecia. These appear as minute black or dark brown 

 specks over the diseased area. They are produced in the 

 autumn, and remain on the fallen leaves; but the spores 

 within them do not ripen until the following spring, 

 when they are liberated by the decay of the perithecia. 



In the United States, considerable injury is caused by 

 the following species : The rose Mildew, Sphcerotheca 

 pannosa, on roses under glass; ErysipTie graminis on 

 wheat and other grasses; the vine Mildew, (fncinula 

 spiralis, producing the powdery Mildew of grapes ; Podo- 

 sphcera Oxycanthce on apples and pears; and Sphwro- 

 theca Castagnei, the hop Mildew. The most successful 

 mode of combatting the Mildews is by dusting with sul- 

 fur or spraying with Bordeaux mixture. Either of these 

 fungicides kills the mycelium and spores of the fungus. 



The downy Mildews or false Mildews belong to the 

 Peronosporese, a group of fungi widely separated from 

 the true Mildews. The mycelium is parasitic within the 

 tissues of the host, only the fruiting branches appear- 

 ing at the surface (see Fig. 879). The fruiting branches 

 have a characteristic form and method of ramification 

 for each genus of the group. The spores, when they 

 lodge on new host-plants, either produce an infecting 

 thread directly,or, in most cases, the contents of the spore 

 is discharged in the form of swarm-spores, which swim 

 about for a time and finally come to rest and produce 

 the infecting mycelium. Resting spores are produced 

 sexually in this group within the tissues of the host. 



This family contains about ten genera, of which the 

 following are most commonly known : Phytophthorc 

 infestans, the potato blight - r Plasmopara viticola, th( 

 downy Mildew of grapes ; Bremia Lactucce, often causing 

 great damage to lettuce in forcing-houses* Pythium De- 

 baryanum, causing damping-off of seedling cucumber 

 and various other seedling plants; and Cystopus can- 

 didus, the common white rust of crucifers. Modes of 

 combatting these diseases are set forth for each specific 

 case in the experiment station literature of the various 

 states. See, also, Diseases. HEINRICH HASSELBRING. 



MILFOIL, See AcJiillea. 



MtLIUM (ancient Latin name of Millet, which, how- 

 ever, belongs to a different genus). Gramince. MILLI 

 GRASS. Contains 5-6 species distributed through tem- 

 perate Europe and Asia, one of which is also found ii 

 North America, and is occasionally cult, for ornament. 

 Spikelets 1-fld., in diffuse panicles. Empty glumes 

 awnless, the flowering glume coriaceous, as in Panicum. 

 Farmer's Bulletin, No. 101, issued by the U. S. Dept. 

 of Agric. is devoted to Millets (but not to Milium). 



effusum, Linn. A smooth perennial, 3-6 ft. high: Ivs. 

 broad and thin: panicle 6-9 in. long. 



A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



MILK PEA. Galactia. 



MILK VETCH. Astragalus. 



MILKWEED. Asclepias in general; A. Cornuti 

 particular. 



MILKWORT. Polygala. 



