MIT 



MIX 



two cuts in the shape of the letter V, on 

 the under-side of the branch of an apple- 

 tree. Make the cuts quite down to the 

 wood of the branch ; raise the tongue of 

 bark made by the cuts, but not so as to 

 break it, and put underneath one or two 

 seeds freshly squeezed from the Mistletoe 

 berry. Let the tongue back into its place, 

 and the process is completed. If the 

 seed is good, the seedlings, not unlike 

 cucumber plants, soon appear. They re- 

 main attached to the branch, and do not 

 seem to injure the tree. 



Open the bark underneath the branch 

 to receive the seed, because it is thus 

 preserved from an accumulation of rain 

 water, and is shaded from the sun. 



The Mistletoe may also be propagated 

 by grafts ; and it is said that it will suc- 

 ceed upon any tree. It is certainly found 

 upon the pine in Germany ; but we ques- 

 tion very much whether it would live 

 upon the walnut. It will grow, yet with 

 difficulty, upon the oak; but it readily 

 takes upon the apple, pear, poplar, and 

 willow. Mr. Beaton says (Gard. Mag. 

 iii. 207, N. S.), the first weeks of May are 

 best for grafting the Mistletoe, and it 

 should never be inserted less than five 

 nor more than ten feet from the ground. 

 Make an incision in the bark of the tree, 

 and insert into it a thin slice of Mistletoe, 

 having a bud and one leaf at the end. 

 Grafts larger than half an inch in 

 diameter require a notch to be cut out of 

 the branch, the incision to receive the 

 scion being made below this notch, and 

 a shoulder left on the scion to rest on 

 the notch, as in crown-grafting. Budding 

 the Mistletoe may also be practised in 

 the middle of May. Mr. Beaton says it 

 is only a modification of grafting, a heel 

 of wood being retained below the bud 

 for insertion. 



MITCHE'LIA. (Named after Dr. Mit- 

 chell, of Virginia. Nat. ord., Cinchonads 

 [CinchonaceseJ. Linn., k-Tetrandria 1- 

 Monoygnia.) 



Hardy herbaceous creeper. Division, cuttings 

 under a hand-light, and layering the running 

 stems ; sandy, fibry peat, either in a sheltered 

 American border, or in a pot protected like the 

 generality of alpine plants. 

 M. re'pens (creeping). $. White. June. N. Amer. 

 1731. 



MITE. See ACARUS. 



MITE'LLA. (The diminutive of mitra, 

 R mitre; referring to the shape of the 

 seed-pods. Nat.ord.,a;i/h/0es [Saxifra- 



. Linn., IQ-Decandria l-Di 

 Allied to Heuchera. ) 



Hardy, white-flowered, herbaceous perennials, 

 from North America. Division of the roots in 

 spring ; common garden-soil. Pretty for border 

 or rock-work. 

 M. cordifo'lia (heart-leaved). $. May. 1812. 



diphy'lla (two-leaved). . April. 1731. 



nu'da (naked-stemmed). . July. 1758. 



pmtu'ndru (five-stamened). 4. Yellow. June. 



1827. 



prostra'ta (lying-down). $. May. 1818. 



tri'fida (three-clef t-petaled). . May. 1827. 



MITEACA'EPITM. (From mitra, a mitre, 

 and karpos, & fruit. Nat. ord., Cinchonads 

 [Cinchonacesej. Linn., -Tetrandria 1- 

 Monoyynia. Allied to Eichardsonia.) 



Stove annuals, with white flowers. Seeds in a 

 hotbed, in March, potted and hardened off to 

 bloom in the stove and greenhouse during the 

 summer. 

 M.Fische'ri (Fischer's). 1. July. Jamaica. 1821. 



hi'rtum (hairy). . July. Jamaica. 1818. 



stylu'sum (long-styled), 1. August. Manilla. 



181Q. 



villo'sum (shaggy). $. July. Jamaica. 1816. 



MITRA 'RIA. (From mitra, a mitre; 

 referring to the seed-pod. Nat. ord., 

 Gesnerworts [Gesneracese]. Linn., 14- 

 Didynamia 2-Angiospermia. Allied to 

 Columnea.) 



Evergreen shrub. Cuttings of the half-ripened 

 shoots in sand, under a bell-glass, in summer ; 

 better-ripened shoots under a hand-light, in a 

 shady place. A beautiful spring plant for the 

 greenhouse, and supposed to be hardy enough for 

 all sheltered places out of doors ; sandy peat and 

 fibry loam. 



M. cocci'nea (scarlet). 4. Scarlet. July. San Carlo 

 de Chiloe. 1848. 



MIXTURE or SOILS is one of the most 

 ready and cheapest modes of improving 

 their staple, and thus rendering them 

 more fertile ; and upon the subject we have 

 nothing to add to the following excellent 

 remarks of Mr. Cuthbert Johnson : 



" I have witnessed, even in soils to all 

 appearance similar in composition, some 

 very extraordinary results from their 

 mere mixture. Thus, in the gravelly 

 soils of Spring Park, near Croydon, the 

 ground is often excavated to a depth of 

 many feet, through strata of barren gravel 

 and red sand, for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing the white or silver sand which exists 

 beneath them. When this fine sand is re- 

 moved, the gravel and red sand are thrown 

 back into the pit, the ground merely 

 levelled, and then either let to cottagers 

 for gardens, or planted with forest trees. 

 In either case the effect is remark able 

 all kinds of either fir or deciduous trees 

 will now vegetate with increased luxuri- 



