MIS 



[ 008 ] 



MIX 



plant, Misdta. The best months for 

 sowing it are February and March. 

 Make 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 un- 

 derneath 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 cu- 

 cumber plants, soon appear. They 

 remain 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 propa- 

 gated by grafts, and it is said that it 

 will succeed upon any tree. It is cer- 

 tainly found upon the pine in Ger- 

 many, but we question very much whe- 

 ther 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 in- 

 sert into it a thin slice of Mistletoe, 

 having a bud and one leaf at the end. 

 Grafts larger than half-an-inch in dia- 

 meter 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. Bud 

 ding the Mistletoe may also be prac- 

 tised in the middle of May. Mr. Bea- 

 ton says it is only a modification of 

 grafting, a heel of Avood being retained 

 below the bud for insertion. 



MITCHE'LLA. (Named after Dr. 

 Mitchell, of Virginia. Nat. ord., Cm- 

 chonads [Cinchonacese]. Linn., 4-7V- 

 trandria \-Monogynia.} 



Hardy herbaceous creeper. Division, cut- 

 tings under a hand-light, and layering the 

 running stems; sandy fibry peat, either in a 

 sheltered American border, or in a pot protected 

 lilse tbe generality of Alpine plants. 



M. re'pens (creeping). . White. June. 

 North America. 1731. 



MITE'LLA. (The diminutive of mitra, 

 a mitre ; referring to the shape of the 

 seed-pods. Nat. ord., Saxifrages [Saxi- 

 fragacese] . Linn., IQ-Decandria 2-Digy- 

 nia. Allied to Heucheria.) 



Hardy, white-flowered, herbaceous perennials 

 from North America. Division of the roots, in 

 spring; common garden soil. Pretty for 

 border or rockwork. 

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



diphy'lla (two-leaved). . April. 1/31. 



nu'da (naked-stemmed). 4> July. 1/58. 



penta'ndra (five - stamened) . 3 . Yellow. 



June. 1827. 



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



tri'fida (three-cleft-petaled). . May. 182;. 



MITRA'RIA. (From mitra, a mitre ; 

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

 Gesnerworts [GesneraceseJ. Linn., 14- 

 Didynamia 2-An(/iospermia. 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 

 Klant for the greenhouse, and supposed to be 

 ardy enough for all sheltered places out of 

 doors ; sandy peat and fibry loam. 

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

 San Carlo de Chiles. 1848. 



MITRACA'RPUM. (From mitra, a mitre, 

 and karpos, a fruit. Nat. ord., Cincho- 

 nads [Cinchonaceae]. Linn., \-Tetran- 

 dria 1-Monogynia. Allied to Kicbard- 

 sonia.) 



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. 



stylo'sum (long-styled). 1. August. Ma- 



nilla. 1819. 



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



MIXTURE OF 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 gra- 

 velly soils of Spring Pai'k, near Croy- 

 don, the ground is often excavated to a 



