242 



HENDEBSON'S HANDBOOK OP PLANTS 



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inches long and planted four ot* five feet apart 

 each way, and three or four inches deep. The 

 crop receives shallow culture until sufficiently- 

 grown to hold its own against weeds. It may 

 be left to grow for two years with advantage, 

 thus requiring a minimum of culture. It is 

 calculated that from ten to fifty tons of roots 

 of one year's growth ought to be obtained 

 from an acre of land according to its quality. 

 Besides those already mentioned it can be put 

 to a variety of uses, the Florida house-wives 

 having used it for making bread, puddings, 

 custards, fritters, jellies, etc., and also as a 

 vegetable in all the ways in which potatoes 

 are used. The root of M. vtilissima (Syn. Jan- 

 ipha manihot) is virulently poisonous and bit- 

 ter. The poisonous juice is however express- 

 ed in the process of manufacture and when 

 allowed to settle, deposits what is known as 

 Brazilian Arrowroot or Tapioca. It is from 

 this that the Tapioca of Commerce is pre- 

 pared. 



Manna. See Alhagi, Orrms, Tamarix and Rocella. 



Manna Ash. See Omua. 



Man-of-the-Iiarth. See Ipomoui. 



Man Orchis, or Green Man Orchis. A name 

 usually given to Aceras anthropophora, which 

 see. 



Manti'sia. Opera Girls. Named after the in- 

 sect Mantis, to which the flowers have been 

 compared. Nat. Ord. Soitaminem. 



Hot house herbaceous evergreens from the 

 East Indies. One of the species has long 

 been grown in some countries for the singu- 

 larity and beauty of its flowers, which present 

 some appearance of a ballet dancer, hence the 

 popular name. Dancing Girls, applied to the 

 plant. The filament and anther, with its 

 wing-like margins, represent the head and 

 neck of the lady, the long inner segments of 

 the corolla represent the arms, while the label- 

 lum corresponds to the dress. The flowers 

 are purple and yellow ; they were introduced 

 in 1808, and are propagated by root division. 



Manu'Iea. From mowMS,«the hand; in allusion 

 to the divisions of the corolla. Nat. Ord. 

 SerophwIaariacecB. 



A genus of about twenty-five species of 

 green-house plants ; natives of southern 

 Africa. They are handsome plants with 

 golden-yellow, or orange-colored flowers, of 

 easy cultivation, though rarely found except 

 in large collections. M. rubra, yellow, and 

 M. tomentosa, orange, are the best known 

 species, and are easily increased by cuttings 

 or by seed. 



Manures. . There are few soils or conditions 

 under which crops can be grown successfully 

 without tlie use of manures, consequently, 

 their aid is of the utmost importance to every 

 operator in the soil whether professional or 

 amateur. According to the experiments 

 which have been made — all substances enter- 

 ing into the composition of vegetable manure 

 or food, should be in a state of fluidity, or in 

 the form of gas. The great object therefore 

 In the application of manure should be to 

 make it afford as much soluble matter as is 

 possible to the roots of the plant, and in so 

 gradual a manner that it may be entirely con- 

 sumed in producing the required crop. Every 

 substance, organic or inorganic, that adds 

 directly or indirectly to the fertility of the 



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soil may therefore be considered a manure. 

 The comparative value of the manures must 

 be regulated by the cost. If rotted stable man- 

 ure whether from horses or cows, can be deliv- 

 ered on the grounds at $3 per ton, it is about 

 as valuable for fertilizing purposes, as Peru- 

 vian Guano at $65 per ton, or pure bone dust 

 at $40 per ton. It is better than any of these 

 or any other concentrated fertilizer, from the 

 fact of its mechanical action on the land — 

 that is, its effects from its light porous 

 nature in aerating and pulverizing the soil. 

 The method of its application is so well known 

 that it is not necessary to go further into 

 detail. 



Fish. On the coasts of New Jersey, Con- 

 necticut, Long Island, etc., Fish are often 

 used as a manure. When composted with sea- 

 weed and soil, decomposition is very rapid 

 and the quantity applied to the land must be 

 according to the strength of the compost. It 

 is a valuable manure for all early vegetable 

 crops. 



Gabden Eefuse of almost any description 

 is valuable as a manure, either composted with 

 lime and soil, or dug in, when green. Leaf- 

 soil collected from woods where the leaves 

 have decayed naturally tUl those beneath the 

 surface have become changed into a 

 light mold is of great value in heavy soils, 

 and in all composts where turfy peat cannot 

 be had. For Bhododendrons, Azaleas, and 

 many fine-rooted, hard-wooded plants, its 

 value is not sufflciently recognized in many 

 places where quantities might easily be col- 

 lected. Nothing is better suited for improv- 

 ing flower-beds, or for adding to soil of 

 any description for placing round trees, 

 shrubs, or plants, whose roots it is desired to 

 encourage. 



Mtjck is the name given to a deposit 

 usually largely composed of vegetable matter, 

 found in swamps or in hollows of forest lands. 

 Of itself it has usually but Httle fertilizing 

 property, but from its porous nature when 

 dry, it is one of the best materials to use for 

 mixing with other manures as an absorbent ; 

 mixed with night soil it is the basis of Pou- 

 drette, a well known commercial fertilizer. 



Limb. Under certain conditions and for 

 certain crops, the use of Lime as a manure 

 is often attended with excellent results. 

 Quick-lime is extremely caustic, and possesses 

 the power of decomposing animal and vege- 

 table substances. Its chemical action there- 

 fore brings the component parts of the soil 

 into a proper condition for being absorbed by 

 the roots of plants ; hence its fertilizing value 

 on land that has been recently broken up, 

 or that contains a quantity of roots, fibre, 

 peat or other inert vegetable matter. Lindley 

 in his "Theory of Horticulture" states that 

 "when this substance (Lime) is mixed with 

 decaying matter, it hastens its decomposition 

 and renders it more easily assimilated. This 

 is its chief horticultural value if regarded as a 

 manure. In old cultivated land, richinhumus, 

 it suddenly increases productiveness in a 

 remarkable degree, increasing the properties 

 of dormant animal or vegetable manure. 

 Hence it has a most important effect in 

 kitchen gardens. But limed land soon loses 

 its productiveness unless manure is subse- 

 quently applied, and poor soils are soon run 

 out by it." One of the best methods of apply- 



