233 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
rounds the house. There were fourteen fine fresh 
eels in the martin’s lair, of about half a pound each. 
The moat was frozen at the time, and had been for a 
fortnight.” 
This will satisfy another correspondent (</. M.) that 
the mistletoe will grow even further north than 
Liverpool. 
We think we can explain why “ the curate of Ryton," 
and some of our correspondents, have failed to rear 
the mistletoe from seeds; for there is, certainly, no 
more care or art required to establish it on an apple- 
tree, and on many other trees, than there is in grow¬ 
ing a grain of wheat, or of barley; and when it is 
once established, it is as difficult to eradicate as a 
dock, or a coltsfoot. We have known old plants of 
the mistletoe cut down close, and even the bark of 
the branch on which it grew pared off round the bot¬ 
tom of the parasite, and yet a multitude of young 
plants sprang up afterwards from the wounded parts. 
The usual way in which the mistletoe is propa¬ 
gated is, by the agency of birds, which feed greedily 
on the berries during the winter, and early in the 
spring; who, after satisfying their appetite, resort to 
neighbouring trees, to wipe their beaks against the 
branches, to get rid of the slimy matter which en¬ 
velopes the seeds, and which sticks to the outside of 
their bills, with a portion of the seeds also. The 
white viscous matter of the mistletoe-berry glues the 
seed to the bai’k, and if this is smooth, and not too 
hard, the seeds will germinate, and root into it the 
following spring ; that is, supposing the pollen to 
have reached the flower of the mistletoe at the proper 
time, which is not always the case, as the male and 
female organs of the mistletoe are borne in different 
flowers on the same plant, like those of the melon 
and oucumber; and sometimes a plant produces but 
one of the sexes in all its blossoms. When this is 
the case, and no pollen reaches the stigma, although 
the berries are formed, they are destitute of the vital 
germ, and, of course, will not vegetate: hence the 
real cause of many of the failures of which we hear. 
Like many other seeds, some of those of the mis¬ 
tletoe, we have no doubt, pass through the gizzards of 
birds, without losing their vitality, and are thus sown, 
in the dung of the birds, in cracks and fissures in 
the bark of trees. We must not, however, countenance 
the old notion, that it was necessary for some kinds 
of seeds to pass through the stomach of some animal 
before they could be made to germinate; but, from 
our knowledge of the way and time that these seeds 
are sown by the birds, we may reasonably conclude, 
that we shall be right if we sow them artificially, any 
time from Christmas to the middle or end of April; 
and, in general, they germinate before the end of the 
following May. The north side of a stout branch, 
with a soft, smooth bark, is, probably, the best situa¬ 
tion to place the seeds; and if the outer bark is just 
cut through with a sharp knife,, to afford a lodgment 
[January 31. 
for the seed, the viscous matter which adheres to 
them will retain them in their position. The first 
appearance of growth is indicated by one or two root¬ 
like processes, resembling the sucker of a house-ily, 
but larger; and for the first half-dozen years, the 
plants grow very slowly. 
The name, mistletoe, is not derived from the Missel 
thrush, as has been asserted by some writers; but 
the name of this bird is derived from feeding on its 
berries. The Saxon name of the plant was Mistelta, 
and ours is the same in an English dress. 
We have now arrived at the consideration of the 
science applicable to the Roots of plants. 
The root is present in all cultivated plants. The 
truffle, which, however, can scarcely be considered as 
belonging to cultivated vegetables, having hitherto 
defied all attempts to subjugate it, may be considered 
as consisting of nothing but root.* 
A root is annual, biennial, or perennial. In the 
two former instances, if the individuals to which they 
belong be allowed to perfect their seed, no care can 
protract their existence beyond the ensuing winter, 
however genial the temperature, &c., in which they 
are made to vegetate; but, if the ripening of seed be 
prevented, it is undetermined how long they may, in 
most instances, be sustained in life. I have known 
mignonette continued in healthy vegetation for four 
years, with this precaution. 
The quantity of the root we have always observed 
to increaso with the poverty of the soil in which it is 
growing. Dulramel found the roots of some young 
oaks in a poor soil to be nearly four feet long, though 
the stem was not more than six inches. The cause 
of this is evident: the nourishment which is required 
for the growth of the plant, can only be obtained by 
an increased, widely-extending surface of root; and, 
to form this, more sap is often required than the 
plant, owing to the poverty of the earth, can obtain 
for itself; in that case, a soil is sterile, for the plant 
must evidently perish. Every one may have noticed 
this familiarly instanced in Poa annua growing on a 
gravel walk—its stem minute, its root a mass of 
widely-extending fibres. 
A root always proceeds in that direction where 
food is most abundant, and, from a knowledge of 
this fact, we should be circumspect in our mode of 
applying manures, according to the crop and object 
we have in view. The soil in our own garden being 
shallow, never produced a carrot or a parsnip of any 
size; but almost every root consisted of numerous 
forks thickly coated with fibres: digging two spades 
deep produced no material advantage, the gardener 
applying as usual manure to the surface; but, by 
trenching as before, and turning in a small quantity 
* In Prussia and elsewhere, it is said the gardeners succeed in 
cultivating this subterraneous fungus, hut their mode of treatment 
is a secret, and modes suggested by others are rarely successful. 
