104 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[March, 
be removed at transplanting as readily as from 
flower-pots, and winch has the advantage over 
the pots, as it does not require such close atten¬ 
tion in watering. 
Figure 1 shows the box complete. It may be 
Fig. 1.—BOX WITH DIVISIONS, 
made of any convenient size, 18 x 10 answering 
very well, the sides and ends well nailed to¬ 
gether ; across the bottom at each end is nailed 
a strip, and a loose bottom of thin board, just 
Fig. 2.— DIVISIONS SEPARATE. 
the interior size of the box, slips in and rests on 
these cross pieces, and is left loose. 
The partitions are shown in figure 2 ; they 
consist of strips of common pasteboard, of the 
proper length, put together by slitting 
each half way through at the points were 
they cross. The short pieces are slit from 
the top edge halfway down, and the long- 
pieces from the bottom edge half way up. 
The partitions being put into the box, 
and the divisions filled with earth, it is 
ready to be used. In removing the plants, 
all that is necessary to do, is to set the 
box with its loose bottom resting upon 
a brick or block, when the sides may be 
slipped down and leave the contents free. 
Each division is a little square block of 
earth, containing the plant, and may be 
handled as readily as a ball of earth from 
a flower pot. A box for accomplishing 
the same end has been patented in this 
country, but the one here described is 
not patented, and may be used by any 
one. It was originally published in Eng¬ 
land in Shirley Hibbard’s Floral World. 
The seeds may be sown in a box with¬ 
out partitions, and the plants, when 
they show two or three rough leaves, 
may be transplanted into the divisions 
of this box. The seeds of those plants, 
such as cucumbers, melons, corn, etc., 
which do not transplant readily, may be 
sown in them at once. A rich, light 
soil, one that will not readily become 
compacted by frequent waterings, should 
be used, and in sowing the seeds, do not 
cover them too deeply. Many small seeds 
fail from this cause, and the seedsman 
is charged with selling poor seeds; with 
large seeds the depth is not of so much 
consequence, as the young plant has 
strength enough to push through it. Take 
care that the plants do not suffer for 
want of water, but in watering do not use 
water directly from the well or cistern ; either 
allow it to stand until it has acquired the tem¬ 
perature of the room, or bring it to that temper¬ 
ature by the addition of hot water. Allow the 
young plants to have plenty of light; if they 
are disposed to wilt in the middle of the day, 
shade them by a screen of paper or muslin. As 
soon as the weather is mild enough, set the boxes 
out of doors during the day, but bring them 
in before the air becomes chilly. Boxes of this 
kind will be found very useful in the hot-bed, 
where they will answer in place of flower pots. 
The Mangrove Tr QQ—(PMzophora Mangle .) 
“ The tide is low, let us go down to the trees 
and pick some oysters,” said a friend to us one 
day, on the Gulf of California. We went to the 
beach, where there was a thick belt of Man¬ 
groves and gathered an abundance of oysters 
from the roots, that had been left bare by the 
tide. The Mangrove is an interesting tree, 
curious in its manner of growth, and performing 
an useful part in the contest between the sea and 
the land. It is a shrub or small tree, sometimes 
thirty feet or more high, and is found along the 
muddy shores of the sea in the tropics. South 
Florida and near Guaymas in the Gulf of Cali¬ 
fornia are the only places where we have met 
with it, and there it grows only eight or ten feet 
high, but in the West Indies it becomes more 
tree-like. The leaves are evergreen, thick, and 
leathery; the flowers, four petalled, pale yellow, 
and rather showy. One of the remarkable 
characters of the tree is its tendency to throw 
out roots from its trunk at a considerable distance 
above the surface of the w'ater; these arch off 
from the trunk, and ultimately find their way 
into the mud. In large trees, these roots are 
Fig. 2.— MANGROVE ERUIT. 
Fig. 1.—mangrove- tree.— (Rhizopliora Mangle.) 
thrown off eight or ten feet above the mud, and 
are sometimes as large as a man’s leg. The en¬ 
graving, fig. 1, shows the singular appearance 
produced by this manner of growth; the tree 
looks as if it were supported upon an artificial 
frame-work. As the trees grow close together 
it can readily be conceived what an impene¬ 
trable thicket these interlaced roots must form. 
The fruit of the Mangrove is a small, one-seeded 
nut, which, instead of following the usual course 
of seeds, remains upon the tree qud germinates. 
The young plant can hardly be said to “come 
up,” as in this case its early life is passed in 
growing downwards. The radicle penetrates 
through the apex of the nut, as shown in fig. 2, 
and elongates and even shows the rudiments of 
rootlets, as if to 
make sure of the 
chance of growing 
before it leaves the 
parent tree. As the 
plant grows in the 
mud and water of 
the coast, this would 
seem to be an ex¬ 
cellent provision to 
prevent the seed 
from being washed 
away; it is kept in 
a place of safety un¬ 
til the embryo plant 
is so far advanced 
that it is ready to 
grow at once when 
dropped into the 
mud. The Mangrove 
is constantly encroaching upon the sea, and 
gradually extending the borders of the land. 
This it is enabled to do by its two peculiarities 
of growth, that of throwing out roots 
from the trunk and branches, and that of 
dropping its little plants where they are 
to grow. The thicket will of course gradu¬ 
ally progress, as a series of young plants 
when dropped fall beyond the line of the 
roots of the old ones ; these new plants 
grow up and bear fruit, which when it has 
germinated, is dropped still further out, 
and so the thicket slowly but surely trav¬ 
els seaward. In the meantime the roots 
are weaving a network that retains earth 
and other matters washed down from the 
land, and gradually the area of dry sur¬ 
face is increased. The name Rhizopliora 
is appropriate, as it means root-bearer. 
Little Helps. —In a garden of any 
kind there are needed a number of home¬ 
made, convenient appliances that should 
be provided beforehand. Stakes are in 
constant demand for laying out beds, 
marking the places where trees and shrubs 
are to be set, etc. A good supply of 
rough, pointed stakes, 2 and 3 feet long, 
will answer. Those who like to be nice 
in such matters will make them from 
planed stuff and paint them. Line for 
marking and laying out. This should be 
s | 8 of an inch thick and of a length pro¬ 
portioned to the size of the garden. It 
may be rolled upon an iron reel which 
lias a point to thrust in the ground, or be 
rolled upon a reel in a box and used by 
fastening it to stakes. A Dibble is made of 
a stick of very hard wood with a natural 
crook in it to fit the hand, like the han¬ 
dle of an umbrella. It should be about 
9 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. 
If the point be shod with iron it will work 
easier and last the longer. Pencils. The Horti¬ 
cultural Indelible is good for those who will 
take pains. Provide for a label of some kind ; 
common lead pencil is better than none. Ties. 
Keep a ball of strong but soft cotton or hemp 
twine at hand for tying up things that need it 
at once. Labels. These are made by machinery, 
of convenient size and shape for tying to trees 
or sticking into the ground. As these are not 
generally accessible, most persons make their 
own. The whittling propensities of boys can 
be turned to good account in making labels. 
