A dictionary of modern gardening - University Library

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MUL 382 MUS
clear away every little branch, and tree. Ripe cuttings, with their leaves.
leave it quite bare; dig a hole four feet
deep, plant the naked branch and make
it firm in the ground; leave around it a
Turfy loam and peat.
MURUCUYA. Two species.
evergreen climbers. Cuttings.
Stove
Loam
little basin of earth to hold water, and
if the season be dry, give it every
and peat.
MUSA. The Banana and Plantain
morning a bucketfuil of water through- belong to this genus, of which there
out the summer. In two years it will
have made a good head, and will bear
fruit." Gard. Chron.
Pruning.—Standards do not require
pruning, further than to remove the
dead wood and irregular growths. On
are ten species. Stove iierbaceous
perennials. Suckers. Rich soil. The
most valuable of the species is M.
cavendishii; and upon its culture, and
upon that of the whole genus, we have
the following observations by Mr. W.
walls and as espaliers train in all the
lateral annual shoots, for near the ends
Buchan, gardener at Blithfield
of these next year is the fruit mostly produced,
and pinch off all foreright unfruitful
buds as they are produced. In
training, always make the branches
descend below the horizontal.
Forcing.—The mulberry bears forcing
excellently, and will ripen its fruit
early in June. It will bear a very high
temperature. It may also be grown of
a dwarf size in pots, and be thus
forced.
MULCHING, is placing mulch, or
long moist stable litter, upon the surface
of the soil, over the roots of newly
planted trees and shrubs. The best
mode is to form a trench about six
inches deep, to put in the mulch, and
cover it with the earth. This prevents
the mulch being dried or scattered by
the winds, and is
posing it on the
more neat than ex-
surface. Mulching
keeps the moisture from evaporating,
and prevents frost penetrating to the
roots, straw being one of the worst
conductors of heat.
MULE or Hybrid, is a plant raised
from seed generated by parents of distinct
species, and consequently unfertile.
See Hybridizing.
M U L L E R A moniliforinis. Stove
evergreen tree. Young cuttings.
Loam and peat.
MULTIPLICATE FLOWER. See
Double Flower.
MUNDIA spinosa, and its variety.
Green-house and evergreen fruit shrubs.
Young cuttings. Sandy peat.
IMUNTINGIA cnlahura. Stove
evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Light
loamy soil.
MURALTIA. Fourteen species.
Green-house evergreen shrubs. Young
cuttings. Sandy peat.
MURRAY A. Two species. Stove
:
" To bring musas to a high state of
perfection, they should be grown in a
house entirely devoted to them. It
may have a ' ridge and furrow' roof,
nearly flat, and should be divided into
pits about two feet six inches square,
in order to grow the plants separately,
so that when they have done fruiting,
each may be removed and replaced
without disturbing its neighbour. The
stem of this musa seldom attains a
greater height under the most favourable
culture than six feet; and allowing
two feet for the expansion of its foliage,
a house ten feet high in front and twelve
feet in the back, with sliding lights in
the front and ends, would suit it admirably.
But it may be easily fruited,
and with good success, in a pit where
there is sufficient height without crowding
the leaves.
" The soil which suits all kinds of
musa best is a mixture of half rotten
dung and half sandy loam, with about
one-fourth sandy peat, well mixed together.
The pits or tubs, in which
latter M. cavendishii may also be
fruited, should be well drained, as the
plant requires to be supplied liberally
with water at the root when growing.
" They should never cease growing,
and never be allowed to want heat and
moisture from the time they are planted
in the pit or tub, until the fruits have
attained their full size. A strong moist
heat, never below 75'^ or 80° Fahrenheit,
should be constantly kept up ; the
plants frequently syringed over head,
and exposed to full light, without any
shade. This should be continued until
the fruits are set and have attained
their full size, taking care, however,
not to wet the flowering plants. Young
healthy plants will throw up their fruit
in nine or ten months after being
evergreens; one a shrub, the other a planted out, if treated as above; and
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