410 MOIIUS NIGRA. 



ally to bo mot with in Tt;ily, app:>rontly wild. This troo, liowover, ia so fre- 

 ijueiitly conruiiiuleii with the whito inuiherry, by the oariicr writor.s, as l( ronder 

 it next to an imjiossibihty to ascortain the countries of which it is truly iucHgen- 

 ous. It lias been known i'roni the earliest records of antiipiity, being mentioned 

 in " II()ly Writ," in the second Ixiolc of Saninel. and in the Psuhus. Ovid evi- 

 dently jioints out the black mulherry as the one introduced in the story ol I'yra- 

 miis and Thisbc; and IMiny seems to allude to it, where he observes that there 

 is no other tree that has been so mucli neglected by the wit of man, either in 

 grafting or giving it names; "an observation. " as Mr. Loutb)!! remarks. " which 

 holds good to the present day respecting the black mulberry, as it has only 

 one trilling variety, or rather variation, and no synonyme, whereas, there are 

 numerous varieties of tbe Morns alba." Pliny adds, " Of all the cultivated trees, 

 the mnlhorry is the last that buds, which it never docs until the cold weather is 

 past : and it is therefore called the wisest of trees. Jiut when it begins to put 

 forth buds, it dispatches the business in one night, and that with so much force, 

 that their breaking forth may be evidently heard." On Mount Altna., the black 

 mulberry is grown at an elevation of two tliousand five hundred feet, for the food 

 of the silkworm, to the exclusion of the Morns alba, probably on account of the 

 tenderness of the latter tree in that elevated region. 



The black mulberry, it is said, was introduced into Britain by the Romans; 

 but at what period, there is no record which throws any light on the subject. It 

 is mentioned in Turner's "Names of Herbes," published in 1.548, when there 

 were some trees planted at Syon, one, at least of which is still in existence. The 

 tree is mentioned by Tusser, who wrote in 1.557, also by Gerard, who describes 

 both the black and the white mulberry as being cultivated in his time. The 

 royal edict of James I., about the year 1(305, recommending the rearing of silk- 

 worms, and offering packets of mulberry seeds to all who would sow them, no 

 doubt rendered the tree fashionable, as there is scarcely an old garden or gentle- 

 man's seat throughout England, that can be traced back to the XVIIth century, 

 in which a mulberry-tree is not to be found. It is remarkable, however, that, 

 though these trees were doubtless intended for the food of silkworms, they nearly 

 all belong to the Morus nigra, as very few instances of old trees of the while 

 mulberry exist, at the present time, in any part of that country. Shakspear's 

 mulberry is referable to this period, as it was planted in 1609, in his garden, at 

 New Place, in Stratford. 



One of the most remarkable trees of this species in Britain, is at Battersea, on 

 the estate of the late Earl of Spencer. It is from thirty to forty feet in height, 

 having fourteen trunks, averaging about one foot in girth at a foot above the 

 ground, with a head fifty feet by seventy in diameter, and is supposed to be over 

 three hundred years of age. 



In Suffolk, at Finborough Hall, there is a black mulberry, which, in seventy 

 years after planting, had attained the height of forty feet, with a trunk two feet 

 in diameter, and an ambitus, or spread of branches of forty-two feet. 



In France, at Nantes, in the nursery of M. De Nerrieres, there is a specimen, 

 which, in sixty years after planting, had attained the height of forty-nine feet, 

 with a trunk two feet and a half in circumference. 



The introduction of the black mulberry into the North American colonies, as 

 with most of our foreign trees bearing edible fruit, it is highly probable, dates back 

 to the early periods of their settlements; but, as it produces only a moderately 

 sized fruit, at best, and requires some attention to bring it to perfection, it has 

 fallen into neglect. There are trees, however, of considerable size and age, to be 

 met with, in all the middle and eastern states of the union, which are regarded 

 as comparatively worthless, either for fruit or ornament. 



Poetical, Legendary y and Mythological Allusions. The mulberry was dedi- 



