462 BUOrssONKTIA rArVKUKKA. 



cultural Society's garden, at 'riinihain Green, and in ilic arboretum of Messrs. 

 Loddiires, at Haelviiey. 



Tlio lariieiJt r'coriled tree of tliis sjuxies in France, is in the botanic trarden, at 

 Avrancbes. wlncli, in ISlJo, forty years after planting, bad attained tbe iieigbt of 

 forty feet, with a trunk' two feet and a half in diameter, and an ambitns or spread 

 of branches ol'ihiriy feet. 



In Italy, at JNlonza, there is a paper mnlhcrry, whicji, in twenty-four years 

 after phuiling, had attained the height of forty feet, with a trnnk a foot in diam- 

 eter, with an ambitns of twenty feet. 



The mal(^ j^Iant of the liro.nssonetia papyrifera was introdnced into tlie United 

 State.s, tVoni Europe, in 17b 1, by Mr. William Hamilton, of the Woodlands, near 

 IMiiladelphia, who had, at one period, the most complete collection of foreign 

 trees of any one in America. The paper mulberry, was also cultivated, either 

 from seeds or importation, by the late \Villiam Prince, of Flusliing, liong Island, 

 prior to 1820. To this gentleman we are indebted tor three female trees, stand- 

 ing opposite No. 3, in Abingdon square, in the city of New York, all of which 

 matured their fruit early in July and August of the years 1843 to 1845. 



Tliis species is among the most common of ornamental trees in New York, 

 Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and other parts of the union, where there are specimens 

 frequently to be met with, varying from twenty to forty feet in height, with 

 trunks from ten inches to two feet in diameter. 



Propag-a/ion, (^'c. The paper mulberry may be propagated either from seeds, 

 by suckers, or by cuttings; but the latter mode is usually adopted, as the cut- 

 tings of the branches, whether large or small, readily take root and thrive, in an) 

 soil, consisting of a moderately rich sandy loam, that is not too dry, nor sur 

 charged with moisture. The tree is perfectly hardy in Britain, and will with 

 stand the climate, without injury, of any part of the United States south of Con- 

 necticut; but eastward of that state, it is frequently killed back by frosts, and as 

 far north as Montreal, in Canada, it will barely live without protection. 



Properties a)id Uses. The wood of the paper mulberry, which is soft, spongy, 

 and brittle, is of little value except for fuel. The leaves are too rough and coarse, 

 in- their texture, for the food of silkworms; but they are found to be excellent 

 fodder for cattle; and as the tree will grow rapidly in almost every soil, and 

 throw out numerous tufts of leaves, it has been suggested that it might be valu- 

 able to cultivate, in some situations and climates, for that purpose. The juice of 

 this tree is sufficiently tenacious to be used in China as a glue, either in gilding 

 leather or paper. The finest and whitest cloth worn by the inhabitants of Ota- 

 heite, and of the Sandwich Islands, is made of its bark. But the principal use, 

 however, to which this tree appears to be applied, is for the manufacture of paper. 

 The following is an abridgment of Kaempfer's account of the process of making 

 this article in Japan, as quoted from the fifth volume of the London " Peni _ 

 Cyclopaedia" : " The branches of the current year, being cut into pieces about 

 a yard long, are boiled until the bark shrinks from the wood, which is taken out, 

 and thrown away ; and the bark, being dried, is preserved till wanted. In order 

 to make paper, it is soaked for three or four hours in water ; after which, the 

 external skin, (epidermis,) and the green internal coat, are scraped off, and the 

 strongest and finest pieces are selected ; the produce of the younger shoots being 

 of an inferior quality. If any very old portions present themselves, they are on 

 the other hand rejected as too coarse. All knotty parts, and everything which 

 might impair the beauty of the paper, are also removed. The chosen bark is 

 boiled in a lixivium till its downy fibres can be separated by a touch of the finger. 

 The pulp, so produced, is then agitated in water till it resembles tufts of tow. 

 If not sufficiently boiled, the paper will be coarse, though spongy; if too much, 

 it will be white, indeed, but deficient in strength and solidity. Upon the various 



