Mulberries. 31 1 



often shining, tlie veins prominent beneath and whitish, va-is 

 iously lobed or divided, the basal lobes unequal, the teeth large 

 and for the most part rounded or nearly obtuse, the branches 

 gray or grayish-yellow. The white mulbeirry is supposed to; 

 be a native of China. It has been cultivated from the earliest 

 times, chiefly for feeding the silk worm. It is a frequent tree 

 along roadsides and in the old yards in the eastern States, where 

 the trunk sometimes attains a diameter of two feet. This half- 

 wild form usually has rather small rounded shining leaves with 

 very large rounded teeth, and bears little whitish or violet fniits 

 which are very sweet. Sometimes the fruits are an inch long, but 

 they are oftener only half that length, and I sometimes find trees 

 upon which the fruits are barely a quarter of an inch in length. 

 Now and then a tree bears fruits nearly or quite black. Birds, 

 poultry and hogs are fond of these mulberi'ies. The trees are 

 usually very thick-topped and bushy growers, but occasionally one 

 is seen which, when young, has branches as straight and trim as a 

 Northern Spy apple. These half-wild trees are seedlings, and 

 this accounts for their variability. If the best ones were selected 

 and grafted onto others, \ve might find trees worthy of orchard 

 culture. This, evidently, has been, done in some cases, for the 

 .three following named varieties differ from these half-wild mul- 

 berries chiefly in their straighter growth, and larger and blacker 

 fruit. 



New- American. — This variety was brought to notice by N. H. 

 Lindley, Bridgeport, Oonuu, about 1854. No one knows its parent- 

 age. It is now widely cultivated, and it is the best mulberry 

 yet known for the northern States. It is a, strong, hardy tree, very 

 productive, and bears continuously from late June until Septem- 

 bei*. Large trees will produce ten bushels of fruit in a season. 

 The fruit ranges from an inch to over two inches long, and it is 

 gloissy black when ripe. The accompanying pictm^e shows a spray 

 a little over half size. iThe fruit in this specimen is small. 

 Notice the rounded teeth on tlie leaves, which are usually charac- 

 teristic of these forms of Moras alba. The Downing has a greater 

 reputation than any other variety, and this New American is often 



