MuLBEKKIES. 331 



Th.ei'e are three varieti^ of fniit-bearing mulbemes which. I have 

 not seen, and I do not know to what species they should be 

 refeiTed. One is Bigert (Bigert's everbearing), which I know 

 only from the following note in the first volume of Grai-dencr'KS 

 Monthly, 1859: "A friend sends us some specimens under the 

 above name, which he says contiuues in bearing from June till 

 frost. It is veiy much in size and appearance like Downliig's 

 everbearing, but the leaves are very different." 



Another variety is the Paine, which, I think, has not b('en 

 mentioned in priut. All I know about it is the following descrip- 

 tion sent me by the venerable Isaac Hicks, of Westbury, Long 

 Island: "Fruit about the size of Downing, not so lai'ge as New 

 American. A very excellent vaidety, bearing a long time. 

 Found on the lot where Thomas I'aiue, the religious reformer, 

 was buried. Two very fine trees, which are great bearers, are on 

 the place of the late Wm. tS. Carpenter, at Mannaroueck, West- 

 chester county, N. Y." 



The third variety is the Black American, which I know only 

 from the following entry in the catalogue of the Bloomington 

 (Illinois) Nursery: "Native, hardy, productive, valuable." 



The cultivation of the mulbeiTy is very simple. It thi'ives 

 upon any ordinary well-drained soil. At full maturity, the trees 

 are as large as an apple tree. The fruit falls as soon as it is ripe, 

 and it is readily shaken off before it reaches its full maturity. If 

 a soft sod is allowed under the tree, the fruit can be shaken off 

 and picked from the ground. This is the best way of harvesting 

 the mulbeiTy. In Europe, cress is sometimes sown under the 

 trees in late spring to afford a temporary carpet to catch the 

 fmit. 



The mulberries can be propagated by cuttings of the ripe wood 

 or of roots. Cuttings start best under glass. Some nurserymen 

 propagate by short cuttings indoors, starting them in Februar;, 

 or March. The cheap Russian mulberry stocks from the west 

 have supplanted cutting-propagation very largely. The named 

 sorts are grafted upon these Russian roots in winter, with fair 

 success, in the same manner in which apple trees are root-grafted. 



