300 



STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



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 mulberry. In Europe, cress is sometimes sown 

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

 fruit. 



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 February 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 suc- 

 cess, in the same manner in which apple trees are root- 

 grafted, or they are sometimes crown-grafted, the stocks for 

 this purpose being grown in pots or boxes. Ordinary fall 

 budding in the field is not successful with mulberries, but 

 spring budding gives good results. Spring budding has 

 been employed and recommended certainly for thirty years, 

 but it does not yet appear to be a common practice. S. D. 

 WiLLARD, Geneva, N. Y., who grows quantities of mulber- 

 ries, has several times shown me his stock, which is pro- 

 pagated by spring scion-budding. This is performed just 

 before the foliage is out, or as soon as the bark slips 

 freely. The illustration in the margin explains the opera- 

 tion. The incision in the stock is the same as for the 

 ordinary fall budding. The scion carries one or two buds, 

 and is cut upon one side only. Thi sprepared side is inserted next th© 

 wood in the stock, and is held in place by string, as for fall budding. 



Scion-bndding for 

 the mulberry. 



REVIEW. 



1. The mulberry is grown for fruit, ornament, hedges, and small timber, 

 as well as for silk. It merits more general attention, especially as a fruit- 

 bearing tree. 



2. The fruit of some varieties is excellent for dessert, and it may be used 

 for making jellies and preserves. It is also good food for poultry and for 

 swine. 



8. Sixteen varieties are mentioned in this paper as fruit-bearing kinds: 

 New American, Trowbridge, Thorburn, Victoria, Ramsey's White, Down- 

 ing, Spalding, Black Persian, Black Spanish, Johnson, Hicks, Stubbs, 

 Lampasas, Bigert, Paine, and Black American. Of these, the most prom- 

 inent are New American, Downing, Black Persian, Hicks, Stubbs. 



4. The New American is recommended for the northern states. Down- 

 ing is almost out of cultivation in the north, but the New American com- 

 monly passes under this name. Black Persian is occasionally grown in 

 the south and on the Pacific coast, but it seems to be ill-adapted to our 

 conditions. Hicks is a heavy bearer, of indifferent quality, but valuable 

 for poultry and for swine, especially in the south where it has been most 

 thoroughly tested. Stubbs is perhaps the most profuse bearer of all, and 

 the fruit is large and excellent in quality. 



5. The other varieties and types are grown for shade, ornament, and tim- 

 ber. The most unique of these varieties are the Nervosa and Teas' Weep- 

 ing. The Russian type is valuable for ornamental hedges, esjiecially iu 



