CHAP, C. UliTlCA^CEJE. Jl/O^RUS. l.Sl. 



1-222 





there is scarcely an old garden or gentleman's seat, throughout the country, 

 which can be traced back to the seventeenth century, in which a mulberry tree 

 is not to be found. It is remarkable, however, that, though these trees were 

 expressly intended for the nourishment of silkworms, they nearly all belong to 

 il/orus nigra, as very few instances exist of old trees of ikforus alba in Eng- 

 land. (See BradJei/'/i Trent, on Husb. and Gard., ed. 1726, vol. i. p. 349.) 

 Shakspeare's mulberry is referable to this period, as it was planted in 1609 

 in his garden at New Place, Stratford ; and it was a black mulberry, as Mr. 

 Drake mentions a native of Stratford, who, in his youth, remembered fre- 

 quently to have eaten of the fruit of this tree, some of its branches hanging 

 over the wall which divided that garden from his father's, (Drake's Sliak- 

 speare, vol, ii, p. SS-i.) 



Properties and Uses. The black mulben-y is cultivated, Du Hamel tells us, 

 " for its fruit, which is very wholesome and palatable ; and not for its leaves, 

 which are but little esteemed for silkworms;" and which, at the beginning of 

 autumn, often become covered with red spots. The fruit, he adds, is eaten 

 raw, or " made into syrups, which are considered excellent for sore throats." 

 (Nouv. Du Ham., iv. p. 91.) The wood is considered of but little value in 

 France, except for fire-wood : it is less compact than even that of the white 

 mulberry ; and weighs only 40 lb. 7 oz. the cubic foot. Cattle eat the leaves, 

 and all kinds of poultry are very fond of the fruit. 



In England, the fruit is generally eaten at the dessert ; and it is considered 

 of a cooling aperient nature when ripe. It forms an agreeable sweetmeat, 

 though it is not generally used for that purpose ; and Evelyn says that, mixed 

 with the juice of cider apples, it makes a very strong and agreeable wine. 

 Dr. Clarke mentions that he saw some Greeks in the Crimea employed in dis- 

 tilling brandy from mulberries; which he describes as "a weak but palatable 

 spirit, as clear as water." (Travels, vol, i. p. 529.) A wine is also made from 

 it in France ; but it requires to be drunk immediately, as it very soon becomes 

 acid. The root has an acrid bitter taste, and is considered excellent as a ver- 

 mifuge, in doses of half a drachm in powder. (Smith in Bees' s Cycl.) The 

 tree in every part contains a portion of milky juice, which, being coagulated, 

 is found to form a kind of coarse Indian rubber. In some parts of Spain, on 

 Mount ^tna, and in Persia, the leaves of this species are said to be preferred 

 to those of the white mulberry for silkworms. (Hook. Bot. Comjj., vol. i. p. 59.) 



Poetical and mythological Allusions. The mulberry was dedicated by the 

 Greeks to Minerva, probably because it was considered as the wisest of trees; 

 and Jupiter the Protector was called Morea, Ovid has celebrated the black 

 mulberry tree in the story of Pyramus and Thisbe ; where he tells us that its 

 fruit was originally snow-white ; but that when Pyramus, in despair at the 



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