The Mulberry. 235 



as enjoyed at breakfast-time in Italy, where the fig seems 

 indeed a fruit of Paradise. The spicy odour of ripening 

 figs, as perceived in the English orchard-house or vinery, 

 is in its way no less delightful. 



The best kinds for forcing are Negro Largo (the finest 

 in cultivation), Brown Turkey, Black Marseilles, White 

 Marseilles, White Ischia, and Early Violet. 



THE MULBERRY ( Morus nigra). 



THE Mulberry supplies another example of the aggregate 

 or collective fruit, every one of the purple bags of juice 

 representing what was once a distinct and independent 

 flower. The perianth consists of four pieces ; these, as 

 the ovary within progresses to maturity, become greatly 

 enlarged, juicy, and finally confluent Though so similar 

 in appearance to the blackberry, there is thus no actual 

 likeness, the grains of the blackberry being drupels ; those 

 of the mulberry, flowers transformed. It is produced by 

 a tree which seldom exceeds thirty feet in height, the 

 branches thick and rude, the general figure close and 

 rounded. The rough, coarsely serrated, and dark green 

 leaves, though usually cordate, are prone to curious 

 changes, often becoming irregularly three or five-lobed. 

 The staminate flowers are produced in separate clusters, 

 yellowish green in colour, and, like the globular green 

 heads of female flowers, contemporaneous with the young 

 foliage. The tree is of great durability, and seems to be 



