256 Listructions on the cultivation of the 



in eight or ten clays after the sowing the Httle trees begin 

 to shew themselves. The second way, is to plant in the 

 spring, the seeds which have been procured the summer 

 preceding. To have them good, the best fruits are to 

 be chosen. Let^ them ferment for some days, after 

 which, infuse them in cold water: in rubbing the fruit 

 between the hand, the pulp dissolves, the false grains 

 float on the water, and the good sink to the bottom of the 

 vessel. These last are gathered to be rinsed in fresh 

 water, after which they are left in the shade to dry, to be 

 used in planting the nursery in the following spring. 

 Mulberries are also propagated by cuttings, like many 

 other trees, either by placing in the earth the branches 

 attached to the original trunk, conlining them with forks, 

 and cutting them when it is perceived they have taken 

 root, or by tying a piece of brass wire around a branch 

 at the time the tree is in sap, and cutting it, at the second 

 running of the sap, below the circle produced by the 

 brass wire. It is from this circle that the roots shoot, 

 when the cut branch is placed in good ground. It should 

 be observed here, that in Italy the mulberry is wild or 

 cultivated. It is known that every tree coming from the 

 seed, or cuttings of a wild tree, preserves its wild cha- 

 racter. The wild shrubs grown in the nursery, are cut 

 off six inches from the ground; A branch is chosen of 

 equal size ^'ith the trunk on which it is desired to per- 

 form the operation. The bark is taken from the trunk, 

 and the part thus stripped, is covered by. a piece of the 

 bark taken from the cut branch, and from which the wood 

 is taken out. 



V\ hen the sap of the tree is in full activity, the execu- 

 tion of this manoeuvre is very easy, because in twisting 

 with the hand the bark from the branch, it detaches it- 

 self without difficulty, or injuring the shoots with which 

 the bark is co\ered. iMuch care however is to be used, 



