126 FRUIT-GARDENING. 



the black and red kinds are in great esteem, and much culti 

 vated. The fruit of the white Mulberry is white, and less acid 

 than that of the black species. The black is naturally a 

 stronger tree than the other ; the fruit is of a dark, blackish 

 red, and of an agreeable aromatic and acid flavor. The red 

 Mulberry has black shoots, rougher leaves than the black Mul 

 berry, and a dark, reddish fruit, longer than the common sort, 

 and of a very pleasant taste. The fruit of the yellow Mulberry 

 is sweet and wholesome, but not much eaten, excepting by 

 birds. The timber, however, is valuable, from its abounding 

 in a slightly glutinous milk of a sulphurous color, and is known 

 in Europe under the name of fustic wood, for dying a yellow 

 color. In Russia, the fruit of the Morus tartarica is eaten 

 fresh, conserved, or dried. A wine and a spirit are also made 

 from them ; but the berries are said to be of an insipid taste. 



All the species of the Morus are remarkable for putting out 

 their leaves late, so that when they appear, gardeners may 

 safely set out their green-house plants, taking it for granted 

 that all danger from frost is over. From this circumstance, 

 plantations of Mulberry-trees may be made in this country in 

 the spring of the year with greater safety. 



The Mulberry produces its fruit chiefly on little shoots of 

 the same year, which arise on last year s wood and on spurs 

 from the two-year-old wood, mostly at the ends of the shoots 

 and the branches. In pruning, thin out irregular crossing 

 branches, but never shorten the young wood on which fruit is 

 produced. If any of the dwarfish kinds are cultivated as espa 

 liers for their fruits, cut so as to bring in a partial succession 

 of new wood every year, and a complete succession once in 

 two years, taking the old barren wood out, as may be neces 

 sary. As the blossom-buds cannot be readily distinguished 

 from others in the winter, the best period for pruning is when 

 the blossoms first become visible in the spring. 



THE PAPER MULBERRY. 



There is another genus of plants, known as the Paper Mul- 



