the oak itself is scarcely superior. They are abund- 

 antly prolific. The red, or, as it is more commonly 

 called, the purple mulberry, is considered as the only 

 species indigenous in this country.* The northern ex- 

 tremity of Lake Champlain is, according to Michaux, its 

 most northern limit. It is found in all the states of the 

 Union, south and west, and Dr James found it as far 

 west, as the river Canadian. 



Everything is useful in the mulberry tree. Its leaves 

 are valuable in the silk which they produce by nourishing 

 the silk worm ; its fruit is excellent for poultry, and the 

 wood is useful for the joiner and for fuel. The mulberry 

 tree may also serve as an ornament to our gardens and 

 streets, very ditferent from the Lombardy poplar, which 

 harbors a loathsome insect, or the elm, or the ash, which 

 are barren and do not afford so thick a shade : and as 

 this tree is always handsome and useful, the Author of 

 nature has been pleased to add cleanliness, as on account 

 of the acrid bitterness of its sap but few insects will har- 

 bor upon it. 



The first mulberry tree that was planted in France 

 was near Montelimart, and nearly three centuries after 

 (in 1802) the original tree was still in existence. 



In England it was first planted in the year 1548 ; Mr 

 Phillips saw at Sion House the original trees. He found 

 their interior so decayed that the timber crumbled on 

 being touched: the propped branches were nevertheless 

 so well nourished, that the fruit and foliage were not in- 

 ferior to those of the youngest trees. Of the plantations 

 formed during the reign of James I. many venerable 



* See the leaf in Figure 2, Plate 2. 



