228 OUB COMMON FRUITS. 



the effect of establishing mulberry-trees in the gardens of 

 most of the gentry of that period, many of which still 

 survive, having probably in part owed their preservation 

 to the fact of their regal patron not having been suffi- 

 ciently well versed in botanical distinctions to discrimi- 

 nate between the "White Mulberry, which is best fitted to 

 feed silk -worms, but is good for little else, and the Black 

 Mulberry, which, though less welcome to the caterpillar, 

 yet furnishes fruit acceptable to man ; whence it happened 

 that most of the plants which he had caused to be planted 

 with a special view to insect nurture, turned out to be of 

 the latter species, and were therefore still valued even 

 when the practice of silk-worm rearing had ceased to be 

 a fashionable pursuit.* This mistake respecting the two 

 species may, however, have helped to render James's 

 scheme abortive ; but that the failure of his plan was not 

 entirely due to it is evident from its having been proved 

 in later days that, however even the White Mulberry 

 may seem to thrive in this country, its leaves will not in 

 our climate acquire that juicy tenderness which in warmer 

 lands so eminently fits them for the spinner's nutriment ; 

 for, in the language of the Journal & Agriculture des Pays 

 Bas, " The mulberry, to produce the best silk, requires 

 the same soil and exposure as the vine does to produce 

 the best wine." The dreams, therefore, of minor enthu- 

 siasts who, since King James's period, have from time to 

 time taken up his idea of introducing silk-growing as a 

 branch of our national industry, have always resulted in 

 equal disappointment. 



Though devoured with such avidity by silk- worms, mul- 

 berry-leaves are eaten by no other kind of insect (although 

 the fruit is peculiarly liable to the attacks of a very vo- 

 racious worm) and its unmolested ample foliage of large, 

 heart-shaped, serrated leaves, sometimes more or less 

 lobed, yields therefore during the hot months a very 



* Shakespeare's famous mulberry- tree, which was planted in 1609, belonged 

 to the black or common species. A slip from it was planted by Garrick in 

 the garden of his villa near Hampton Court, and became a tree, which pro- 

 bably still flourishes. 



