478 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



on high dry rather s-andy soil, and never lost a 

 branch or a bud; while others, who planted them 

 on low alluvial rich soils, have lost them every 

 winter. Mr. Robert Sinclair, in the Farmer of 

 the 8th of August, inst, gives the result of an e.K- 

 penment he tried last year in cultivating them on 

 high ground, in which they proved perfectly har- 

 dy; whereas heretoibre vvhen he planted them on 

 low rich soil, they had been killed down by the 

 frost of winter. Mr. Sinclair forgot to state that 

 this was an oWjorac/^'ce with me, and that I had 

 frequently remonstrated with him tor planting them 

 in this low rich ground. He states that it was an 

 "experiment" leavin<T the public to infer that it 

 originated with him; whereas he was well aware 

 that I had long practised it with invariable success, 

 and had frequ'^ntly recommended it to him, as 

 well as to the public. 



The moras multicaulis is propagated with more 

 facility than any other kind. A piece of last 

 year'sgrowth an inch lonsr, with only one bud, is 

 ■all that is wanted lo make a tree 5 or 6 feet high 

 in one season. Make a hot h*^d in the ordinary 

 way, as for raisit)<r cabba^je plants, about the 1st 

 to the middle of March; take the limbsthat grew 

 last year, cut them in pieces, with one bud on 

 «ach piece, stick them into the bed in a slanting 

 position, inclining to the north with the bud on the 

 south side, its point just even with the surface of 

 the soil; water them every eveninsj, shade them 

 when the sun is powerliil in the middle of the day, 

 and about the 1st of May they will be abont the 

 .size of cabbage plants, and ready to be set out 

 where they are to grow; take them up as you do 

 cabbage plants, set them out, water them freely 

 for a few days, put a cabbage leaf or any such 

 thing over them for a day or two to shade them, 

 ■and they will grow off, and form fine trees 4 to 6 

 feet high the same season. This has always been 

 «ny method of propairaling them, and the plan 

 originated with me. I was sui prised to fina last 

 year, Mr. Sinclair endeavored to obtain the credit 

 of suggesting this method of propagating morus 

 multicaulis trees. He published in the Farmer 

 and Gardener and other papers that he had suc- 

 ceeded in propagating them from single buds, and 

 in this, as m the case above noticed, leaving the 

 public to infer that he was the discoverer of the 

 new method, when the fact is that / instructed 

 him in the whole process. It is to me a matter of 

 no moment in a pecuniary point of view, for my 

 only object is and has been the furtherance of my 

 country's interest in this respect; but it is rather 

 mortifying, afier laborious experiments and study 

 — working for noihmg and finding one's selij to 

 have even the credit of our labors and discoveries 

 filched fl'om us. 



In extending the mulberry orchard, take the 

 whole top of the tree raised as above last year, cut 

 off three or four inches from the ground, cut it up 

 and plant the cuttings as above. The old root will 

 senduphalfa dozen shoots, each of which will be as 

 large as the whole tree was before it was cut down, 

 and thus furnish more cuttinjxs lor the next year. 



If the trees are raised on the proper soil, they 

 will want no protection; if they are growing on 

 low rich, or any low soil, they must be taken up 

 in the fall, and "laid by the heels," either in a dry 

 cellar or a shed open to the south. Lay them in 

 a slanlint? position, close together, burying the 

 ■roots perl'ectly in the ground. 



If cuttings are desired to be kept through the 

 winter, the best way is to dig a hole in some high 

 dry place and bury them a foot or two in the 

 ground. They may be kept also by being wrap- 

 ped in green live moss from the swamps, and pla- 

 ced in an ordinary cellar. I have kept them all 

 winter in my otfice by tying them in a close bundle 

 and setting the butt ends in a basin of water so 

 that the water covered about an inch of the ends. 

 In this way they were not only preserved, but the 

 buds began to grow too soon, from the warmth of 

 the office. 



Many persons recommend that the trees be cut 

 down to within three inches of the ground, and 

 the stumps covered to protect them, and feeding 

 silkworms from the leaves o(" the young shoots. 

 This is bad practice, and should not be followed 

 — besides, it is not necessary, as, properly cultiva- 

 ted in a proper soil, as above stated, they want no 

 protection. The objections to the practice are — 

 the lateness of the season before the shoots will 

 be large enough to afford a sufficient supply of 

 leaves; and the succulence of the leaves from 

 these young shoots. Both these objections render 

 the practice inadmissable — your worms will starve 

 to death before the shoots will afford leaves; and 

 if you can keep them alive till leaves are produ- 

 ced, you will be very apt to lose them by disease, 

 produced froiTi feeding them vvith the too succu- 

 lent leaves. 



The morus multicaulis cannot be propagated to 

 any extent from seed, simply because the trees 

 produce so little that it will not pay lor saving even 

 if it sold at its weight in diamonds. The whole 

 of the seed that has been sold for some years in 

 this country, as morus multicaulis seed, was spu- 

 rious, and I was so well aware of its spurious 

 character that I have never bought or used a 

 grain of it. I have used all m}' influence to pre- 

 vent my friends and correspondents from being 

 imposed upon by it; but untbrtunatelj^, self-expe- 

 rience is the only school for some people. I assert 

 that no genuine morus multicaulis seed can be of- 

 fered lor sale here or elsewhere; and time will 

 prove the truth of the assertion. I would not be 

 uncharitable, but I verily believe that the idea that 

 the morus multicaulis was a variety and not a spe- 

 cies, and therefore that its seed would not produce 

 its like, originated with those who were engaged 

 in speculating in ''morus multicaulis seed,' and 

 that its object was to cover the imposition of oth- 

 er seed upon the public for morus multicaulis seed. 

 As it produced all sorts of mulberry trees, except 

 morus multicaulis, it was desirable to attempt an 

 excuse. And this was resorted to — lame and im- 

 potent as it is. I assert positively that it is a dis- 

 tinct species, that its seed produces its like exactly, 

 as I can at any lime satisfy any person, having 

 trees raised from seed by himself Rut it is of lit- 

 tle importance whether the seed will produce the 

 true morus multicaulis or not, as the seed cannot 

 be obtained. I have the oldest tree in America, 

 and it never produces good seed enough to make 

 it an object worthy of notice; besides the trouble 

 of keeping weeds down, &c. and the ease with 

 which it is multiplied by cuttings, would prevent 

 my using seed if ever so abundant and cheap. 



There are many mulberry trees in this country 

 called morus multicaulis, that are not the true 

 kind. I have seen hundreds of such. They are 

 the broad leaved variety of the white mulberry. 



