432 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7 



disappears altogether, about the 1st to the 10th of 

 May. By the 'time the frost disappears the young 

 plants will be about the size of cabbage plants, 

 and may be taken out of Uie bed and planted in 

 the orchard where they are permanently to grow. 

 During the time they are in hot-beds, care should 

 be taken in warm days to give them air, by rais- 

 ing the glass frames; and if severe Irosis occur, to 

 cover the glasses with straw, or matting; and 

 when set out in the field they should be well water- 

 ed (or a few days, in the evening. The practice of 

 propagating as above li'om sinijle buds was first 

 adopted by me, and followed ibr many years to 

 very great advantage; and I am not sure but that 

 itissiillthe best, as it olten occurs that a cold 

 backward spring rots a great portion of the cut- 

 tings planted in cold ground as first recommended 

 above. Besides, in the hot-bed single-bud sys- 

 tem, the trees get a month the start and make 

 larger and finer trees. But in very extensive plan- 

 tations it is '-'too troublesome.'''' A convenient hot- 

 bed may be formed by those who are not provided 

 with frames, &c., and are not acquainted with 

 lijrcing gardens, as f()Ilows: Dig a pit two feet 

 deep, (bur leet wide, and ten lo twenty feet long, 

 or as long as you please, if you have manure 

 enough. Fill it with liesli horse dung six inches 

 to a toot above the top. When you perceive it get- 

 ting hot and eetiiing down, cover it with six inches 

 of rich garden mould, and rake it level and smooth. 

 Let it remain for two or three days, till the heat 

 begins to decline, and then put in the cuttings as 

 above. At night, when cold, lay some light 

 brush over the bed, and spread straw or mats 

 over them, and water them as in the regular hot- 

 bed. This method will generally be found to an- 

 swer all the purposes of a perfect hot-bed. 



Another method is by layers. Instead of cut- 

 ting off the limbs and tops, bend the whole tree 

 down to the ground, and cover it, limbs and all, 

 two or three inches deep, with good mould — it 

 would be well to turn up the ends of the limbs, so 

 that the points are just above ground. All the 

 buds on the whole tree that are under ground, will 

 generally grow and each one make a tree by the 

 autumn, when they are to be taken up and sepa- 

 rated. The objection to this plan is, that the 

 young trees are apt to be too crowded, and conse- 

 quently do not grow as large as when the limbs 

 and young wood are cut off, as in the first mode; 

 and I do not find that it is any more certain, or 

 possesses any one advantage over that mode. All 

 other modes of propagation, grafting &c., are per- 

 lectly useless, and therefore nothing need be said 

 about them. 



It seems, however, proper to remark, in expla- 

 nation of the omission to give the mode of raising 

 the multicaulis from seed, that this tree produces 

 seed very scantily. Probably an acre of trees of 

 full growth would not produce an ounce oi' good 

 seed. It is generally the case with all plants that 

 are readily propagated by other means, that they 

 do not produce much, if any seed. But though 

 the multicaulis were to produce seed as abundant- 

 ly as the white or any other variety, its propaga- 

 tion by cuttings would still be the most eligible 

 mode. The mulberry seed lies a long time in the 

 ground before it vegetates, generally 5 to 8 weeks, 

 and in the mean time the weeds get the start, and 

 smother the young plants as fast as they appear, 

 unless the most untiring vigilance and care be ob- , 



served in keeping the beds clean. Even then, in 

 spite of care and industry, many — a great pro- 

 portion — of the little planls will be destroyed in the 

 process of weedimr. Even after you have raised 

 the planls above the influence of weeds, they are 

 tardy of growth, and do not produce leaves of full 

 size till ihey have been repropagated by cuttings, 

 layers, &c., for three or four years. All idea of 

 raising them from seed will be abandoned by every 

 one as soon as they become acquainted with the fa- 

 cility with which they are propagated by cuttings, 

 the scantiness of seed produced by them, and the 

 ditHculty of raising them from seed. 



I cannot omit the present opportunity of again 

 cautioning the people of this country against the 

 impositions that have been for several years prac- 

 tised, and are yet continued, of selling morus 

 muliicaulis seed. No such seed ever has or pro- 

 bably ever will be for sale here or elsewliere; and 

 those who pretend to sell it are imposing upon the 

 public a worthless article. The tree does not bear 

 seed enough to pay for the trouble of saving it, 

 even if it sold for its weight in gold. That the 

 seed will produce the genuine muliicaulis, I have 

 no doubt, but it will require some years of succes- 

 sive propagation by cuttings to develop its pecu- 

 liar characters, large leaves, &c. But this ques- 

 tion is a matter of little moment, as no person will 

 resort to seed when they can obtain cuttings. 



7'he soil, situation, ^c, best adapted to the 

 morus multicaulis, have already been mentioned 

 in a [)revious part of this paper. The soil should 

 be such as will yield a fair crop of corn; if made 

 richer, liie trees will grow larger, but the advan- 

 tage will not compensate the extra expense. It 

 should be sandy loam, if possible; but gravelly 

 or stony soil answers well: heavy clay soils do not 

 do so well. The situation must be high land — 

 that is, it must not be low bottom land. Hill-sides 

 are best ; the tops of hills next ; level lands are 

 good, provided they are eight or ten Itiet above the 

 streams of water, and not subject to water stand- 

 ing on them after heavy rains ; but if th'cy are 

 surrounded by hills they will not do, being more 

 subject to early and late frosts than if not thus sur- 

 rounded by hills. It must be borne in mind, that we 

 are discussing the subject of soils and situations 

 best adapted for the permanent occupation of the 

 multicaulis. Where the trees are raised to sell,or to 

 be removed in autumn, then rich alluvial or loamy 

 bottom land is best. The trees will grow larger 

 there; and as there is to be no risk of winter-kill- 

 ins, there is no other objection. In cold seasons, 

 however, and especially in cold late springs, bot- 

 tom lands are too cold Ibr them, and consequently 

 the trees will be small. In all cases when 

 they are grown on bottom lands, they should be 

 taken up in the month of November, and buried 

 root and branch on some high dry situation, cover- 

 ing them about one foot deep. This will preserve 

 them effectually till spring, when they should be 

 planted out, as above directed, in a proper soil and 

 situation. Cuttings are preserved in the same 

 way: cut them off close to the tree in November, 

 dig a pit two feet deep in a high situation, put 

 them into it, mingling earth among them, and fi- 

 nally cover them up a foot deep at least; filling the 

 pit entirely, and arching it as in burying potatoes, 

 &c. Those who fear the loss of the cuttings if 

 left remaining on the trees, can certainly save 

 them in this wayj but if tjees are in proper situa- 



