14b MORUS ALBA. 
fibre in the Morns mnlticaulis leaves, and in the best white, there is a verylargd 
portion, all of which passes off in the form of excrement." On the contrary, it is 
contended by others, that there is an excess of moisture in the leaves of the Moras 
mnlticaulis, which is peculiarly productive of disease to the worm, and a dispro- 
portionate deficiency of the gummy matter, so essential to the formation of silk; 
yet, it is conceded by both parties, that, when this variety is used at all, it should 
be planted on a light, dry soil, which will do much to reduce the proportion of 
water, and increase that of the resinous matter of the leaf. 
14. M. a. tatarica. Tartarian Black-fruited White Mulberry ; Morns tatarica, 
ol Loudon and others; Murier de Tartarie, of the French. A deciduous tree, 
growing to the height of twenty feet, in places inundated by the waters of the 
rivers Wolga and Tanais, or Don, in Tartary. Its fruit is generally black, 
resembling that of the Morns nigra ; though Pallas speaks of it as reddish or pale, 
of no good flavour, though eaten raw by the Tartars, as well as dried, or made 
by them into a sweetmeat. A wine is also prepared from it, and a very well- 
flavoured spirit. Its leaves are reported as being esteemed in China for the food 
of silkworms. Fine samples of silk have also been made from them in the 
United States. This variety appears to be very nearly allied to the Moms a. 
multicaulis, and by some is considered to be the same plant. 
M. Castelet, in his " Traite sur les Muriers blancs," describes three varieties 
which we are not able to identify with any of the preceding, viz. : 1. La Reine 
hatarde, a wild variety, with leaves twice as large as those of the Morns a. rosea, 
and deeply toothed. This is probably the same as the Foglia zazola, of the 
Italians. 2. La Reine, a grafted variety, which has shining leaves, and ash- 
colonred fruit. 3. La Feuille de floes, also a grafted variety, with very deep- 
green leaves, growing in tufts at the extremities of the branches. The fruit, he 
says, is produced in abundance, but never arrives at maturity. This appears to 
agree with the Foglia doppia, or double-leaved variety, of the Italian gardeners. 
Geography and History. The Morus alba is only found truly wild in China, 
in the province of Seres, or Serica; it is, however, apparently naturalized in many 
parts of Asia Minor, and of Europe. It does not embrace so great a geographical 
range as the Morus nigra, being unable to resist either very great extremes of 
heat or of cold. In a cultivated state, it is found, as a road-side pollard tree, in 
many parts of France, Spain, Italy, and in Germany as far north as Frankfort, 
on the Oder. In England, it is not very common ; and it is scarcely to be found 
in Scotland, even against a wall. As a silk-growing tree, the white mulberry is 
propagated with tolerable success throughout a great part of Asia and Australia ; 
in all the principal countries of Europe south of the forty-ninth degree of north 
latitude, including most of the islands of the Mediterranean ; in a portion of north- 
ern Africa, the Azores, Madeira, and Canary Isles ; in nearly all the states of the 
American union; in California, Mexico, Chili, Peru, Buenos Ayres, Brazil, C- 1 
racas, Jamaica, and other parts of the West Indies, the Sandwich Islands, &c. 
In the south of Europe, the vhite mulberry is grown in plantations by itself, 
like willows and fruit-trees ; also in hedge-rows, and as hedges ; but in all cases 
the plants are kept low, for the convenience of gathering the leaves, without 
injuring the trees; the greatest height they are suffered to attain being that of a 
pollard of six feet, which is annually lopped. 
The culture and manufacture of silk, like many productions of nature and art, are 
difficult to trace from their origin. All that we know concerning them, is, that they 
have flowed to us from the east in a comparative state of perfection. The Seres are 
mentioned in the oldest Sanscrit books, as a gentle race, who shunned the rest of man- 
kind, and whose occupation was to attend silkworms. It seems to have been in 
Asia that silk was first known ; and it was from thence that the ancients obtained it, 
calling it Serica, from the name of the country whence it was supposed to be brought. 
