MULBERRY 



The mulberry is largely cultivated in many countries for its leaves which 

 are the best food for the silk-worm. The white mulberry (Moms alba) is a 

 native of northern China and Japan, and the black mulberry (Morus nigra) 

 probably had its origin in Persia. 



There is an interesting myth which accounts for the color of the fruit of 

 the mulberry. Ovid relates that Thisbe was pursued by a lioness whose mouth 

 was bloody from the recent slaughter of an ox. Pyramus, her lover, coming 

 to the rendezvous and finding her blood-stained garments, thought her dead 

 and killed himself at the foot of a mulberry tree; and Thisbe, returning, did 

 the same. The poet states that the fruit of the tree till then was snow white, 

 but when the lovers' blood flowed over its roots and was absorbed into the 

 sap, the fruit took on a sable hue. 



The Israelites regarded the mulberry as a medium of communication 

 between God and man. David, when he inquired of the Lord how and when 

 he should attack the Philistines, was told : 



"Thou shall not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and 

 come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when 

 thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, 

 that then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then shall the Lord go out 

 before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines." 



A famous old mulberry tree in North London, under which 144 years 

 ago it is said the American Declaration of Independence was first read in 

 England, recently fell under the weight of its age. American Boy Scouts 

 attending the Industrial Scout Conference recently held in London, visited 

 the tree a few days before it fell and were told its history beneath its branches. 



The red mulberry (Morus rubra), which is native to Eastern United 

 States, is planted to some extent as a shade tree in Calfiornia. It grows to a 

 height of about sixty feet, and has a wide-spreading habit. It furnishes abun- 

 dant shade in a comparatively short time, but the litter made by the fruit 

 makes it objectionable as a street tree. Its value as a highway tree is also 

 questionable because of its irregular tendency of growth. 



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