CHINESE MULBERRY. 37 



economy oflabor and of time, and from their superior 

 nutritious qualities, they are preferred by the insects to 

 all others. 



This mulberry should be cultivated in hedge rows, 

 and never suffered to rise higher than seven or eight 

 feet. But a few years are sufficient to raise considera- 

 ble fields of them in full vigor, sufficient to support an 

 immense number of silk-worms ; and regular plantations 

 can be formed, by planting the trees at the distance 

 of from six to eight feet asunder ; or in rows of eight 

 feet asunder, and the trees at three or four feet dis- 

 tance in the row ; a space sufficient for the extension of 

 the branches, sufficient also for cultivation, and for the 

 greater convenience of gathering the leaves. So great* 

 ly is this last operation facilitated by the flexibility of 

 the stalks, and the superior size of the leaf, that, as we 

 are assured by M. Perrottet, a child is sufficient for 

 gathering the food for a large establishment of silk- 

 worms. 



The Morns multicaulis, since its introduction to 

 France, seems destined to replace everywhere the com" 

 mon white mulberry for the nourishment of silk-worms, 

 such is its decided superiority over all others. M. Bo 

 nafoux, the director of the Royal Gardens at Turin, 

 and the celebrated writer on silk, has also fully attested 

 its decisive superiority in Italy, where he has found, 

 that by close planting and low pruning, whole fields 

 may be suddenly covered with a mass of the most luxu~ 

 riant foliage. He has tried them extensively. And M. 

 Dupont, of Chiron, near Chamberry, in France, has 

 found that as the silk-worrns fed on this mulberry make 

 less waste of litter and of food, so the chances of dis- 

 ease are diminished from this cause, and they finish 

 their labors in three days legs time, and that the silk has 

 a more brilliant lustre. He has also found that the sav- 

 ing of labor in gathering the food is so great, that ten 

 quintals of (he leaves of the Morus multicaulis are gath- 

 ered with the same labor that is required to gather two 



