M O R . 



M O R 



on short petioles of various sizes : amcnts soli- 

 tary, pendulous, axillary between the petiole and 

 the spine, two or three inches in length, cylin- 

 (iric and very elose: the female flowers on a dif- 

 ferent tree, collected into a glohe : their recep- 

 tacles axillary, glaucous-green, solitary, with 

 short petioles : among the female flowers are 

 some chaffy bodies, which perhaps were flowers 

 suffocated by their neighbours and dried up : the 

 fruit yellowish green, sweet, but eaten chiefly 

 by birds. It is a native of Brazil. 



Culture. — All the sorts are capable of being 

 increased by seeds, layers, cuttings, grafting, 

 and inoculating or buddine;. 



The seed method is chiefly practised for those 

 which are not intended as fruit-trees, as they 

 are very liable to vary in 'that way. It should be 

 sown in the early spring, as about March, on 

 a bed of fine earth, in a warm aspect, or upon 

 amoderate hot-bed protected with glasses, in drills 

 to the depth of a quarter of an inch. Water 

 should be given slightly in dry weather ; and in 

 the heat of the day shade ; covering it in cold 

 nights. When the plants appear, they should 

 be well guarded from frost in the early spring, 

 and be kept clean during the summer, and pro- 

 perly shaded and watered, protecting them the 

 first autumn and winter, removing them in the 

 following March into nursery rows two feet 

 apart, and one distant, to continue a few years, 

 when they may be set out where they are to grow. 

 They should not be removed, either from the 

 seed-bed or nursery rows, till perfectly strong. 



When intended for feeding silk-worms, they 

 should be kept in a low shrubby state. 



They appear, from Sir George Staunton, to 

 succeed best in China, on beds about a foot 

 high in moist loamy soils. 



When raised for fruit, great care should be 

 taken that the layers or cuttings be not only 

 taken from old fruit-bearing trees, but that the 

 branches made use of be also fruit-bearing. 



The layers may be made from stools formed 

 for the purpose, or by raising large boxes, baskets, 

 or pots of earth, so as to lay the branches in 

 them in the autumn, by the slit method, 

 heading them down to two eyes each. When 

 they have taken root in the autumn following, 

 they may be removed into the nursery and 

 managed as the seedlinsrs. 



The cuttings should be made from the former 

 year's shoots of such trees and branches as bear 

 v.ell, and have fine fruit, not being shortened, 

 but planted their whole length, leaving two or 

 three buds above the ground. They should be 

 jilanted in March ^i light rich earth, pressing 

 the mould well about them, in order that it may 

 he kept from getting too dry. 



When well rooted in the foUowmg spring, 

 they may be removed into the nursery, being 

 regularly trained to stems by means of stakes 

 fixed to each of them, to which the principal 

 shoots should be trained, removing most of the 

 rest, except such as are necessary to detain the 

 sap for the support of the stem. 



They may be trained to Standards, Half 

 Standards, and Dwarf Standards. See Puun- 

 iNG and 1'raining. 



After standing three or four years in the nur- 

 sery, they will be ready to plant out for good. 



They should have but little sun at the first 

 planting of the cuttings, but afterwards as much 

 as possible, provided the earth about them be 

 prevented from becoming dvy, by moss or other 

 means. The cuttings also succeed well when 

 planted in a hot-bed ; and in all cases when 

 covered by hand glasses. 



Some also plant them in October. 



The grafting and budding, or inoculating, are 

 certain methods of continuing the proper kinds, 

 and should be practised in the usual manner upon 

 the seedling stocks of any of the species. See 

 Grafting and Budding. 



Mr. Forsyth remarks, that " as the fruit is 

 produced on the young wood, only such branches 

 as cross others, and such as are decayed, or 

 broken by accident, should be cut out, applyin"- 

 at the same time the composition. When, how- 

 ever, the heads become too full of wood, it will, 

 he thinks, be necessary to thin them, as the 

 fruit is larger and better flavoured where the 

 heads are kept thin of wood." 



He advises planting these trees, when for fruit, 

 in grass orchards and pleasure-grounds, as " the 

 finest of the fruit, when ripe, frequently drops, 

 which, if it fall on dug or ploughed ground, 

 will be soiled and rendered unfit for use, as the 

 earth will adhere so to the fruit as to render 

 the cleaning of it inipracticable; but if planted 

 on lawns, or in grass orchards, the fruit can be 

 picked up without receiving any injury. An- 

 other reason for planting these trees on lawns or 

 in orchards is," he says, " that when full grown, 

 they are too large for a kitchen-garden. The soil 

 in which they thrive best is a rich, light, and 

 deep earth." 



" He has tried the efficacy of his composition 

 on several of these trees in a very decayed hol- 

 low state of the trunk, cutting out all the dead 

 wood and cankered parts of some, and headino- 

 down others that were stunted and sicklv. After 

 these operations they put forth vigorous branches, 

 and bore excellent crojjs of fruit, more than dou- 

 ble the size of that which they produced in their 

 former state." 



And he advises " those who have any old 

 S 9. 



