198 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



short space of time. At Sydney Mr. Brady can provide leaves 

 from this Indian variety all through the year by the removal of 

 cuttings, which will strike their roots almost at any season. It 

 also ripens seeds readily and should be kept at bush size. It re- 

 quires naturally less space than the other kinds. A fourth variety 

 comes from North China ; it has heart-shaped, flat, thickish leaves, 

 which form very good food for the silkworm. Mr. Brady, as well 

 as Mr. Martelli, recommends very particularly the variety passing 

 under the name of Morus multicaulis for the worms in their 

 earliest stages. The former recommends the Cape variety also ; 

 the latter wishes also the variety called Morus Morettiana to be 

 used on account of its succulent nutritious foliage, so well adapted 

 for the insect while yet very young, and also on account of pro- 

 ducing the largest amount of food within the shortest time. The 

 Manilla variety, known as Morus multicaulis, comes several weeks 

 earlier into bearing than most other sorts, and should therefore be 

 at hand for early hatched worms. 



The Muscardine Disease is produced by Botrytis Bassiana, while the 

 still more terrible Pebrine Disease is caused by a minute vibrio- 

 like organism. Countries like ours, happily free from these pests, 

 can thus rear healthy silk ova at a high premium for exportation. 



The White Mulberry Tree, with others, offering food to the silkworms, 

 such as the Osage-orange, should be planted copiously everywhere 

 for hedges or copses. A very soft texible fibre is obtained from 

 the bark of the Chinese Mulberry Tree. 



Morus celtidifolia, Humboldt. 



From Peru to Mexico, ascending to 7,000 feet. The fruit of this 

 Mulberry Tree is edible. M. insignis, Planchon, from New 

 Granada, is a similar species. 



Morus nigra, Linne.* 



The Black Mulberry Tree. South Russia and Persia. Attains a 

 height of 60 feet. Highly valuable for its pleasant refreshing 

 fruits. It is a tree of longevity, instances being on record of its 

 having lived through several centuries. It is also very hardy. 

 Mr. John Hodgkins regards it as a superior tree for sandy coast 

 ridges. The leaves also of this species afford food for the ordinary 

 silk moth, and are almost exclusively used for this purpose in the 

 Canary Islands. The tree occurs usually unisexual. M. atropur- 

 purea^ Roxb., from Cochin China, is an allied tree. The cylindrical 

 fruit-spike attains a length of 2 inches. 



Morus rubra, Linne.* 



The Red Mulberry Tree of North America ; the largest of the 

 genus, attaining a height of 70 feet ; it produces a strong and 



