Naturalisation in Extra- Tropical Countries. 285 



since 1865 have shed much light. 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 silk- 

 worms, such as the osage-orange, should be planted copiously 

 everywhere for hedges or copses. A very soft textile fibre is 

 obtained from the bark of the Chinese Mulberry-tree. A variety 

 of the White Mulberry-tree (M. laevigata, Wallich) furnishes in 

 Assam, where it is called the "Bola," almost exclusively the wood 

 for paddles and oars [W. R. Fisher]. 



BXorus celtidifolia, Hmnboldt. 



From Peru to Mexico, ascending to 8,000 feet. The fruit of this 

 Mulberry -tree is edible. Rev. Prof. Sodiro, of Quito, praises par- 

 ticularly the wood of this tree for building- purposes. M. insignis 

 (Planchon), from New Granada, is a similar species ; it reaches 

 elevations of 11,000 feet, is therefore a plant fit also for the cold 

 temperate zone, and deserves thus general cultural attention. 



IVIorus nigra, Linne.* 



The Black Mulberry-tree. South-Western Russia and Persia, 

 Attains a height of about 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, enduring the winter-cold of Norway to latitude 61 15'; at 

 Christiania it bore fruit [Schuebeler]. Mr. John Hodgkiiis regards 

 it as a superior tree for sandy coast-ridges. The leaves of this 

 species also afford food for the ordinary silk-moth, and are almost 

 exclusively used for this purpose in the Canary-Islands, although 

 the produce therefrom is not always so good as that from M. alba. 

 The tree occurs usually as unisexual. M. atropurpurea (Roxburgh), 

 from Cochin-China, is an allied tree. The cylindrical fruit-spike 

 attains a length of 2 inches. A palatable, somewhat vinous bever- 

 age can be obtained by fermentation from Mulberries. 



JMorus rubra, Linne.* 



The Red Mulberry-tree. Eastern North- America, North-Mexico, 

 The largest of the genus, attaining a height of about 70 feet ; it 

 produces a strong and compact timber, of wonderful endurance 

 underground ; hence in demand for posts and railway-ties [General 

 Harrison], also for knees of small vessels [Dr. C. Mohr], and a 

 variety of other purposes. Fruit edible, sweet, large. The tree is 

 still hardy in Christiania [Schuebeler]. It requires a deep rich soil 

 and endures shade [Fernow]. Rate of circumferential stem-growth 

 in Nebraska 43 inches in 18 years [Furnas]. 



