514 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



scythe snaths, are made of it, and it has been reported for slack cooperage and boat 

 building, but such uses are apparently infrequent. The wood is evidently sold under 

 some other name, or without a name, for the total sawmill output in the United 

 States is given hi government statistics at only 1,000 feet, which is probably not one 

 per cent of the cut. 



MEXICAN MULBERRY (Morus celtidifolia.) ranges from southern Texas to Ari- 

 zona. Trees are seldom more than thirty feet high and one in diameter. The berry 

 is about half an inch long, black, and made up of a hundred or more very small drupes. 

 It is edible, but its taste is insipid. The wood is heavy and is of dark orange or 

 dark brown color. It is suitable for small turnery and other articles, but no reports 

 of uses for it have been found. The tree is occasionally planted for its fruit by 

 Mexicans, but Americans care little for it. 



Two foreign mulberries have been extensively planted in this country, and in 

 some localities they are running wild and are mistaken for native species. One is 

 the white mulberry (Morus alba), a native of China; the other is the paper mulberry 

 (Broussonetia papyri/era) a different genus, but of the same family. It is a native of 

 Japan, and has been naturalized in some of the southern states. Nine varieties of 

 the white mulberry have been distinguished in cultivation. 



