354 



LAMPASAS 



PAPAW 



originated in Ohio at some time previous to 

 1845. 



LAMPASAS. M. alba tomentosa. Lam- 

 pasas may be dismissed with the statement 

 that it is now listed by but one nurseryman 

 in Texas, who condemns it with faint praise. 

 The tree is described as of a spreading shrub- 

 like growth. The fruit is reported to be of 

 fair size and of very good quality. The va- 

 riety seems to be passing out because of ten- 

 derness to cold, winter-killing in Texas, only 

 200 miles from its place of origin. Lampasas 

 was found wild in the county of the same 

 name in Texas, and was introduced by T. V. 

 Munson, Denison, Texas, about 1889. 



MERRITT. M. alba. In Florida, where 

 mulberries are grown chiefly for swine and 

 poultry, Merritt is recommended as the 

 earliest variety, its crop beginning to ripen in 

 April and continuing for eight to ten weeks. 

 The tree is described as very vigorous, pro- 

 ductive, and as coming in bearing at an early 

 age. The fruits are large and of good flavor. 

 The variety has been listed by a few nursery- 

 men in the southeastern United States for a 

 few years, but where and when it originated, 

 it is now impossible to ascertain. 



MUNSON. M. alba. One of the newest 

 mulberries is Munson, which originated with 

 T. V. Munson, Denison, Texas, about 1900, 

 presumably from M. alba. It is described as 

 follows: "One of the largest, most prolific, and 

 best mulberries of the Russian class. The 

 branches and fruit look like ropes of big ber- 

 ries. It is earlier than Hicks." 



NEW AMERICAN. Fig. 321. M. alba. 

 This is the best if not the only variety grown 

 for its fruit in the North, often being offered 

 as Downing. The trees are strong, 

 vigorous, and very productive. 

 The fruits are large, one to two 

 inches tong, black, glossy, sweet 

 but not insipid; they begin ripen- 

 ing in July in central New York 

 and continue through September. 

 Bailey says it is undoubtedly a 

 chance seedling of one of the old 

 silkworm mulberries, M. alba. 

 Two other varieties, Trowbridge 

 and Thorburn, are mentioned as 

 almost indistinguishable from New 

 321. New American; these are no longer 

 A merican found in nurserymen's catalogs. 

 Mulberry. New American was brought to 

 (X%) notice about 1854 by N. H. Lind- 

 ley, Bridgeport, Connecticut. 



PERSIAN. M. nigra. Without further de- 

 scription than to say it is one of the best of 

 the European mulberries, Persian is offered by 

 several nurserymen in the Pacific states. 

 Probably the Black Persian catalogued by 

 nurserymen in the South some years ago was 

 the same. The tree is described as vigorous 



and productive, but slow of growth. The 

 fruits are black, one and one-fourth inches 

 long, aromatic, with subacid flavor. It has 

 been mentioned in American fruit literature 

 for at least fifty years. 



RUSSIAN. M. alba. Nearly all dealers in 

 trees offer the Russian mulberry as a fruit- 

 plant, but it is doubtful whether the common 

 type is of value for its fruit for any other pur- 

 pose than feeding swine and poultry. The tree 

 is spreading, drooping, hardy, very productive, 

 and ripens its crop over a long season. The 

 fruit is of medium size, purplish-black to 

 creamy-white, insipid. At least two named 

 sorts, both from Texas, have been offered, 

 Ramsey White and Victoria. As .ate as 1910 

 both were found in catalogs, but both seem 

 now to have been discarded. Old trees might 

 be looked for in Texas and neighboring states. 



STUBBS. M. rubra. The red mulberry 

 has still another variety in Stubbs, a compara- 

 tive newcomer, which, as .yet, is offered by 

 only a few nurserymen in the South. The tree 

 is described as very vigorous and the most 

 productive of all mulberries. The berries are 

 very large, nearly two inches long and more 

 than a half-inch thick, deep black, with a rich, 

 subacid, vinous flavor. The original tree was 

 found in Laurens County, Georgia, by John 

 M. Stubbs, about 1875. 



TOWNSEND. M. rubra. This is a com- 

 paratively new variety, much esteemed in the 

 South for extreme earliness, ripening its fruit 

 in March and April. No doubt it is an off- 

 spring of M . rubra. The tree is large, vigorous, 

 and very productive. The fruits are of but 

 medium size and flavor; the introducer recom- 

 mends it especially as a fruit to toll birds 

 from other fruits. The variety was found at 

 Glen Saint Mary, Florida, about 1900, and was 

 soon after introduced by Glen Saint Mary 

 Nurseries. 



TRAVIS. M. rubra. This is a compara- 

 tively new variety from Travis County, Texas, 

 which is recommended highly for its native 

 state. Presumably, it is an offspring of M. 

 rubra. The tree is described as very large, 

 vigorous, luxuriant in foliage, compact, and as 

 bearing over a long season very profusely. 

 The fruit is rated as the best of all mulberries 

 for human food very large and sweet. The 

 variety was introduced about 1900 by the 

 Austin Nursery, Austin, Texas. 



PAPAW 



The papaw, Asimina triloba, Dun., is a 

 member of the custard-apple family (Annon- 

 acea?), widely distributed in the tropics, but 

 having few representatives in the temperate 

 zones. From this family come a large number 

 of tropicaJ fruits useful in medicine, as spices, 

 and as dessert fruits; among the last are the 



