fruit to cultivate for human food could the birds and squirrels 

 be kept away from it. The red-berried elder begins to fruit 

 early in June, bears fruit well through July, and like the com- 

 mon elder (Savibucus canadensis), which fruits in Massachu- 

 setts in August and Se])tember, is one of the chief attractions 

 for summer birds More than one hundred species are known 

 to feed upon elderberries. Close to the elders in attractiveness 

 come the cornels or dogwoods. These are summer fruiting 

 plants. All the mulberry trees are extremely inviting to birds. 

 The native red mulberry (Morus rubra) is useful but does not 

 fruit quite so early in June as the introduced white mulberry 

 (Morus alba). The Russian mulberry has been widely recom- 

 mended, attracts birds remarkably, and in some cases has been 

 established in Massachusetts, but it appears not to be hardy 

 on the higher lands of the State, and seems to require special 

 treatment to establish it here. The Downing (or the New 

 American, which appears to be identical) is a cultivated variety 

 with a fruit that is much more palatable than the common 

 kinds, and has been successfully grown here. The dwarf white 

 mulberry also seems hardy and gives a crop of fruit a few 

 years after planting. 



The mulberries make fine shade and ornamental trees, but 

 should not be planted where they will overhang walks or 

 buildings, as the decaying juicy fruit, if not all eaten by birds, 

 drops to the ground in 

 summer, where it is 

 crushed by the feet of 

 passers-by and disfig- 

 ures walks or stains 

 clothing. Wild black- 

 berries, raspberries, 

 blueberries and huckle- 

 berries all are eaten 

 by birds in summer and 

 all attract them. All 

 wild cherries tempt the birds in July, August or September. 

 There is a prejudice against these trees because they harbor tent 

 caterpillars, which, however, may be killed by early spraying, 

 but if wild cherries are not present on our grounds many 



Smilax, greenbrier, bull brier. 



