244 HISTORY OF KUU1TS. 



remarks of an ingenious writer on rural economy, who 

 says, " 1 am acquainted with but one tree of any growth 

 or beauty, that seems to have the least capability of re- 

 sisting the malign influence of the sea atmosphere ; and 

 that is the mulberry. From two or three grand specimens 

 of this beautiful tree, of which I have had long know- 

 ledge, standing in the most exposed situations of the 

 north-east coast of England, it seems not only to defy the 

 enemy, but to delight in its situation, throwing out its 

 noble limbs in all directions, and assuming a foliage rich, 

 full, and tufted to its topmost boughs. One of these 

 specimens to which I allude is of great magnitude, even 

 though some of its vast limbs have been torn from it ; but 

 it is still in vigour, and in point of richness of effect, the 

 oak itself is scarcely superior. 



" These trees are also abundantly prolific, and in all 

 good seasons the fruit arrives at perfection. Is it not 

 singular, therefore, that the cultivation of this beautiful 

 and useful species should have been so long neglected ? 

 It might be supposed, that one single flourishing specimen, 

 in a situation where all other trees fail, would have been 

 an inducement to the trial of others. The slow growth of 

 the mulberry-tree may be urged as an objection ; but, on 

 the other hand, it appears to be a tree of great longevity, 

 which is no small recommendation." 



Let us not, therefore, obstinately persist in keeping this 

 tree so great a stranger to our shores, but impress upon 

 the minds of those who have estates on the eastern coast 

 of Sussex, how much they would benefit posterity by 

 forming plantations of mulberry-trees in many parts of 

 the South Downs, particularly in the vicinity of Brighton, 

 where more is wanting, and less is done, by way of embel- 

 lishing the neighbourhood by planting, than in any other 

 spot in the kingdom. 



Should a few spirited land-proprietors make the expe- 



