LUTHER BURBANK 



The mulberry is a relative of the fig, and it 

 bears abundantly a fruit that is distinctly sug- 

 gestive of the blackberry in general appearance, 

 but which has a characteristic flavor of its own. 



Although the fruit of the mulberry is not alto- 

 gether neglected, yet in general the tree is raised 

 to furnish food for the silk worm or for ornament 

 rather than for its fruit. It is obviously difficult 

 to gather a crop of berries distributed among the 

 branches of tree, and this fact no doubt accounts 

 in part at least for the failure of the mulberry to 

 gain popularity as a fruit producer. 



It would be possible, however, to train the mul- 

 berry tree to a lower and more spreading growth, 

 as it is generally propagated by grafting after the 

 manner of orchard fruits. Indeed, that is the 

 best way to propagate the fruiting varieties of 

 mulberry, as it cannot be depended on to breed 

 true from the seed. In point of fact the fruit of 

 several of the best cultivated varieties is alto- 

 gether seedless. 



Reference has been made in another connec- 

 tion to my experiments in hybridizing the mul- 

 berry with its relative the fig. Notwithstanding 

 the lack of success of these experiments, it seems 

 possible that further experiments along the same 

 line might lead to interesting, and perhaps to 

 valuable, results. 



[174] 



