more consequence they were of the whiteness of\ from the inconvenience of the hot season. 



snow, and have a most beautiful shining appear- rL: '~ *- -"- 



ance. (See New England Farmer, vol. xi. No. ii.) 



At Madam Parmentier's in 1831, I witnessed the 



silk worms feeding with avidity on the leaves of 



the Morus MuUicaulis, and was informed that 



they had left eleven other species of mulberries to 



feed on this. At that place we are also informed, 



the Morus MuUicaulis has withstood the rigors 



of the last six winters, uninjured and unprotected. 



Although being possessed of an active and pro- 

 longed vegetation, it is not to be expected that the 



unripened wood of the tender tips, should always 



escape. 



I introduced this plant to Massachusetts in the 



spring of 1831, from the Messrs. Prince of the 



Linnaean Botanic Garden, Flushing ; I also receiv- 

 ed plants of the same from Madame Parmentier's 



of Brooklyn, L. I. and I have also received them 



from France from M. Andre Michaux, author of 



the American Sylva." 



Having dwelt so copiously upon the Morus 



MuUicaulis, it is but fair that we should speak a 



little in detail upon the Morus Alba, as that 



must, for some years yet, form the great reliance 



for food for the worm. 



The White, Italian Mulberry, or the Morus 



fllba, of Linnaeus, is a native of Asia, and was 

 introduced into Italy, by some of the survivors of 

 the last crusade. Oliver de Serres relates 

 that the French who accompanied Charles the 

 eighth, in his invasion of Italy, in 1494, being 

 struck with the abundance of the trees in that 

 country, and with the profit derived from the 

 culture of silk, caused it to be introduced into 

 France. It is mentioned as a very singular in- 

 stance of the longevity of this tree, that in 1802, 

 Faugas de Saint Fond, saw the original one, 

 around which M. Lachaux, to evince his re- 

 spect for this monument of agriculture, and pa- 

 rent of the White Mulberry trees in France, 

 had built a wall, there are several species of this 

 tree, and numerous varieties, the result of culti- 

 vation, soil, climate and the play of nature. The 

 forms of the leaves are extremely variable. Mr. 

 Jludibert an experienced cultivator in France, 



The 



White Italian Mulberry, moreover, not only 

 grows more rapidly but has a more abundant fo- 

 liage, and the leaves are more delicate and more 

 nutritive ; whence the silk becomes handsomer 

 and of better quality. But there is a considera- 

 ble difference in the quality of White Mulberry 

 trees Count Dandolo, the great silk rearer of 

 Italy, considers those best that grow in Lombardy, 

 under the name of Folia Giazzola, and Folia 

 Doppia, the leaf of which contains five different 

 substances: 1st, the fibrous substance; 2d, the 

 coloring matter; 3d, water; 4th, the saccharine 

 substance $ and 5th, the resinous substance. 

 The saccharine matter is the most essential part 

 in the nourishment of the silk worm. 



As botanists place the White Mulberry tree in 

 the class of dioecious plants, or such as have bar- 

 ren or male flowers on one individual, and fer- 

 tile or female ones on another of the same spe- 

 cies, it is thought by some that it would be con- 

 venient to plant exclusively, male Mulberries, 

 which they say afford the advantage that, not on- 

 ly on stripping them, the berries do not embarrass 

 the operation, or cause a diminution of its pro- 

 duct; but that the worms in their last age, are 

 not exppsed to be fed on leaves afFectcd by the 

 glutinous substance of the berries, which would 

 injure their health. Moreover the male trees 

 keep for their foliage all their juices ; whence 

 their leaves are in greater quantity, and of a bet- 

 ter quality ; we, however, believe that there is 

 more fancy, more theoretical pride than well 

 grounded opinion in this, and therefore reject it, 

 resting under the firm conviction that no injury 

 whatever can result from the presence of fe- 

 males among the males of the tribe* 



SOIL AND SITUATION. 



The nurseries, as well as the large and small 

 Mulberry plantations, require a sunny exposure, 

 and spots well sheltered against strong cold winds. 

 Therefore, declivities, or hill sides, descending 

 towards the east or southeast and secured by 

 woods or groves, are proper; as also, all spots 

 protected by artificial plantations and buildings. 



says, ll that the same tree will have leaves divi- 

 ded into several lobes, when young, and, when 

 it becomes old, they will be entire. Others have 

 the second crop of leaves differently formed 

 from the first ; some again have entire leaves 

 in the spring, and lobed leaves in the autumn. 

 Hence it is extremely difficult to assign positive 

 characters to the different varieties, particularly 

 when they shew no diversity in appearance, ex- 

 cept in the shapes of the leaves. Its superiority 

 over every other variety of the Mulberry excep 

 the Morus MuUicaulis, consists in this : It 

 cloathed with leaves fifteen or twenty days ear 

 Her than the others the silk worms, therefore 



come quicker 

 4 



to maturity and are preservec 



The trees should never be planted in marshy 

 or low ground ; 1st, because they would be more 

 exposed than on elevated situations to the inju- 

 rious influence of cold and frosts, and 2dly, be- 

 cause worms fed from leaves gathered from trees 

 in such situations, owing to the superabundance 

 of aqueous matter in them, do not yield silk ei- 

 ther as lustrous or tenacious, and 3dly, from the 

 absence of saccharine matter, the worms are not 

 so healthful, nor do they give as rruch silk. 

 Next to the soil described, a calcareous sandy 

 clay is to be preferred. A heavy clay, or fenny, 

 marshy earth, are especially unsuitable, because 

 in such situations the bark becomes covered with 

 moss, and the trees are slow in their growth, lia- 

 ble to diseases of the heart, and to be killed by 



