CHAPTER XXVI. 



THE MULBERRY 



Has generally been planted as an ornamental tree, but with 

 exception of Teas' drooping mulberry the varieties are gener- 

 ally too irregular and spreading in growth to compete with 

 other trees not possessing their fruit-bearing advantages. 



To many the flavor of the mulberry is not attractive, but to 

 others its rich sub-acid sweetness and the long continuance 

 of its season commend it to favor. 



Probably no fruit has been so neglected as the mulberry. 

 The Chinese have cultivated the tree from time immemorial 

 as food for the silkworm, and the craze which spread over 

 this country seventy years ago in the same direction is a mat- 

 ter of history. 



The berries are of varying size and color, largest on old 

 trees. 



The varieties worthy of cultivation are not numerous, and 

 are mostly not hardy in the North. The practice of substitu- 

 tion is so common among nurserymen that it is not easy to 

 obtain trees true to name. It will grow in any well-drained 

 soil, but appears to prefer one which is rather light and 

 gravelly. At full size the trees are twenty to thirty feet high, 

 with round open heads ; the berries as they mature drop off 

 and may be gathered from the ground. A slight jarring will 

 shake the ripe ones off, and this is the best mode of gathering 

 them. 



The most complete monograph on the fruit-bearing mul- 

 berry is that of L. H. Bailey, Cornell Experiment Station of New 

 York. He classifies those grown in America thus : 



i. The White Mulberry group. Morus alba. 



i. (a) Russian mulberry. Var. Tatarica. 

 i. (b) Nervosa mulberry. Var. venosa, 



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