THE MULBERRY. 121 



CHAPTER XVII. 

 The Mulberry. 



THE MULBERRY (Morus nigra) is a native of Persia, and 

 belongs to the natural order Moraceae, the same order as 

 the Fig. It is reputed to have derived its generic name 

 from the Latin word " Mora," which means delay, the 

 fitness -of this name arising from the fact that the Mulberry 

 does not put forth its leaves until frosts are over. For 

 that reason it has been called " the wisest of trees." Fre- 

 quent mention is made of the Mulberry in Holy Writ ; also 

 by the early Greek writers Theophrastus and Dioscorides ; 

 and the Roman savants, Virgil, Horace, and Pliny. 



We owe its introduction into Europe to the Greeks. 

 The Romans, too, esteemed the Mulberry more than any 

 other fruit. It is said that the Mulberry tree was first 

 introduced into England in 1458, the first trees being 

 planted in the gardens of Syon House, Brentford. Tusser 

 refers to the Mulberry in his quaint verses in 1557; and 

 Gerarde, in 1597, mentions that the tree was then grow- 

 ing in sundry gardens in England. King James I. en- 

 couraged the extensive planting of the Mulberry, not, 

 however, so much for its fruit, as for feeding silkworms 

 an industry that, by the way, never made great headway 

 in this country. 



Shakespeare alludes to the Mulberry in several of his 

 plays, and was very partial to the tree. King James, by 

 the way, encouraged a French nurseryman to dispose of 

 100,000 trees in the Eastern and Midland Counties, and 

 there is no doubt that many of the grand old trees met 

 with at the present day were planted during that period. 

 Anyway, the fact remains that, wherever Mulberry trees 



