SILK GROWER'S MANUAL. 173 



France, the admirable, and it is thinner than those of 

 the Spanish mulberry, morns nigra. It is neither 

 wrinkled nor plaited, is, in general, ten inches wide and 

 twelve inches long. The fruit, which is at the first vio- 

 let, becomes at maturity perfectly black, but is some- 

 times white. This mulberry will be most profitably cul- 

 tivated in the form of a hedge, and from the remarka- 

 ble size of its leaves they are gathered with the greatest 

 facility. Their superior quality has been proved by the 

 experiments of Mr. Gera and Count Dandolo, who assert 

 that " they produce silk of a more beautiful gloss and 

 finer quality than common silk." 



It is well established that the morus alba is the vari- 

 ety cultivated for silk nearly everywhere, and is N gener- 

 ally considered as producing the best silk ; but after my 

 own observation, my opinion is that the moretti will be 

 the very best variety for California, for many reasons. 

 First, I remarked it to be a very vigorous and strong 

 grower, wherever I have met it in the State ; it is also 

 more hardy than others. Second, as it is an improved 

 variety of the alba, it is very easy to understand why it 

 produces silk of a superior gloss. Third, because one 

 of its large, thick, substantial leaves contains as much 

 food as a half dozen of the others, and, consequently, 

 the whole tree produces more in proportion. Fourth, 

 the thickness of its leaves is the cause that they do not 

 wilt so fast, and keep fresh a longer time, and they af- 

 ford the worms plenty of time to eat the whole. This 

 last point ought to be taken into consideration under the 

 influence of our dry atmosphere. All the above quali- 



