CHAP. c. uivvu aVkj:. Mq*RVS. 1317 



G ft. from the ground, leaving the soil with the same inclination as the trellis, 

 a tree trained on it would receive the solar influence to great advantage, 

 and would probably ripen its fruit much better than a standard." (Hort. 

 Trans., &c.) When the mulberry is trained against a wall, and required to 

 produce very large and fine fruit, the following mode of pruning is recom- 

 mended by Mr. Williams : — " All the annual shoots, except the foreright, 

 are neatly trained to the wall ; but these last must be left to grow till towards 

 midsummer, ami then be shortened about one third of their growth, to admit 

 light to the leaves beneath. By the end of August, the foreright shoots will 

 have advanced again, so as to obstruct the light, and they must then be short- 

 ened nearer to the wall than before. In the month of March or beginning of 

 April, the ends of the terminal shoots should be pruned away down to the first 

 strong bud that does not stand foreright; and the front shoots, which were 

 pruned in August, must also be shortened down to two or three eyes. If 

 trained after this method, the tree will afford fruit the third year. The fore- 

 right shoots should then be shortened at the end of the month of June, or 

 beginning of July, so as to leave one leaf only beyond the fruit ; the terminal 

 shoots being nailed to the wall as before, and left without any summer 

 pruning; the foreright shoots, thus nailed, will not advance any farther, as 

 their nutriment will go into the fruit; which, when quite ripe, will become 

 perfectly black, very large, and highly saccharine." {Ibid.) As a standard tree, 

 whether for ornament, or the production o^ moderately sized fruit, the mul- 

 berry requires very little pruning, or attention of any kind, provided the soil 

 be tolerably good. 



Statistics. Morns nigra in the Environs of London. The oldest tree (supposed to be planted in 

 the I6th century, by the botanist Turner,) is at Syon, where it is 22ft. high. (See fig. 1222 in p. 1345.) 

 There is another tree 28 ft. high, diameter of trunk 3 ft. 3 in., and of the head 57 tt. At Hampstead, 

 at Kenwood, 38 years planted, it is 25 ft high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 1 in., and of the head 25 ft. ; 

 and at Mount Grove, Middlesex, 12 years planted, it is 9 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2| in. At 

 Battersea, on the estate of Earl Spenser, one, 300 years old, is from 30 ft. to 40 ft. high, the diameter 

 of the head 70 ft. by 50 ft. ; with 14 trunks, averaging about 1 ft. in girt at 1 ft. from the ground. 



M. ri>gra South of London. In Devonshire, at Bystock Park, 22 years planted, it is 17 ft. high, 

 diameter of the trunk 7 in. In Kent, at Canterbury, in a garden which belongs to the ruins of the 

 Abbey of St. Augustine, is a mulberry tree of great antiquity. It had once been a tree of consider- 

 able height ; but is supposed to have been blown down about the end of the 17th, or beginning of the 

 18th, century. The trunk lies horizontally along the ground ; and is in length 21| ft, and about 2 ft. 

 in diameter, at 4 ft. from the root. Two large branches have risen perpendicular y from this trunk, 

 and now form trees with trunks, the one 8 ft. high, and about 14 in. in diameter, where it proceeds 

 from the main trunk ; and the other still higher and thicker. This tree was inspected by the depu- 

 tation of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, when on their way to France, in August, 1817. " On 

 examination " they " perceived that a continuous portion of the bark was fresh all the way from the 

 original root ; and by removing a little of the earth" they "likewise ascertained that many new 

 roots, though of small size, had been sent off from the base of the two branches which had formed 

 themselves into stems and heads." " The fruit of this aged tree," the deputation add, " is excel- 

 lent ; indeed it is commonly said that the fruit of the oldest mulberry trees is the best. In 1815, the 

 berries, sold at 2s. a pottle, yielded no less than 6 guineas." {Journal of a Hort. Tour, &c, p. 14.) 

 We are informed by Mr. Masters of Canterbury, that this tree has increased considerably in size 

 since 1817; the two trees being now, the one 19 ft. high, with a head 25 ft. in diameter; and the 

 other 16ft. high, with a head 20ft. in diameter. In Somersetshire, at Hinton House, 18 years 

 planted it is 14 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 6 in., and of the head 13 ft. ; at Nettlecombe, 45 years 

 planted, it is 24 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 4 in., and of the head 26 ft. In Surrey, near Ripley, 

 at Sutton Place, is a very old mulberry tree, which must have been blown down early in the 18th 

 century, as the branches from the prostrate trunk have all the appearance of old trees. The house 

 at Sutton Place was built by the brewer of Henry VIII., about the end of that king's reign. In 

 Sussex, at Cowdray, it is 25 ft. high, with a trunk 1 ft. 8 in. in diameter. In Wiltshire, at Wardour 

 Castle, 100 years old, it is 40 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 6 in., and of the head 2b" ft. 



M. nigra North of London. In Bedfordshire, at Ampthill, 85 years planted, it is 25 ft. high, 

 diameter of the trunk 25 in., and of the head 30ft. In Cambridgeshire, in the grounds of Christ 

 Church College, at Cambridge, is one planted by Milton when a student of the college, 20 ft. high, 

 diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 2 in., and of the head 30 ft. In Cheshire, at Kinmel Park, it is 20 ft. high, 

 diameter of the trunk 16 in., and of the head 20 ft. In Cumberland, at Ponsonby Hall, 45 years 

 planted, it is 24 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 1 ft. 2 in., and of the head 18 ft. In Gloucestershire, 

 at Doddington, 50 years planted, it is 25 tt. high, diameter of the trunk 1| ft., and of the head 90 ft. 

 In Leicestershire, at Whatton House, 26 years planted, it is 13 ft. high, against a wall, circumference 

 of the trunk 1ft. 4 in., and of the head 70 ft. In Oxfordshire, in the Common Room Garden, at Pem- 

 broke College, are two mulberry trees, which are said to have been planted before the college was 

 founded, which was in 1624. One of these is only about 25 ft. high, but it has a trunk 2 ft. 2 in. in 

 diameter at 4 ft. from the ground ; a little higher it divides into two large arms, one of which girts 

 5 ft., and the other 3 ft. 1 in. The other tree appears to have been much larger, but is now decayed. In 

 Pembrokeshire, at Golden Grove, 60 years planted, it is 25 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 2 it., and 

 of the head 14 ft. In Radnorshire, at Maeslaugh Castle, 26 ft high, diameter of trunk 1 ft., and of 

 -the head 30 ft. In Rutlandshire, at Belvoir Castle, 10 years planted, it is 15 ft. high, diameter of the 

 trunk 4 in., and of the head 8 ft. In Suffolk, at Finborough Hall, 70 years planted, it is 40 ft. high, 

 diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 42 ft ; at Ampton Hall, 12 years planted, it is 10 ft. high, 

 diameter of the trunk bin., and of the head 16ft. In Worcestershire, at Croome, 40 years planted, it 



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