MISCELLANEOUS HARDY FRUITS. 



265 



probably not yet been tried in this country. 

 If it succeeds in the northern and middle states 

 it will give us a handsome new fruit of good 

 quality, easily and cheaply raised, of first-rate 

 shipping quality when fresh, and valuable when 

 dried, and an ornamental tree of extraordinary 

 interest and beauty." 



The names of the varieties are Japanese. 

 The following is a selection : — 



Hachiya. — Produced at Hachiya in the province of 

 Mino. Fruit very large, oblong, pointed, a little flattened 

 at the stem; colour rich-red, with black at the end when 

 quite ripe; flesh when bletted juicy, very rich, delicious 

 in flavour. 



Ko-tsuru. — Fruit small, oblong, pointed at the end, 

 orange-yellow. It begins to ripen early in August, but 

 is not quite ripe till September. Inferior in quality, 

 esteemed for its earliness. 



Kurnosu-maru. — Fruit medium, yellowish-orange, with 

 black cobweb-like markings on the end when quite ripe; 

 fleshy, rich in flavour. Very good. Ripens from the 

 middle to the end of November. 



Shimo-maru. — Fruit roundish -oblong, somewhat four- 

 sided. It loses its astringent property early in September 

 and changes to a yellowish colour, ripening entirely after 

 exposure to frost and changing to reddish-orange. Flesh 

 juicy, crisp, of excellent quality. 



Tsuno-magari. — Fruit roundish, pointed, somewhat 

 four-sided at the stem; skin light reddish -yellow; seed- 

 less. It retains its austerity even when quite ripe. 



Tsuru-no-ho. — Fruit medium, oblong, pointed, bright- 

 red with black markings on the end when quite ripe ; 

 flesh rust-colour, with purplish -black dots, sweet and rich 

 in flavour. Ripens in October. 



Mulberry (Moms nigra). (Fig. 1049.) A 

 deciduous tree, native of Persia, whence it is 

 supposed to have been introduced into Europe 

 by the Greeks. The fruit, which is composed 

 of a number of grains, is oval, 1 inch or more 

 in length, and about f inch in diameter at the 

 widest part, of a dark-purple colour approach- 

 ing to black, very juicy, and having a sub-acid 

 flavour. It is occasionally eaten at the dessert, 

 and sometimes preserved, or made into wine. 

 A syrup known as syrupus mori is prepared 

 from the berries gathered before they are ripe; 

 it is principally used by chemists and others for 

 colouring medicines. 



The Mulberry succeeds best in a rich deep, 

 rather light, and somewhat moist loam. In 

 very dry shallow soils, as well as in those 

 which are heavy, cold, or wet, the fruit rarely 

 acquires any degree of perfection, and generally 

 drops before it is fully ripe. The tree requires 

 a situation well sheltered from northerly winds, 

 but open to the sun on the south. In the 

 neighbourhood of London, and in all the warm 

 parts of the kingdom, it succeeds perfectly well, 

 and ripens its fruit as a standard; but in the 



cold parts of Scotland, and in the north of 

 England, it requires a warm wall. 



Propagation is effected by seeds, cuttings, 

 and layers, and also by budding, inarching, and 

 grafting. The seeds are separated from the fruit 

 by bruising the latter between the hands, and 

 I washing them free from the pulp in a basin of 

 1 water. The seeds should then be thoroughly 

 | dried, put in paper or canvas bags, and kept in 

 a cool dry place till spring. They may be 

 sown in March, in pans filled with light rich 

 j mould, placed in gentle heat, the seedlings 

 ' being potted off or planted out in the cour.se 

 of the summer; or they may be sown out-of- 

 doors in soil of a similar description in May. 

 In either case there should only be a slight 

 covering of fine mould, and frequent waterings 

 , through a fine rose ought to be given. During 

 : the winter the young plants should be protected 

 ; from severe frosts by hoops and mats, or other 

 ; available means. In March they may be taken 

 up, shortened to one node, and planted 1 foot 

 j apart, in rows 2 feet from each other. Pro- 

 pagation by seeds, however, is seldom practised, 

 as plants so raised, unless grafted, are long in 

 I coming into bearing, and may produce only 

 | male blossoms. 



Cuttings made in spring or autumn should 

 be taken from the upper branches of the tree 

 in preference to the lower ones, for when so 

 ! chosen, they are said to come sooner into bear- 

 ing. Spring cuttings should be taken from 

 well-ripened shoots of the preceding year, with, 

 if possible, a little older wood left at the base. 

 They may be planted 6 inches apart, in rows 

 1 foot distant, in light rich mould, in a shady 

 1 border; or, what is better, they may be potted, 

 and plunged in a moderate hot-bed till they 

 strike good root, when they may be hardened 

 of!' and put out-of-doors. In either case only 

 one or two of the buds should be left above- 

 ground, and gentle waterings must be given 

 from time to time, so as to keep the soil suffi- 

 ciently moist, but not wet. During the winter, 

 protection should be given in severe weather, 

 and in the spring or autumn of the following 

 year they may be planted out in nursery rows. 

 Another mode consists in taking in spring per- 

 fectly matured portions of shoots of the preced- 

 ing year, and cutting them into as many pieces 

 as there are buds ; these pieces are then placed, 

 with the bud upwards, in light rich soil, and 

 covered to the depth of | inch. If the soil is 

 kept sufficiently moist, the buds soon vegetate, 

 and roots are emitted from the under side of 

 the cutting. 



