CHAPTER X. 
FOOD-PLANTS. 
The traditional food-plant of the Silk-worm is the Mulberry (botani- 
cal genus Morus). There are two species of Mulberry indigenous to 
the United States, namely, the Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) and the 
Small-leaved Mulberry (Morus parvifolia), neither of which is suitable 
Silk-worm food. I have tried in vain to rear the worms upon rubra, 
but they either refuse its leaves entirely or dwindle and soon die upon 
it. The imported kinds which are most used are the Black (JM. nigra) 
and the different varieties of the White (I. alba). The first is inferior 
to the others as Silk-worm food. 
The Moretti, a variety of the White Mulberry, is profitably grown in 
the form of a hedge, and the large size of its leaves makes it avery de- 
sirable variety. 
The rosea, japonica, and the multicaulis, varieties of the same species, 
are also used with excellent success. 
A species of Mulberry new to this country has lately been introduced 
into the Western States by the Mennonites. This is the Russian Mul- 
berry (W. tartarica). Itis very hardy and its leaves make excellent 
Silk-worm food.* 
The Mulberry grows readily, being easily propagated by cuttings or 
layers or from the seed. ‘The white Mulberry, in particular, grows well 
« F 
*A tree of a genus allied to the Morus is the Broussonetia papyrifera, commonly 
called the Paper Mulberry. It is found quite generally throughout the South, but 
its foliage is not suitable for Silk-worm food. The Paper Mulberry is usually a some 
what larger tree than the Mulberry and its leaves are subject to a considerable di- 
versity of form, being mainly ovate and toothed on the margin; frequently with 
lobes on one or both sides of the leaf. They are quite rough to the touch on the up- 
per surface, much more so than the Mulberry, and on the under surface they are 
softly hairy. The trees are of two kinds, male and female. The male tree, early in 
the spring before its leaves are developed, has tassels something like those of the 
willow. They soon drop off after shedding pollen. The female flowers then go on 
developing during the summer until they make small round balls from which, when 
ripe, the seeds stand out. These seeds are covered with a gummy substance and are 
very small, being about the size of those of the raspberry. The female trees are 
little known in this country, as only the male trees have been introduced into the 
United States. 
I refer to this tree because of the frequency with which inquiries are made by 
Southern correspondents as to whether the Paper Mulberry can be used as Silk-worm 
food. The tree is very generally used for shade and ornament in Southern cities, 
where it attracts attention by the gnarled and knotted character of its trunk. 
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