Book I. 



BLACK, OR GARDEN MULBERRY. 



729 



sun and air, as tlie fruit, when the trees are too close, is very apt to turn mouldy ; they should also be 

 sheltered from the east, north, and west winds." Knight lays parts of the bearing branches of old trees, in 

 pots raised to these branches upon poles. Wood of any age will do, and the plants afford fruit the second 

 or third year. 



■kSOl. ily cuttings. In raising mulberries from cuttings, choose the former year's shoots, having one joint 

 of the two years' old wood. Plant them in autumn, if fine weather, or in the month of March, in rows nine 

 inches apart, and at the distance of two inches in tiie rows, leaving only two or three buds above ground : 

 mulch tlie ground with leaves or dung well rotted, to keep it moist, and the plants will require little water- 

 ing. If they succeed well, they may, next season, be transplanted into a nursery, and treated as directed 

 for layers. These young trees, while they remain in the nursery, should be transplanted every three or four 

 years. Miller says, mulberry cuttings will also strike well if planted on a hot- bed in spring. 



4602. Ktugfct failed in raising cuttmgs on a hot-bed in spring, but was very successful by the following 

 process. He cut vigorous shoots from the trees in NoVember, and formed them into cuttings of about five 

 inches long, each consisting of about two parts of two years' old wood, and one part of yearling wood. 

 They were intended to be put in pots, and the bottom of each cutting was cut so much a-:lope, that its sur- 

 face might be nearly parallel with that of the bottom of the pot in v/hich it was to be placed. " The cuttings 

 were then placed in the common ground, under a south wall, and so deeply immersed in it, that one bud 

 only remained visible above its surface ; and in this situation they remained till April. At this period the 

 buds were much swollen, and the upper ends of the cuttings appeared similar to those of branches which had 

 been shortened in the preceding autumn, and'oecome incapable of transmitting any portion of the ascend- 

 ing fiuid. The bark at the lower ends had also begun to emit those processes, which usually precede the 

 production of roots. The cuttings were now removed to the pots, to which they had been previously 

 fitted, and placed in a moderate hot-bed, a single bud only of each cutting remaining visible above the 

 mould, and that being partially covered ; and in this situation they vegetated with so much vigor, and 

 emitted roots so abundantly, that I do not think one cutting in a hundred would fail with proper atten- 

 tion. The mould I employed was the alluvial and somewhat sandy loam of a meadow, which was 

 sparingly supplied with water ; and the plants, till they had become sufficiently rooted, were shaded during 

 bright weather." 



•1603. In Spain and India, as Townsend and Tenant inform us, the white or silk-worm mulberry is al- 

 ways propagated by cuttings, three or four being planted together, so as to grow up into a bush. 



46(4. Bt/ suckers. Mulberry-trees, as well as most others so propagated, are longer of coming into bear- 

 ing, than those raised in any other way but by seed. The plants of this tree, raised from bearing branches, 

 ha've entire heart-shaped leaves, but those obtained from suckers or seeds present deeply divided or half- 

 winged leaves. 



4o<Jo. Bi/ grafting. Knight having planted some young mulberry-trees in pots, raised them to the bear- 

 ing branches of old trees, and grafted them by approach. The young grafts bore fruit the third year, and 

 continued annually productive. This tree succeeds very ill bv the common mode of independent' grafting. 

 iHort. Trans. \.m.'\ 



4606. Soil. The tree, Miller observes, delights in a rich light earth, and where there is depth of soil, as 

 in most of the old kitchen-gardens about London. In a very stitF soil, or on shallow ground, whether of 

 clay, chalk, or gravel; the trunk and branches are commor.ly covered with moss, and the little fruit pro- 

 duced is small, ill tasted, and ripens late. Abercrombie says, the mulberry thrives well in a deep sandy 

 loam, and will succeed in any fertile mellow ground, having a free situation in the full sun. 



4607. Site. The mulberry is generally gro-mi as a standard or half standard, sometimes 

 as espaliers, dwarfs, or -u-all-trees. A single young plant does not afford much fruit; but 

 one full-grown and healthy, will afford more than is sufficient for the supply of a large 

 family. Miller recommends planting in a situation defended from the strong south and 

 nortli-west winds, in order to preserve the fruit from being blown off ; but at the same 

 time to keep them at such a distance from trees or buildings, as not to keep off the sua, 

 for where the fruit has not the benefit of Iris rays to dissipate the morning dev,-s early, it 

 will turn mouldy and rot upon the trees. The nurseries, and especially those at Paris, 

 afford large standard trees of five or six years' growth, which come into beaiing the year 

 after removal. Those are in general to be made choice of in preference to raising the 

 tree from cuttings, or inarching. In orchards they may be planted thirty or thirty-five 

 feet from otlier trees, and twenty feet apart on walls or espaliers ; dwarfs may be planted 

 fifteen feet apart, and in each case temporary fruit-trees may be introduced between. 



4608. Forsyth recommends planting mulberries in grass orchards^and pleasure-grounds, because as the 

 finest of the fruit, when ripe, frequently drops, it can be picked up w-'ithout receiving any injury. Another 

 reason for planting these trees on lawns or in orchards is, that, when full-grown, they are too large for a 

 kitchen-garden. Abercrombie adds, " so nice is the criterion of perfect ripeness, that berries falling with- 

 out damage are superior to those gathered. Besides, a grass surface harmonises best with trees of magni- 

 tude, and increases the beauty of a rural scene." 



4609. JVilliams experienced, that the fruit might be much improved in size and flavor by training the 

 trees against a south or west wall. " The standard mulberry," he says, " receives great injury by being 

 planted on grass-plots with the view of preserving the fruit when it fafls spontaneously. No tree perhaps 

 receives more benefit from the spade and the dunghill than the mulberry ; it ought, therefore, to be fre- 

 quently dug about the roots, and occasionally assisted with manure. The ground under the tree should be 

 kept free from weeds throughout the summer, particularly when the fruit is ripening, as the reflected light 

 and heat from the bare surface of the soil is thus increased; more especially if the end branches are kept 

 pruned, so as not to bower over too near to, and shade, the ground. The fruit is also very fine if the tree 

 is trained as an espalier, within the reflection of a south wall or other building. If a wooden trellis were 

 constructed with the same inclination as the roof of a forcing-house, fronting the south, and raised about 

 six feet from the ground, leaving the soil with the same inchnation 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, ii. 92.) 



4610. Knight concurs with Williams as to the advantages of planting the tree against a south wall in cold 

 situations, adding, that "it affords an exception to ail, or almost all, other fruits, to which the wall gives 

 increased bulk and beauty, at the expense of richness and flavor." {Hart. Tra?is. iii. 66.) 



4611. Mode of bearing. " The mulberry produces its fruit chiefly on little shoots of 

 the same year, which arise on last year's wood, and on spurs from the two-year-old wood ; 

 in both stages, mostly at the end of the shoots and branches." 



4612. Pruning. Miller and Forsyth agree in saying there is no occasion to prune standards farther than to 

 tliin out irregular crossing branches, and never to shorten the young wood, on which the fruit is produced. 



