THE HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



369 



very few fruits become unfit to eat from over-ripeness 

 in less time after they are gathered. 



The Mulberry is the latest tree to break into 

 leafage, remaining bald and bare until the end of 

 June in many localities. It is so hardy in all the 

 warmer districts of England south of London as not 

 only to withstand the severities of our climate, but 

 ripen fruit as a standard in favourable seasons. It 

 even ripens in favourable localities in Yorkshire : 

 but in cold districts, or in Scotland, the Mulberry 

 needs warm sites and the fostering of a wall to 

 ripen its fruit in the open air. The necessity of its 

 leaves for amateur attempts in silk- culture has 

 given it an importance beyond its mere edible 

 qualities ; hence it may be well to give fuller in- 

 structions for its propagation and culture than 

 would otherwise be needful. 



Propagation. — This may be effected by all the 

 methods enumerated for that of other fruit, and by 

 one method in addition, that has not yet been 

 described — viz., by truncheons. A truncheon in our 

 special sense is simply a portion of a bough of any 

 handy length, from one yard to four. Remove such 

 boughs in October or November, reduce a few of the 

 smaller branches, and insert the thick end a foot or 

 two feet deep into the ground, tread home firmly, 

 and if very large and at all top-heavy, reduce con- 

 siderably, and place a stout stake against the 

 truncheon to make and keep it immovable. During 

 the next summer the truncheon is converted into a 

 rooted Mulberry-tree. 



Cuttings. — The simplest mode is by placing these 

 in the open air, the cutting simply differing from 

 the truncheons in being smaller. Strong shoots 

 of the last year's wood from a foot to two feet 

 long, heeled off with a base of older wood, and 

 firmly placed in the ground, form the best cut- 

 tings. 



Mixed Hot and Cold Method of Rooting Mulberry 

 Cuttings. — Insert the cuttings in the open air as 

 before, say in October, and leave them there till 

 March or April, when a callus will be found forming 

 around their base. Pot them up in sandy soil, place 

 in a close frame with a bottom heat of 65°, grow on 

 under glass for a couple of months or so, and then 

 plant out, and thus make the progress of two years 

 in one. Summer cuttings may also be heeled off 

 when the trees have broken into leafage, inserted in 

 sandy loam, and placed in a moist atmosphere and a 

 temperature of 65° till rooted. 



Layers. — Wherever the branches of Mulberries can 

 be made to touch the earth, either by accident or 

 design, they root rapidly, and thus form excellent 

 plants. Pots may also be fixed up against the 

 branches to be rooted, the only objection to this 

 96 



method being the labour of keeping the soil watered 

 until the layers are rooted. 



Suckers. — Trees raised from suckers are relatively 

 sterile. This correlation between suckers and 

 sterility is by no means confined to Mulbei'ries, 

 though it is more pronounced in regard to these 

 than to most other fruits. 



Grafting, Inarching, and Budding are all practicable 

 — the first and the third, however, by no means so 

 easy and certain in the case of Mulberries as of 

 most other fruit-trees. Inarching involves a useless 

 loss of labour, and of vital force, when other and so 

 much easier and swifter methods of propagation are 

 available. 



Seeds. — This method is liable to similar objections. 

 Though the Black Mulberry comes true from seeds, 

 and vegetates under favourable conditions within 

 six weeks or two months, yet it takes the seedlings 

 some years to grow into fruitful plants, and a very 

 large percentage of the seedlings are apt to continue 

 sterile for indefinite periods. 



If this method is to be adopted, separate the seeds 

 from the pulp by bruising and washing, then dry, 

 and sow either at once or in the spring. If at once, 

 sow thinly in light soil, cover with the same, and 

 place in a gentle hot-bed. Winter in a temperature 

 of 55° or 60°. Prick out, grow on, harden off, and 

 plant out the seedlings in June or July. Or sow 

 thinly out of doors in June, leave in the seed-bed 

 for one or two years, line out, and grow on in rows 

 until large enough to plant out. During the first 

 winter in the open air, seedling Mulberries should be 

 protected with mats, screens of boughs, or glass. 



Planting. — This resolves itself into matters of 

 time, soil, site, and depth. The time is unique 

 among fruit-trees, as the Mulberry seldom puts 

 forth its leaves until June. April is probably the 

 best time to plant the Mulberry. 



As to soil, the finest Mulberries in the open ever 

 seen by the writer were grown in the dark, black 

 earth only to be found in old kitchen gardens. It 

 also thrives well in rich deep loams. 



The site should be warm, and sheltered from high 

 winds. The tree, though it bears our climate, is 

 decidedly tender. It lives here obviously owing 

 chiefly to its lateness. It only grows in the warmest 

 months of our summer. But it loves heat, and 

 various means should be adopted to give it the full 

 benefit of all the warmth we can command. The 

 practice of turfing over the roots of Mulberries is the 

 very worst that could be devised. In cold localities 

 the only chance of ripening Mulberries in the open 

 air is to plant them on south walls. 



The Mulberry is rather a deep and strong-rooting 

 tree, and thrives best on borders from two feet to a 



