370 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



yard in depth. Poor, shallow, gravelly or chalky 

 soils are almost as unsuitable as wet sour clay. 

 Any check for lack of water or food mostly results 

 in the loss of the crop. Hence the importance of 

 copious supplies of water in dry weather, and of 

 choosing somewhat moist localities, so well drained, 

 however, as to render any stagnant water at the 

 roots impossible. 



Pruning and Training. — Very little of either 

 is needful after the trees get established. The best 

 form is that of round-headed standards, with a stem 

 ranging from three to six feet in height. Attempts 

 have also been made to mould the Mulberry into 

 pyramids, but these have not been very successful 

 in the open air. The standard form kept rather 

 open suits the style of the tree better. Mulberries, 

 however, are also at times fruited on espalier rails, 

 and on walls ; and in such case they may be pruned 

 and trained like Pears or Peaches, and bear close 

 spurring fairly well. 



General Culture. — This may be said to consist 

 chiefly in the full development of individual trees. 

 Abroad they are crowded together almost as close as 

 Willows by the sides of water-courses : here the trees 

 are mostly giants of their kind, and few and far 

 between. Climate as well as purpose accounts for 

 the wide difference. Abroad Mulberries are chiefly 

 grown for their leaves, at home for their fruit, and 

 the amount of the latter is very largely determined 

 by the size and age of the Mulberry-trees. The 

 older and larger, the more fertile, and in most 

 localities age is essential to fertility. The fruit is 

 also, as a rule, far higher-flavoured on old trees. 

 No special root-culture, such as surface mulchings 

 with composts or manure, will be desirable. It is 

 good practice, however, to allow the leaves to lie as 

 a natural mulch over the roots in the winter. Or, if 

 these are considered unsightly, a couple of inches of 

 cocoanut - fibre refuse is equally or more useful. 

 During long spells of dry w r eather a soaking of 

 weak sewage or other manure water maj' also be 

 useful. But planted in good kitchen garden earth or 

 loam, such as here recommended, the Mulberry-trees 

 mostly take care of themselves and furnish fair crops 

 annually. 



Varieties. — Practically there is but one worth 

 growing for its fruit, the Morns nigra, cr Black 

 Mulberry. The Bed Mulberry, or Morns rubra, is 

 equally hardy, grows stronger, and forms a larger 

 tree. The fruit is also larger, but its red colour and 

 inferior flavour are against it. The White Mul- 

 berry, being a native of China, is equally or more 

 hardy, and is, probably, more grown as food for silk- 



worms than the Black. But the fruits are useless in 

 the open air in our climate, though a few trees may 

 be planted in shrubberies, in which its light-coloured 

 and fine foliage has an unique effect. 



Diseases and Insects.— The tree may be said 

 to be wholly free from disease in our climate, and as 

 for insects, though the leaves are the natural food of 

 the caterpillar of the silkworm, no other grub, worm, 

 or insect is known to prey upon them. 



Mulberries, however, as already observed, are 

 specially liable to accidents, and such fatalities as 

 stem-rending and branch-snapping are very common 

 among them. These may be guarded against by 

 modes of training and mechanical supports. No 

 main branch should proceed from the bole at 

 right angles ; on the contrary, it should proceed 

 for some distance almost on a parallel line 

 with the bole, then gradually diverge into a 

 fork, thus giving the greatest strength to the 

 branch to resist the pressure of snow, rain, or wind. 

 In addition to such safeguards against breakdowns, 

 it is wise to loop all the main limbs to each 

 other and to the bole when practicable, with chains 

 or iron hoops. By carefully attending to these, 

 and lengthening them as the branches grow, they 

 may be made to afford the needful security without 

 biting into, or partially through, the branches or 

 bole of the tree. But even where this takes place 

 the Mulberry-tree seems little the worse for iron rods 

 and bands, and there are comparatively few venerable 

 Mulberry-trees that have not more or less of iron 

 running through or round their boles, trunks, or 

 branches. 



Culture under Glass.— The Mulberry is ad- 

 mirably adapted for cultivation in orchard-houses, 

 alike in pots, or tubs, or planted out. It forms a 

 striking contrast to all other fruits, thrives well in 

 the form of a standard or pyramid, and is a highly 

 ornamental object while laden with ripe fruit. The 

 improved climate of the orchard-house, as well as 

 the compression of the roots within the narrow 

 limits of pots, hastens and heightens their fertility. 



Amateurs who keep silkworms will also find it 

 most convenient to grow some trees in pots 

 under glass, as not seldom the worms are hatched 

 before the leaves are developed, and perish in con- 

 sequence. 



The Mulberry also bears forcing well. Plants in- 

 troduced into a Vinery at work in January, and 

 subjected to the same treatment, will be ripe in 

 June ; and there is something specially interesting 

 and pleasing in having ripe Mulberries under glass, 

 while the trees are barely broken into leafage in the 

 open air. 



