132 



RAW-SILK. 



(K.) capacity of the peninsula to compete with our 

 ^R^ort,'*^^^ part of India in this branch of husbandry. A 

 12 April 1833. plantation of the /oo^ will last several years, and 

 may be renewed from cuttings with perfect ease ; 

 and this process must be performed every fourth 

 o3^ fifth year, if a full and sufficient crop of leaves 

 is desired. 



A moderate rich, light soil, not too much mixed 

 with clay, sufficiently elevated to secure the planta- 

 tion from flooding, either from rivers or rains, an 

 occasional ploughing and weeding, and a slight 

 manuring, constitute the chief points of attention 

 which this sort of mulberry demands, and if the 

 patient and industrious Indian cultivator could 

 only be made to prefer this method to the miserable 

 plan usually adopted, he would reap a far more 

 secure and ample profit from his labours, than the 

 scanty and precarious returns which he generally 

 derives. There would be no such failures of the 

 crops of leaves, nor would such a vast proportion 

 of worms perish annually for want of food, as 

 frequently happens to the planters and breeders. 



The other variety is a tree of considerable size 

 bearing white fruits, whereas the preceding sort 

 has them purple. It is called morus alba by Lin- 

 naeus, and is perhaps a distinct species. It is 

 cultivated, though in a trifling degree, as food for 

 the worms. 



2. Morus atropurpurea of Dr. Roxburgh, intro- 

 duced from China into this garden, and now to be 



found 



