THE MULBERRY. 



577 



genus of low trailing shrubs ; one, O. palustris, the English cranberry, a 

 native of Britain and the north of Europe in moist bogs ; and the other, O. 

 macrocarpus, the American cranberry, a native of swamps in the United 

 States. The fruit of both has long been gathered from the native habitats 

 of the plants, and used for tarts and other purposes ; and it forms an article 

 of exportation both from Sweden and North America. Both sorts may be 

 cultivated in gardens in peat-soil, kept moist ; and if it is enriched with 

 thoroughly rotted dung, the vigour of the plants will be greatly increased, 

 and the flavour of the fruit improved. The English cranberry requires a 

 more constant supply of moisture than the American ; but the fruit of both 

 is better flavoured when grown with much less moisture than they experi- 

 ence in their native habitats. The American cranberry has even been gro\^'^l 

 in beds of dry peat-soil, and produced a plentiful crop of excellent fruit. 

 The plants are readily propagated by layering the shoots, or by taking off" 

 their points and striking them in sand under a hand-glass. Both species 

 may be grown on the margin of a pond, among moist rockwork. 



J 255. The Scotch cranberry, Vaccinium Vitis idaea L. ; the whortle- 

 berry, V. MyrtiUus L. ; the great bilberry, V. uliginosura L. ; and various 

 other species of Vaccinium, bearing edible and very agreeable cooling acid 

 fruit, may all be grown in dry peat. They are all described in our 

 Arboretum, pp. 1078 to 1167, and in the Ency. of Trees and Shrubs, pp. 604 

 to 6] o. When a garden is situated in a part of the country where peat 

 soil abounds, and perhaps forms part of the garden or adjoins it, it may be 

 worth while to attempt growing these fruits ; but not otherwise, as the only 

 useful one, the cranberry, can be obtained from the grocers' shops in all large 

 towns from December till March. 



SuBSECT. XIV. — The Mulberry. 

 1256. The black or garden Mulberry, Morus nigra, L. (Murier, Fr. ; 

 Maulbeerbaum, Ger, ; Moerbesseboom, Dutch ; Moro, Ital. ; and Morel, 

 Span. Arb. Brit. vol. iii. p. 1342, and Encyc. of Trees and Shrubs, p. 705), 

 is a middle-sized deciduous tree, a native of Persia, and supposed to have 

 been introduced into Europe by the Romans. It has been cultivated in 

 England since the middle of the 16th century, for its highly aromatic fruit, 

 which ripens in August, and, like that of the strawberry, does not undergo 

 the acetous fermentation in the stomach. An agreeable wine is made from 

 the juice, and a syrup from the unripe berries. It is readily propagated by 

 cuttings or truncheons, and will thrive as a standard in any good garden 

 soil in the central districts of England ; but north of York, and in Scotland, 

 it requires a south wall. As the fruit drops as soon as it is ripe, the tree is 

 generally planted on a lawn or grass plot ; but the fruit attains a larger size 

 when the soil round the tree is kept slightly dug and well manured ; and 

 previously to its ripening the space under the branches may be sown 

 thick with cress seed, which will form a close, soft cai-pet for the fruit to 

 drop on. In a small garden the tree may be very conveniently grown as an 

 espalier. The fruit is produced chiefly on short shoots of the same year, 

 which are protruded from last year's wood, and on spurs fi-om the two-year 

 old wood ; both laterals and spurs being produced mostly at the ends of the 

 branches. The tree being of slow growth, very little pruning is required 

 for either espaliers or standards ; though no doubt thinning out the branches 

 would strengthen those that remain. The fruit should be gathered just when 



