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and rough to the touch. The flowers are small and greenish-yellow. The fruit is large, 

 oblong, blackish and pulpy with a pleasant flavor. 



FLOWERS: in April and May. 



RANGE: Persia; naturalized all over France. 



NOMENCLATURE. According to some authorities Morus comes from trior, the 

 Celtic word meaning black. German, maulbeerbaum. English, the mulberry-tree. 

 Spanish, moral. Russian, schelkowiza. Polish, morwa drzewo. Persian, tut. 



USES. The leaves of the white mulberry are used to feed silkworms. If not 

 available, black mulberry leaves are used. The bark from the trunk makes very good rope. 

 The wood is yellow and polishes easily. The white mulberry is believed to have been 

 brought to Constantinople by two monks during the reign of Justinian. From there it 

 spread into Greece and Italy. Henri IV encouraged the cultivation of mulberry trees. 

 Olivier de Serres claims that in 1601 eighty thousand were planted in the Tuileries 

 garden, and that the king purposely had a large building constructed at one end of the 

 garden to house everything necessary both for raising silkworms and for introducing the 

 production of silk. 



CULTIVATION. Mulberry trees are propagated from seeds and from cuttings. 

 However, if large plantations are desired, it's preferable to plant by sowing the seeds. 

 Silkworms fed with leaves from mulberry trees planted on somewhat higher ground yield 

 finer silk. Leaves from mulberry trees grown in rich and fertile soil provide more 

 plentiful food, but the silk isn't as highly valued. 



KEY TO PLATES. 



752. White mulberry. 1- New shoot with male and female catkins. 



753. Red mulberry. 1. Male flower. 



754. Black mulberry. 1. Ovary. 2. Calyx. 



