350 
FLORA AND SYLVA 
seed and pollen flowers being present in the 
same tree but apart, and whereas the male 
flowers soon wither and fall, the fertile flowers 
become fleshy and swell into fruit. These 
greenish-white flowers appear in June as little 
drooping catkins, coming with the leaves 
which are late in unfolding, their appearance 
being accepted as a sign that summer has in- 
deed come. The leaves vary endlessly as to 
shape, size, and texture, according to variety 
and often upon the same tree, but in the com- 
mon form they are large and mostly heart- 
shaped, with five blunt lobes, an irregularly 
toothed margin, and a rough surface. Only 
the finer-leaved forms of the Mulberry are 
grown for silk-culture, the coarser leaves of 
many kinds causing disease and death among 
the worms by their excess of woody fibre. The 
tree is almost free from insect enemies, unless 
it be red-spider in a dryseason, which quickly 
disfigures the foliage and causes its premature 
loss ; copious watering is the best remedy for 
this. On the other hand it is subject to several 
forms of fungus. 
The fruits mature from July to 
Fruits. October according to climate and 
the variety grown, the berries 
ripening later and becoming poorer in quality 
and quantity as one travels north. They drop 
when fully ripe and are soft and so full of juice 
as to be spoiled by the fall, unless its force is 
broken by grass or straw. It is therefore usual 
to plant the Mulberry on lawns, to which its 
way of growth is well suited, while the grass 
prevents undue luxuriance and gives a natural 
carpet. The berries change in colour from 
rosy-grey when first formed, to bright red, 
and deep black. Preserved either by them- 
selvesorwith blackberries they are wholesome, 
distinct in flavour, but too glutinous for all 
tastes ; they also give a pleasant piquancy to 
Apples and other fruit in tarts. The juice is 
sometimes made into a fruit syrup of value for 
weak throats. Mulberry wineisnotoften made 
now, even in the country, but was once com- 
mon enough in households. The best use for 
the fruit, and in all ways the most wholesome, 
is eaten fully ripe and uncooked. The finest 
fruits are borne by trained wall trees, and though 
wall-space is mostly too precious to give to 
the Mulberry, beautiful old trees grow in this 
way in some of our old English and Scotch 
gardens. Birds of all sorts are fond of the fruit 
and will take it while still unripe, so that it is 
often necessary to protect the trees with nett- 
ing. In the south of Europe, poultry and game 
j thrive on the fallen fruits, and in America the 
I coarser kinds are fed to swine, who eat them 
greedily, while horses and cattle are equally 
fond of the fallen leaves in autumn. The fruit 
of old trees is the best, and they bear freely 
to extreme old age. Many varieties selected 
fortheexcellenceof theirfruits are nowgrown, 
especially in the United States, and these good 
kinds should be worth a trial in this country. 
The White Mulberry is of taller 
Wood. growth than the Persian or Black 
Mulberry, attaining an extreme 
height of 40 to 50 feet with a trunk measure- 
ment of 10 feet, and pale grey bark deepen- 
ing in colour and becoming knotted and ir- 
regular with age. The wood of old trees is 
short-grained and brittle, but at its best it is 
valued where other trees are scarce, as in south- 
ern Russia and parts of Asia Minor and West- 
ern America. The mature wood is pale orange- 
colour while fresh and red-brown when fully 
seasoned, and in structure and properties it is 
almost like that of the Robinia. It is hard, 
straight-grained, durable, proof against moist- 
ure, very thin in the sapwood and capable of 
high polish. In France it is used for making 
ladders, trellis-work, the small wooden pins 
used in shipbuilding and such-like sundries. 
Used for small wine barrels it is said to impart 
a peculiar flavour and a scent of violets to the 
wine. The value of the leaves for silk-culture 
in France is estimated at ^400,000 yearly. 
A stout cord is spun from the fibres of the 
soft inner bark, and a yellow dye is drawn 
from the roots. The Red Mulberry of Amer- 
ica is said to resist water as well as the best 
Oak, and for this reason it is used in shipbuild- 
ing and for cooperage. 
There are several ways of pro- 
Increase. pagating the Mulberry, and few 
trees are more readily increased. 
Seeds washed clean and sown in gentle heat, 
or in the open early in the year, will produce 
young seedlings by the autumn. Layers made 
in the autumn will root in a twelvemonth, and 
cuttingsof the young wood with aheel,planted 
