DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 
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impossible to find two exactly alike, though the prevailing 
outlines are either heart-shaped, or more or less deeply cut 
or lobed. These leaves are considered valueless for feed- 
ing the silkworm ; but in the South Seas the bark is woven 
into dresses worn by the females ; and in China and Japan 
extensive use is made of it in the manufacture of a paper 
of the softest and most beautiful texture. This is fabricated 
from the inner bark of the young shoots, which is first boiled 
to a soft pulp, and then submitted to processes greatly 
similar to those performed in our paper-mills. This tree 
blossoms in spring and ripens its fruit in the month of 
August. The latter is dark scarlet, and quite singular and 
ornamental, though of no value. The genus is dioecious ; 
and the reason why so few fruit-bearing trees are seen in 
the United States, is because we generally cultivate only 
one of the sexes, the female. M. Parmentier, however, who 
introduced the male plant from Europe, disseminated it in 
several parts of the country ; and the beauty of the tree 
has thereby been augmented by the interest which it 
possesses when laden with its long, hairy berries. 
The value of the Paper mulberry, in ornamental planta- 
tions, arises from its exotic look, as compared with other 
trees, from the singular diversity of its foliage, the beauty 
of its reddish berries, and from the rapidity of its growth. 
It is deficient in hardiness for a colder climate than that of 
New York ; but further south it is considerably esteemed 
as a shade-tree for lining the side-walks in cities. In win- 
ter its light fawn or ash-colored bark, mottled with patches 
of a darker grey, contrasts agreeably with other trees. It 
has little picturesque beauty, and should never be planted 
in quantities, but only in scattered specimens, to give 
interest and variety to a walk in the lawn or shrubbery. 
