RED MULBERRY 
30 
■which still do not constitute the mass of the forests : the Sweet Gum, the 
Tulip Tree, the Sassafras!, the Red Beech and the Maples are far more 
abundant. 
In the lower part of the Southern States this tree is much less frequently 
seen than at a distance from the sea, where the soil and vegetable produc- 
tions wear *a different character. I have found it -most abundant in- the 
States of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, and on the banks of the Wabash, 
the Illinois and the Missouri ; which is attributable to the superior fertility 
of the soil. In these, regions, and in the upper part of Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, the Red Mulberry often exceeds 60 or 70 feet in height and 2 
feet in diameter. Its leaves are large, sometimes entire, and sometimes 
divided into 2 or 3 lobes, rounded, cordiform and denticulated, of a dark 
green color, a thick texture, and a rough, uneven surface. 
The sexes are usually separate, though sometimes they are found upon 
the same tree. The male flowers form pendulous, cylindrical aments, 
about an inch in length ; the female blossoms are small and scarcely appa- 
rent ; the fruit is of a deep red color, an oblong form, and an agreeable, 
acidulous, sugary taste ; it is composed by the union of a great number of 
small berries, each of which contains a minute seed. 
The trunk of the Red Mulberry is covered with a grayish bark, more 
furrowed than that of the Oaks and Hickories. The perfect wood is of a 
yellowish hue, approaching to lemon color. The concentric circles are dis- 
tant and distinct ; the wood is, nevertheless, fine-grained and compact, 
though lighter than that of the White Oak. It possesses strength and 
solidity, and when perfectly seasoned, it is almost as durable as the Locust, 
to which, by many persons, it is esteemed perfectly equal. At Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore, and in the more southern ports, as much of it as can be 
procured is employed for the upper and lower parts of the frame of ves- 
selsj for the knees, the floor-timbers, and, in preference to every other 
wood except the Locust for treenails. But it grows more slowly, requires 
a richer soil, and is less multiplied than the Locust, and it is found in the 
ship-yards in a smaller proportion than any other timber. In South Car- 
olina it is selected for the ribs of the large boats in which the productions 
of the Upper Districts of both .Carolinas are brought down the Catawba. 
Eor posts it is almost as durable and as much esteemed as the Locust. 
Such are its most important uses, which should engage Vhe American pro- 
prietors to preserve with care the stocks growing naturally on their estates. 
It is a common opinion among ship-wrights and carpenters, that the 
wood of the male Mulberry is more durable and of a better quality than 
that of the female : I must be pardoned for considering this opinion as a 
prejudice, till experiments have demonstrated its truth. In America, as 
well as in Europe, unlearned people fall into the same error concerning 
the Mulberry Tree as concerning Iiemp, of giving the name of male to 
