THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Sept. 1, 1865. 
74 CULTIVATION OF THE ilULBERRY. 
especially by promoting the more industrious cultures, amongst which 
that of silk may be considered as one of the greatest sources of riches 
to a country by the large returns on the distribution of a comparatively 
small capital amongst the labouring classes, and you will have been 
worthily assisting in the great work of the erection of the edifice of 
social happiness and well-being. It will now be necessary to bring 
under notice some of the principles of vegetable physiology, in order 
that we may draw deductions from them for the practical cultivation of 
the mulberry. Every tree that grows draws the element of its existence 
from the decomposition of mineral and organic substances, by the action 
of the atmosphere and the dampness of the soil in which it is planted. 
This is done not only by the exterior, but also by the leaves and the skin 
of the younger branches, Nature beneficently providing the trunk of the 
tree with a thicker skin to withstand the rigour of the elements. There 
exists such harmony in the provisions for the growth of trees, that the 
leaves and roots are working simultaneously in the absorption of the 
principles necessary for the protection of their vegetation. Those prin- 
ciples materially aid in the circulation of the sap, which is very rapid 
in the summer under favourable circumstances, but it is nearly suspended 
during the winter months, and the powers of the tree recruited and 
strengthened for the production of vegetation during the next season. There 
are two saps continually ascending and descending. The ascending saps 
pass through the wood and give nutriment to the branches and leaves, 
and the descending ones pass through the skin to the roots, and produce 
new wood from season to season as the tree grows older. The preser- 
vation of the leaves is not so necessary to the existence of a tree as its 
roots, as from these it derives its principal support and nourishment ; 
it will therefore be gathered from these remarks, that it is impossible 
to propagate mulberry trees for silk culture by cuttings, but that they 
must be raised naturally from seeds in order that perfect roots may be 
formed for the sustenance of the tree in the future periods of its 
existence, and -when it shall be necessary to gather its leaves for the 
education of the precious worm. As the grand object of the cultivation 
of the mulberry tree is to fit it for the production of leaves in the least 
possible time, nothing must be neglected by its cultivator to attain that 
object not so much by the expenditure of a large amount of capital as 
an assiduous study of the necessities of the plant, as no tree in the 
world yields so large a return as this one. The good quality of the 
ground is certainly of great importance to the prosperity of the tree; 
but the judicious training and pruning of the branches is of far greater 
moment, and the excuse of the bad cultivator as to the indifferent 
quality of the soil only tends to betray his ignorance of the art of cul- 
tivating the mulberry. The time for priming and training the branches 
greatly depends on the climate and the situation in which the trees are 
placed. From great experience in the cultivation of the mulberry, I 
am convinced that the establishment of plantations of these trees will 
