Mulberry

“ MULBERRIES.
We do not know when the Mulberry, which is an Eastern tree, was introduced into England, but probably very early. [167] We find in Archbishop Ælfric's "Vocabulary," "morus vel rubus, mor-beam," but it is doubtful whether that applies to the Mulberry or Blackberry, as in the same catalogue Blackberries are mentioned as "flavi vel mori, blace-berian." There is no doubt that Morum was a Blackberry as well as a Mulberry in classical times. Our Mulberry is probably the fruit mentioned by Horace ”

“ The tree, probably a native of China, is grown under cultivation in eastern Canada and United States. It grows rapidly in moist soil and is not fastidious in its light requirements. Its chief value is for screening and for underplanting in woodlands.
The red mulberry (Morus rubra) is apt to be confused with the white mulberry, but differs in the following characters: The leaves of the red mulberry are rough on the upper side and downy on the under side, whereas the leaves of the white mulberry are smooth and shiny. The buds in the red are larger and more shiny than those of the white. ”

“ It is stated that there are trees still living among us several centuries old. The black mulberry is the one commonly grown in England; the white does better in a warmer clime, and has been largely planted in France and other lands, where the leaves are required for silkworms. The white, however, can be grown in this country. The mulberry will thrive in any good soil, but the ground should not be very wet. It should be placed in a sheltered southern aspect, and is likely to do well in the south rather than the north of England. ”

“ The specific characters of the White-fruited Mulberry are—Leaves with a deep scallop at the base, and either cordate or ovate, undivided or lobed, serrated with unequal teeth, glossy or smoothish, the projecting portions on the two sides of the basal sinus unequal. The fruit is seldom good for human food, but is excellent for poultry. It is a tree of rapid growth, attaining the height of twenty feet in five or six years, and plants cut down producing shoots four or five feet long in one season. ”

“ In my wanderings through the country I never fail to investigate the quality of the fruit, and have made a discovery, in two places, of a very superior kind of mulberry, of which there appears to be only half a dozen trees in the whole valley. They are so different from the common kinds that the natives call them Shah-toot, which means, the King mulberry, and the trees they grow on are considered quite curiosities. ”

“ Phanias of Eresus, the pupil of Aristotle, calls the fruit of the wild sycamine μόρον, or mulberry, being a fruit of the greatest sweetness and delicacy when it is ripe. And he writes thus: "The mulberry is a briery sort of tree, [84:1] and when the round fruit is dried it has small pips of seed, woven in like net-work, and the fruit is nutritious and juicy." ”

“ After a few miles' ride we crossed a low range of hills, and came upon the flourishing district of Be-tout,––literally, "without mulberries." The sagacious reader will justly infer that mulberry trees were in profusion every where else; indeed so plentiful are they in general that many of the natives live almost exclusively in winter upon the fruit, which is dried and reduced to a powder, and after being mixed with a little milk, or even water, forms a palatable and nutritious food. ”

“ The tree is quite frequently seen here about old farm-houses, is small, has smooth, shiny leaves. The black mulberry is a native of Asia, and is cultivated chiefly in the Old World for its fruit, which is large and fleshy, mostly dark-colored. The native red mulberry of the United States is M. rubra, which grows mostly in rich soils and bottom lands. ”

“ They knew, of course, Burbank. Every American does, who pretends to know anything about fruits. They told me all about the large and juicy plums, the new pears, the beautiful flowers, and a number of other creations of his. But by far the best and most delicious fruit, entirely new in form, color and flavor, was, they said, a hybrid between a raspberry and a mulberry! ”

“ As an ornamental tree for any garden, the Mulberry needs no recommendation, being equally handsome in shape, in foliage, and in fruit. It is a much prized ornament in all old gardens, so that it has been well said that an old Mulberry tree on the lawn is a patent of nobility to any garden; and it is most easy of cultivation ”

“ In the flesh of the mulberry there is a juice of a vinous flavour, and the fruit assumes three different colours, being at first white, then red, and ripe when black. The mulberry blossoms one of the very last,1990 and yet is among the first to ripen: the juice of the fruit, when ripe, will stain the hands, but that of the unripe fruit will remove the marks. It is in this tree that human ingenuity has effected the least improvement1991 of all ”

“ As I'll never climb thare by that rout' any more—
What was all the green lauruls of Fame unto me,
With my brows in the boughs of the mulberry tree!
Then it's who can fergit the old mulberry tree
That he knowed in the days when his thoughts was as free
As the flutterin' wings of the birds that flew out
Of the tall wavin' tops as the boys come about?
O, a crowd of my memories, laughin' and gay,
Is a-climbin' the fence of that pastur' to-day,
And, a-pantin' with joy, as us boys ust to be,
They go racin' acrost fer the mulberry tree. ”

“ The red Mulberry (M. rubra) is an American species, with leaves too rough to be good for silkworms, and very indifferent fruit. The Constantinople and Tartarian Mulberries are supposed to be only varieties of M. alba, though their fruit is good to eat, and the latter has lobed leaves.
The Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) has the male and female flowers on different plants. The male flowers are produced in pendulous catkins, and the calyx has a short tube before it divides into four segments ”

“ In this country the Black-fruited Mulberry always assumes something of a dwarf or stunted character, spreading into thick arms or branches near the ground, and forming a very large head. The bark is rough and thick, and the leaves cordate, unequally serrated, and very rough. The fruit is large, of a dark purple, very wholesome, and agreeable to the palate. This tree is remarkable for the slowness of its growth, and for [154] being one of the last trees to develope its leaves, though it is one of the first to ripen its fruit. ”

“ The first appearance of autumn in the orchard is invariably among the walnut-trees. The mulberry, which puts on its summer foliage latest of our familiar trees, and is generally supposed to lose it at the first frost, is even stronger than the walnut, and waves a beautiful head of the deepest green leaves long after that tree has become ragged and unsightly. The ash, if it bears many keys, is perhaps the next in succession to lose its leaves. Many ashes bear no seeds, and then they abound in foliage, while their more fertile brethren look the picture of misery. ”

“ The Asiatic species, or the White Mulberry, of which there are numerous varieties, mostly with white fruit, is that mainly cultivated in Japan, China, India and Italy for the silkworm. The fibrous inner bark of the Paper Mulberry is made into paper by the Chinese and Japanese, and into tapa cloth in the South Sea Islands. The so-called fruit is formed from a whole cluster of flowers which become fleshy, turn color and sweeten while they enlarge until they meet those of the other flowers, enclosing the true fruits, small dry capsules. ”

“ Growing no crop in the orchard. I think windbreaks are essential, and prefer Russian mulberry, three rows, planted six by eight feet apart. I like the mulberry best because they come into leaf early and hold their foliage late. I prune a little, to thin out and let the sun in. I believe it would pay to thin fruit on the trees. I use stable litter, and fertilizer from the hog-pen, and think it pays if not put too close to the tree. I tried pasturing with hogs, but don't think it advisable, as they destroy the trees to get apples. ”

“ The medlar will thrive in any soil or situation not too dry; but, like the quince, does best within the reach of water. The fruit, which is never eaten till it is in a state of decay, is not of much value, but the flowers are very large and rather handsome.
The Mulberry.—There are three distinct species of mulberry, besides innumerable varieties. The distinct species are the white, only used for feeding silk-worms with its leaves; the black, which is generally grown in gardens for its fruit ”

“ Every foot of the Ducros' property was carefully cultivated, with vineyards above on the terraced hillside, olive-yards below, and mulberry trees on the lower levels. Our black mulberry, with its cloying, luscious fruit, is not the sort used for silkworms; it is the white mulberry, which does not fruit, that these clever little alchemists transmute into glossy, profitable cocoons of silk. The Ducros made their own olive-oil, and their own admirable wine. ”

“ The mulberry grows wild over extensive areas in the United States, especially in the Ohio valley. It is a tree valued highly for its wood, which is lasting and excellent for fence-posts. The berries ripen early in the summer or late in the spring and are used as food to a limited extent. ”

“ Men and boys bring in the mulberry leaves from the hills and fields, while women and girls strip the branches, chop the leaves and feed them to the magic creatures that transform worthless green leaves into costly silk. ”

“ The mulberry succeeds as a standard in the warmer parts of England, especially in sheltered situations, but in the north of England and the less favoured parts of Scotland it requires the assistance of a wall. The standard trees require no other pruning or training than an occasional thinning out of the branches, and are generally planted on lawns, to prevent the fruit being damaged when it falls. The tree succeeds best in a rich, deep, and somewhat moist loam, but grows well in any good garden ground. ”

“ The full grown fruit is red, but turns black or very dark purple when ripe. The berry is composed of a compact and adhering cluster of drupes, each drupe about one thirty-second of an inch long. What seems to be a single berry is really an aggregation of very small fruits, each resembling a tiny cherry. The mulberry is naturally a forest tree, but it is permitted to grow about the margins of fields, and is often planted in door yards for its fruit and its shade. It is looked upon by many as a tame species. ”

“ The mulberry grows to perfection in the Kwang-tung province, and is used extensively in the rearing of the silkworm. This business gives profitable Occupation to thousands of the families of small farmers, who set aside a portion of their gardens for the culture of the mulberry shrub. ”

“ In America the mulberry will scarcely grow further north than New York, and it is in no part much cultivated, since even when apparently fine fruit is abundantly produced, it is not found equal in flavour to what is grown in England. ”

“ I'll bet there isn't a man in Kew Gardens who feels about a white mulberry as I do. Wouldn't expect that from a chap who runs a grocery shop in Clapham, would you?”
He wanted so obviously to talk that my only thought was to be quiet, agreeable and receptive—at any rate till I knew what was in his mind. There was nothing mysterious about him, or suggestive in his manner—but one can never tell. And I had a whole hour to play with.
“White mulberry,” he murmured. "Well I'll be damned!” ”

“ The rich yellow of the Cactus, and the red of the Pomegranate, and the most tender of all vegetable greens, that of the young mulberry, together with a sweet wilderness of unfamiliar plants, are not to be perfectly enjoyed on a fourfooted animal that stumbles, or on a road full of pitfalls. ”

“ The tree is more beautiful than useful, for the silkworms do not thrive well on the leaves and the wood is neither strong nor durable."
"Why, I thought," said Clara, "that silkworms always lived on mulberry-leaves?"
"The white mulberry is their favorite food; and another species, called the Morus multicaulis--for Morus is the scientific name of the family--has more delicate leaves than any other, and produces a finer quality of silk. These trees are natives of China, and the white mulberry grows very rapidly to the height of thirty or forty feet. ”

“ The white mulberry is largely cultivated in northern Syria on the coastal plain between Saida and Antioch (Antakia) , the lower mountain slopes, and in the Buka'a, for feeding silkworms; the black mulberry is also grown to some extent for its fruit. ”

“ The mulberry does not thrive in these mountains; but in some localities this tree is cultivated for the sake of furnishing food to a particular insect which lives upon its leaves, and from which is obtained the lague or Chinese varnish. ”

“ Where wild fruit is not abundant, a few fruit-bearing shrubs and vines judiciously planted will serve for ornament and provide food for the birds. The Russian mulberry is a vigorous grower and a profuse bearer, ripening at the same time as the cherry. So far as observation has gone, most birds seem to prefer its fruit to any other. It is believed that a number of mulberry trees planted around the garden or orchard would fully protect the more valuable fruits. ”

“ It is rather important that you seek a spot, just near enough to the grounds to be companionable, there to place a mulberry tree. There is no fruit that is more to their mind than this and it will be a source of delight to watch the shyest birds reward you by flaunting their colors before you as they flit in and out, feeding off the berries so temptingly displayed for their exclusive use. ”