mulberry-trees with frost ;" and this must have been recorded as a remarkable instance of the divine displeasure, for the mulberry is universally known not to put forth its buds and leaves till the season is so far advanced that, in the ordinary course of events, there is no inclement weather to be apprehended. It has therefore been called the wisest of trees; and in heraldry it is adopted as "an hieroglyphic of wisdom, whose property is to speak and to do all things in opportune season In the history of the wars of David with the Philistines, the mulberrytree is mentioned as a familiar object. Pliny says of it, somewhat questionably, that "when it begins to bud, it despatches the business in one night, and that with so much force, that their breaking forth may be distinctly heard." Thunberg, an oriental traveller, tells us, which is still more extraordinary, that the sheath which encloses the flower of the talipot palm bursts with an explosion like the report of a cannon.

In this country, there are many old mulberry-trees, of large dimensions, and remarkable also for the quantity of fruit they bear. It is probable that some of these old trees were planted at the latter end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries; for James I. endeavoured to render the cultivation of the tree general, in the same way that Henry IV. had laboured to introduce it in France. The first mulberry-trees of England are said to have been planted at Sion House, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, in 1548; and the trees, though decayed in the trunk, still bear fruit. Mulberry gardens were common in the seventeenth century, in the neighbourhood of London; but either from the climate, or the prejudices of the people, the growth of silk never prospered. The mulberry is distinguished for the facility with which it may be

* Guillim's Display of Heraldry.

propagated. A cutting from a tree which has borne fruit will soon become a vigorous plant. It is recorded that, at Bruce Castle, at Tottenham, an immense branch being torn off by the wind from an old mulberry-tree, about forty years ago, the branch was thrust into the ground, and flourished. It is now a handsome tree. That part of the trunk of the old tree which lost the branch is covered with lead. But at the same time the mulberry has been also remarkable for not producing fruit till the trees have acquired a considerable age; and this circumstance has materially affected its cultivation as a fruit tree. The same objection has applied to the walnut. Recent experiments, however, have shewn that, by proper culture, both the mulberry and the walnut may be made to produce fruit at three years old.

A particular description of the mulberry as a timber tree has been already given, and its important services to the arts in the rearing of silk-worms has also been noticed. The sort principally cultivated for fruit is the black mulberry (Morus nigra), although the fruit of the white, Tartarian, red, and Pensylvanian species (of the white particularly) "are of sufficient consequence to merit a place in a list of edible fruits t." The black mulberry is a hardy tree; and, as the berries are abundant, and of very wholesome quality, while the wood makes excellent timber, and the leaves are adapted for the feeding of silkworms as well as those of the white mulberry, it deserves more attention than it generally receives.

The mulberry is the latest tree to put forth its leaves; and it drops every leaf on the first night of severe frost. Some trials have been made of mulberries trained against a south wall, and the result has been a great improvement in the fruit.

*Timber Trees, p. 141. Horticultural Society's Fruit Catalogue.

THE CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY-Ribes.

The currant was formerly erroneously held to be the Corinthian grape degenerated. It is now considered as a native of this country, the red (Ribes rubrum) being found growing naturally in many places both of England and Scotland, and the white being merely a variety of the red. Mr. Aiton, in his Hortus Kewensis, is of opinion that it is a native production. Its name, however, being the same as the small seedless grape of the Levant (Corinth), is against this theory; and in Dodoen's History of Plants,' translated in 1578, it is called "the red beyond-sea gooseberry." The white, having the most delicate flavour, is most in request for the dessert. The red is principally used in the preparation of jellies; and the white is converted into wine, which, with fine fruit, and using the juice alone, or only with sugar, without any mixture of spirits or of water, may, when kept to a proper age, be made to equal some of the inferior wines from the grape. For pastry, the currant is amongst the most valuable of the British fruits, being easily preserved, and growing in sufficient abundance, on account of its hardiness, to offer a cheap luxury to the humblest classes. This bush forms the principal ornament of some of those neat cottages which are or were the peculiar characteristic of England; and which it would be wise, as well as benevolent, in the landlords to multiply, if they could steadily keep out of them all who were unable to maintain themselves. In parts of the country where it is the custom to train the currant against the walls of the house, its rich dark leaves, and its brilliant fruit, growing over the latticed window, offer almost as pleasing a picture as the vines of Italy.

The Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) is supposed to

be a native of Britain; or, at all events, the period of its introduction is unknown. The berries are larger than those of the red or the white, but they are not so juicy; and the crop upon a single bush is less abundant. Their taste is peculiar, and to some disagreeable; they are supposed to have medicinal qualities which do not belong to the other species of currants. They answer well for tarts and puddings; they can be made into a very pleasant jelly, which, in village pharmacy, is recommended in cases of sore throat; and they make a very good rob (souring) for flavouring liquors. The leaves of the black currant have a strong taste, especially in the early part of the season; and if a small portion be mixed with black tea, the flavour is changed to one resembling that of green. On this account, it is suspected that those leaves are pretty extensively used in the adulteration of tea, the coarser sort of black being coloured green by moistening it with vinegar, laying it upon heated plates of copper till it be shrivelled into small balls, and mixing it with black currant leaves, which have also been shrivelled by heat. If this process has been employed the tea will discolour a silver spoon.

There are thirty-five varieties of the currant specified in the fruit catalogue of the Horticultural Society; but there is perhaps no class of fruits in which so much ignorance exists as to the merits and difference of the varieties. It is stated to be impossible to obtain the different kinds with certainty from the nurseries.

The Gooseberry (Ribes grossularia), if not a native of Britain, is yet a fruit much better adapted to cold than to warm climates. It was cultivated here in the time of Tusser, a writer on husbandry,

who flourished in the reign of Henry VIII. He

says,

"The barbery, respis*, and gooseberry too,

Look now to be planted as other things do."

In the south of Europe, it is small, tasteless, and neglected; and though it grows to a large size in the warmer parts of England, its flavour there is very inferior to that which it has in Scotland. Even in that country, the flavour seems to increase with the cold; for if there be warmth enough for bringing gooseberries to maturity and ripening them, the farther north they are grown the better. The market-gardeners about Edinburgh pay much attention to the culture and kinds of their gooseberries; but they are never equal in flavour to those which are grown at Dundee, Aberdeen, or Inverness.

In England, the Lancashire gooseberries are the finest in appearance. They are very large; but

their flavour is far inferior to that of the Scotch. Perhaps the inferiority of the English berries may be in great part owing to the large sorts that are cultivated, the finest, even in Scotland, being those that are of a middle size.

Gooseberries are of various colours,-white, yellow, green, and red; and of each colour there are many sorts. If, however, any particular sort be wished to be preserved, it must be done by cuttings, because the seeds of any one sort are apt to produce not only all the known sorts, but new ones. In almost all fruit trees, indeed, that run into sorts, the only way of securing a favourite sort is by budding, grafting, or planting cuttings. The bud or the branch does not change, but the seed does; and most of the varieties of apples called pippins have been obtained by sowing the seeds or pips of other

* Raspberry