The White mulberry (M. alba) is the species upon the leaves of which the silkworms are fed. The fruit is insipid and tasteless, and the tree is but little cultivated to embellish ornamental plantations, though one of the most useful in the world, when its importance in the production of silk is taken into account. There are a great number of varieties of this species to be found in the different nurseries and silk plantations; among them the Chinese mulberry (M. multicaulis) grows rapidly, but scarcely forms more than a large shrub at the north; and its very large, tender, and soft green foliage is interesting in a large collection. The fruit is, we believe, of no importance; but it is the most valuable of all mulberries as food for the silkworm, while its growth is the most vigorous, and its leaves more easily gathered than those of any other tree of the genus.
