History Of Mulberry Trees, ?Morus Alba,? ?Morus Rubrum,? And ?Morus Nigra?
Mulberry trees were well known in the ancient civilizations of the world. They were famous fruit trees, because of the delicious berry fruits that were abundantly produced by fast growing trees-loaded with huge green leaves that were eaten by livestock, along with the berries, and the leaves were used in the Orient to fatten silkworms for the silk trade. General Oglethorpe, in 1733, imported 500 white mulberry trees to Fort Frederica in Georgia to encourage silk production at the English colony of Georgia.
William Bartram, the famous early American explorer and botanist, described his encounter with mulberry trees near Mobile, Alabama, in his book, Travels, in the year 1773.
Prince's Nursery in 1774 offered for sale 500 white mulberry trees, ?Morus alba' and 1000 black mulberry trees, ?Morus nigra,' at Flushing, New York. Documents show that America's first President, George Washington, bought fruit from this nursery.
Mulberry trees were planted in the landscape of President Thomas Jefferson 20 feet apart, and the fruit trees lined both sides of the road that extended around the house at Monticello, Virginia.
The silk trade was extremely important in the ancient civilizations in exchanges of fabrics, rugs, etc. The caravans of camels that traveled the "Silk Road" from Turkey to China brought world civilizations in contact with many valuable products back and forth to be traded, one of the most desirable and important products was silk.
The mulberry trees, ?Morus alba,' were most desirable for silk production and gradually were filtered from Oriental societies to European fields. Many of these mulberry trees are grown today in Turkey, from where the famous Turkish silk carpets are distributed throughout the world.
Early Americans such as General Oglethorpe hoped to establish the silk industry in the American debtor colonies, but the project was destined for failure for many reasons. The mulberry trees are very fast growing fruit trees, and many farmers in the United States and other countries are hoping to profitably grow the trees for the production of human and livestock food. The wood of mulberry trees is very soft and is used for many purposes in many nations, but not extensively in the United States.
The white mulberry, ?Morus alba,' with the extremely large crop production of these trees has been observed growing as a fruit tree in North Carolina according to researcher, Russell Smith, in Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture that: white mulberry trees planted by a farmer "who kept pigs and claimed that one-third their weight was due to the mulberries falling from the trees-about 625 pounds of pork to an acre on rather thin, sandy land with little care and no cultivation." James A. Duke in Handbook of Energy Crops sees the mulberry fruit as a source of energy, "in South Korea on producing high yields of ethanol from mulberry trees."
Mulberry trees are considered to be a very important fruit tree in gardens of the Orient, Europe and the Mideast, and since new hybrid cultivars have been developed recently, the demand for these trees has surged in the U.S., where the grafted trees are rare, expensive and difficult to obtain.
New cultivars are adaptable throughout the U.S. except Southern Florida, California and Arizona, and some trees offer stainless fruit, early bearing, rapid growth and delicious berry quality on berries that dangle from the stems, some tasting sweet as honey. These syrupy sweet mulberries are used in Ice Cream, jams, jellies, beverages, pies, and as stuffing mixtures for game birds.
The fast growing mulberry tree can grow as much as 10ft in one year, and as a rule will bear a few berries the first year, some with the richness of sweet cherries. The berries ripen to a brilliant black color, or red, pink, or white and are delectably fragrantly sweet and about two inches long, like a cooling blend and taste of raspberry and strawberry. The mulberry is excellent for fresh eating and for cooking pies.
Some mulberries when dead ripe are so soft that just picking them breaks the fragile skin, staining your fingers purple with juice. This means that as a commercial berry available from grocery shelves, forget it, but nevertheless: the mulberries only need to travel as far as your mouth.
This choice mulberry fruit is practically seedless with a crisp, sweet flavor when eaten directly from the tree. Every child in your neighborhood will learn when the berries from this outstanding tree are ripening in early May. Most cultivars of hybrid mulberry trees are well adapted in most areas of the United States.
The dessert quality berries are excellent and honey sweet for picking directly off the tree and contain high concentrations of fruity sugar that makes the berries useful to process for jams, jellies and pies. The mature height of mulberry trees is 30 feet.
New grafted cultivars of mulberry trees are gaining lots of attention from the backyard gardener.
Some of the recommended new cultivars of mulberry fruit trees are White Mulberry, ?Morus alba' ?Whitey;' Superberry Mulberry, ?Morus nigra' ?Superberry;' Black Beauty Mulberry, ?Morus nigra' ?Black Beauty' plant patent 4913; Pakistan Mulberry, ?Morus rubra' ?Pakistan;' Persian Mulberry, ?Morus nigra' ?Shah;' Bachuus Noir Mulberry, ?Morus nigra' ?Bachuus Noir;' and the Red Gelato Mulberry, ?Morus rubrum' ?Red Gelato.'
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China was where printing methods were developed, as early as the 6th century CE. During that period, block printing methods were in use to produce cloth as well as manuscripts, wall hangings, and tapestries.
The oldest surviving printed book, a Buddhist scripture, dates to 868 CE, and the movable type printer was invented by Pi Sheng in 1040 CE. There are wonderful legends that describe libraries filled with printed books in Asia as well as Arabia. And, in all probability, the art of printing went from China to Europe along the Silk Route through India, the Arab world, Persia, and Egypt.
In Germany, one of the first to develop printing technology using oil-based inks and movable types was Johann Gutenberg, and since then printing has revolutionized the spread of knowledge.
There are many innovative methods used, such as offset printing, relief print, screen printing, silk screen, rotogravure, laser printing, and digital printing.
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UK Tie Box Now Provide Free Tie Presentation Sleeve Gift Option
(ContentDesk) March 15, 2006 -- At the Tie Box (www.tiebox.co.uk) they are delighted to showcase, and present a truly new and unique supplement to all online purchases. Because the Tie Box have always been committed to supplying their customers with the finest quality handmade luxury silk ties with the silk exclusively sourced from Como, Italy, they now go one step further and are proud to announce that all silk ties in both their classic and luxury ranges now come in a presentation sleeve ideal for that special gift.Ensuring they stay one step ahead of their high street competitors the Tie Box obtain all of their new silk ties directly from the manufacturer in Italy, where only the highest quality silk necktie brand of Segni & Disegni is produced.A tie, is a tie, is a tie is no longer. The Tie Box have a brand new range of showcased products for 2006 that they now share with the public through their online store and a new feature...
UK Tie Box Now Provide Free Tie Presentation Sleeve Gift Option
Silk > UK Tie Box Now Provide Free Tie Presentation Sleeve Gift Option
Sizzling Reggae Sundays Celebrates Its 1 Year Anniversary
New York, NY (ContentDesk) March 28, 2006 --
Sunday April 2nd will mark the one year anniversary of Sizzling Reggae Sundays. The weekly dance party is hailed as a revival of the New York reggae scene.
Sizzling Reggae Sundays 1 year anniversary will pay tribute to a reggae icon, the late Garnett Silk. Garnett Silk was born April 2nd 1966, he would have been forty years old this Sunday.This week Sizzling Reggae Sundays will feature an all star line up of New York's premier DJs. DJ Jase of Point Blank Sound and WWRL 1600 AM Radio, DJ Silence of 107.9 Flava FM, DJs Kutter & Bradley of On Track Sound and MC Guidance International will all pay tribute to Garnett Silks legacy. Visitors to the Sizzling Reggae Sundays website can sample Garnett Silk audio clips by visiting the
Sizzling Reggae Sundays Celebrates Its 1 Year Anniversary
Silk > Sizzling Reggae Sundays Celebrates Its 1 Year Anniversary
Tips for Using Silk Threads
There are two main types of silk threads, spun and filament. Filament has a great amount of luster since they are created from long, continuous strands, as they are unwoven from cocoons. Spun silks are made form short fibers, which gives it a creamier luster. Silk is great to use for several reasons. First, because of its smooth surface, silk flows easily through Aida, Canvas or any other fabric.
And second, it is easier to use than cotton because it's "smooth" whereas cotton is "fuzzy". Unfortunately, it does have its own unique challenges so here are some hints on how to make using silk easier.1. Spun silk strands should be separated and recombined just like cotton2. Use short lengths to maintain maximum sheen3. Keep silk dry at all times and make certain hands are clean4.
Use a needle one size smaller than normal so there is less area in the eye for the thread to wear upon.5. For the best effect use a laying tool to keep the strand flat6. Don't wrap your silk floss on...
Tips for Using Silk Threads
Silk > Tips for Using Silk Threads
UK Tie Box Now Provide Free Tie Presentation Sleeve Gift Option
(ContentDesk) March 15, 2006 -- At the Tie Box (www.tiebox.co.uk) they are delighted to showcase, and present a truly new and unique supplement to all online purchases. Because the Tie Box have always been committed to supplying their customers with the finest quality handmade luxury silk ties with the silk exclusively sourced from Como, Italy, they now go one step further and are proud to announce that all silk ties in both their classic and luxury ranges now come in a presentation sleeve ideal for that special gift.Ensuring they stay one step ahead of their high street competitors the Tie Box obtain all of their new silk ties directly from the manufacturer in Italy, where only the highest quality silk necktie brand of Segni & Disegni is produced.A tie, is a tie, is a tie is no longer. The Tie Box have a brand new range of showcased products for 2006 that they now share with the public through their online store and a new feature...
UK Tie Box Now Provide Free Tie Presentation Sleeve Gift Option
Silk > UK Tie Box Now Provide Free Tie Presentation Sleeve Gift Option