Dud, useful for growing silkworms, but also for making barrels for aging pomace

I have two childhood memories of the mulberry tree. One centers on a white mulberry tree in my grandparents' backyard on my father's side, which my cousins and I used to climb up in to my grandmother's fright, mamaia from the churchas we called her. She lived next to the church and that's how I differentiated her from the other grandmother who lived in the same village. The ditch was very high - at least that's how I saw it at that age - and well branched so that we could climb it easily. We liked to climb as high as we could where we could find a thicker branch to sit on, eat mulberries and watch the sheep below us absently paddling their feet. The duck was in a little sheep pen at the corner of the house and we liked to watch them from above.

The second is actually a memory of my mother, from when she was a little girl. My mother told us that, when she was just a child, my grandparents were raising silkworms and it was her job to gather mulberry leaves and feed the worms. She would tell me how she would feed them until they reached maturity and wrapped themselves in thousands of strands forming the pupae, the silk donuts. When the doughnuts were formed, she would gather them up and throw them in a big pot of hot water set on the pyre in the courtyard. Then the mother would come with a special stick and with great skill she would twirl it in the pot of water so that she would catch the ends of the silk threads and unroll the doughnuts. The mother would then weave the frames using borang thread. I still have one of these maramas which you can see below.

A mulberry wood globe I saw on the net the other day brought back these memories and gave me the idea for an article about mulberry wood.

Types of mulberry

Mulberry is a tree of the genus Morus wax grows in temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. In Europe it is also known as agud, mur, frăgar or iagud. More than 10 species have been identified in the genus Morus, most of which are native to Asia. The best known are Morus alba (white dud), Morus nigra (black mulberry) and Morus rubra (red dud).

Morus alba is native to China and was brought to Europe by the Greeks and Romans, the silkworm farming craft in these parts dating back to those times. The fruit is white, but sources claim that some can make red or purple fruit. The leaves of the white mulberry are used as silkworm food. In China and Japan, where it comes from, mulberry wood is used to make furniture, tea boxes, mirror frames and other small objects.

Morus nigra is native to Persia and Transcaucasia and is the most widespread species. In the past, its leaves were also used as worm food, but it has since been discovered that white mulberry leaves are preferred by worms and this use has been discontinued. Now only white mulberry leaves are used for silkworm rearing. The leaves of the black mulberry are very dark, almost black, similar to blackberries. Morus rubra is native to North America, has dark red fruit, is found mainly in the USA and grows the tallest of all.

The white and black quince also grow naturally in the lowlands and low hills, but is also cultivated. The tree has a smooth, gray stem with a not very rich crown. The leaves are slender, with different shapes - oval, pointed, elliptic, lobed, serrated - slightly shiny on the front and with raised veins on the back. The fruits appear when the tree is 7-8 years old and are an agglomeration of false drupes arranged on a central axis, which become fleshy when mature. The fruit is used in herbal medicine, and jams and marmalades are made from the fruit.

Characteristics and properties of mulberry wood

Dududes rarely grow taller than 15 m, and are no more than 0.5-0.6 m in diameter. In cross-section, the difference between sapwood and heartwood is visible, the sapwood being light yellowish-white and the heartwood golden-brown in color, but darkening to reddish-brown with age. The fiber is straight, with a medium-regular texture and a pleasant natural luster.

The pores are round and arranged differently depending on their position in the early or late wood. Those in early wood are larger and arranged in 2-3 wide rows, while those in late wood are smaller and arranged in tangential groups or bands. Gum and salt deposits are found in the pores. The rays are medium to wide with normal spacing.

Mulberry wood is light but strong. Its average dry density is 690 kg/m³. It is resistant to decay, both insect attack and environmental factors, with red mulberry being the most resistant of the types. Easy to work with hand tools or machines. It can be easily turned, glued and finished without problems. It burns very well, keeps burning for a long time, gives off a lot of heat and has a pleasant smell. It is not recommended for open fireplaces as it scatters sparks.

Uses of mulberry wood

If it is large enough to make flat sawn timber, it can be used to make furniture or flooring. It is mainly used by carpenters, not being one of the species used in industry. The smaller wood can be used to make bowls, as it has a beautiful color and pleasant pattern. It is also used to make pens, fountain pens and jewelry boxes.

Thanks to increased outdoor resistance can be used to make supporting pillars for gard or small fencing for parks or protected green areas.

Dud has pleasantly flavored wood and that's why it is used, like oak treethe manufacture of casks for ageing distillates - brandy, cognac, cognac, whisky. After aging, the distillate takes on a pleasant yellow color, much appreciated by connoisseurs. The cask can be burned to enrich the flavors.

Also because of its pleasant, slightly sweet smell, mulberry wood is used for smoking meats. The mulberry sawdust is placed on special covered grills next to the meat and left there for several hours over a low heat. This gives the meat a very pleasant taste and smell.

Dud is among the best firewood because it gives off a lot of heat. It burns slowly without much smoke (provided it is well dried) and gives heat for a long time. It is also an excellent source of charcoal. However, it should not be used in open fireplaces because it cracks and sparks when burning.

I hope you find the information interesting. If you have any additions or personal experiences with mulberry wood, please leave them below in the space provided. The information will be added to the article and so we will all benefit from a complete material.