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Re: Red Mulberry sources




snip

>  Why would you want to buy it when the birds deliver it?
>
>Randy Emmitt
>Rougemont, NC
>

This is a good point. I remember seeing a neat trick on how to get 
hold of good berry-bearing bushes for feeding birds. I believe it was 
on the Stokes' TV show that aired on PBS a year or so ago: tie a 
string or rope between 2 trees or poles in your yard, at a height and 
position that birds will favor as a roost/perch. As birds often crap 
from their perches, after a while you end up with the saplings of 
just about every tree and bush your local avian flora has been 
feasting on growing in a line under the string. This will of course 
depend on the birds that already come to your garden, so to attract 
new ones with new types of bushes, you will still need to go to the 
local nursery or take cuttings or seeds from plants as you find them. 
This method will also weed out the bushes whose seeds cannot survive 
the journey through birds' digestive tracts, but as many plants that 
birds like to eat use just this method to distribute their seeds, 
you'll probably get the top 10 or so favored food plants.

Then all you have to do is know the difference between a native and 
an exotic, and apply all your horticultural know-how...

best wishes

-- 
Steve Perry

Receptor Biology Lab, Duke Uni Med Center, Durham, NC

stevep@receptor-biol.duke.edu