Giant Ginkgo

The mulberry tree was imported from China in the 18th century to start a silk industry in the Northeast. The effort began promisingly. In 1826, one Hezekiah Niles of Baltimore wrote of the Connecticut silkworm industry: "It is a very profitable cultivation, and nearly the whole business is done by women and children, who would otherwise be idle, and so it is pretty nearly a clear gain. One acre of land planted with mulberry trees will feed as many worms as will make silk worth $200."