THE MULTICAULIS BUBBLE 149 



New England were too severe. One man near Hartford 

 lost nearly ten thousand trees from cold. Men lost 

 their fortunes ; and in 1839 the bubble burst. One 

 man near Philadelphia sold 250,000 trees at one auction 

 in the fall of that year. He realized 31 cents each, 

 with a discount of 7% per cent for cash. His buyers 

 were mostly from the West. The eastern men had 

 grown cautious before this. Other dealers sold for 

 much less, and many had thousands of trees left upon 

 their hands. "The trees were sold, in some instances, 

 for a few cents each, and thousands, if not millions, 

 were never replanted after they had been taken out 

 of the ground in the fall of 1839," runs a contem- 

 porary account. So Morus multicaulis passed from 

 sight, and the present generation knows nothing of 

 it. No nurseryman in the North grows it. One of the 

 last specimens in the East was cut down about twelve 

 years ago. It stood on the old battle ground at Ger- 

 mantown. Among others who went down as a result 

 of this great collapse, was Jonathan H. Cobb, who in 

 the meantime had assisted in the establishment of the 

 Connecticut Silk Company, at Hartford. But his 

 name must always stand amongst those enthusiastic 

 and prophetic souls who contribute so much to the 

 progress of the world. 



I cannot leave this exciting topic without quoting 

 Brockett's stirring account of this speculation, which 

 he very properly calls "The Morus multicaulis mania": 

 "One after another of the experimenters in silk culture 

 began to advocate the Morus multicaulis, and recom- 

 mend their friends to cultivate the trees, and raise silk 

 if they could ; but at all events to raise multicaulis 

 trees. Grave doctors of medicine and doctors of divin- 



