No. 10. 



A icord for Moms Mullicaulis. 



327 



lions of acres of land to clear and cultivate ; 

 hundreds of cities to found ; thousands of 

 miles of roads to form and carry ; and canals 

 like net-work to dig over the face of the 

 ■wilderness ; and while the cry of " westward 

 ho!" is ringinof in our ears, who will, who 

 can, sit down for fourteen or sixteen hours a 

 day, in a space about six feet square, breath- 

 ing the disgusting animal eflluvia floating in 

 the confined atmosphere of a small and close 

 room, and choking their lungs with the de- 

 leterious matter ? I say, who will, who can, 

 who ought, thus to debase his powers, both 

 of body and mind ? 



The morus mullicaulis has proved itself 

 all that its most sanguine advocates ever pro- 

 mised for it — nay more — for in consequence 

 of the failure of the speculation, millions of 

 trees have been left in the open ground for 

 the past winter, and have withstood its 

 rigours, to the admiration even of its adver- 

 saries — all confess themselves surprised at 

 the result. It is one of the most beautiful 

 trees that is cultivated ; flourishes in any soil 

 or situation ; is quick in growth, and most 

 easily raised in the greatest numbers ; comes 

 beautifully into leaf, and remains long in fo- 

 liage in the autumn ; would form in a very 

 short time an impervious shade around the 

 dwelling, and especially about the dairy ; is 

 elegant in its appearance, cleanly in its habits, 

 being remarkably free from blight or canker, 

 and has been cracked up as good for every 

 thing — food, drink, and clothing — firing ex- 

 cepted, to which, however, it is now devoted 

 with a recklessness without a parallel — If 

 we could forget the time when Merino sheep 

 were sold at twenty-five cents a dozen, and 

 were killed by hundreds as food for hogs ! 

 Many persons who were on the point of mak- 

 ing their fortunes regret that the rabid state 

 of the public mind did not continue for one 

 more year ; this is natural, but the evil would 

 then have been greater ; viore agriculturists 

 would have been induced to mortgage their 

 farms, to put the money into the morus spe- 

 culation, and the misery would then have 

 been extended a hundred fold. I have a per- 

 son in my eye who, the last year, rented a 

 field in the sands of Jersey, at twenty dollars 

 an acre, and put upon it seven hundred dol- 

 lars worth of manure, and planted morus 

 trees upon it for one year only ! the crop is 

 still in the ground, and has withstood the 

 winter admirably ; and I thought the worst 

 of it was that the trees still stand there — no, 

 the owner thinks the worst of it is, that he 

 has a hundred and forty thousand in another 

 patch ! 



Now, the evil has been occasioned by the 

 madness of speculation, with which the 

 people of our country are so liable to be af- 

 fected. Instead of permitting those to whom 



such a business would he proper and letriti- 

 mate, to cultivate the ninrus, and receive a 

 fair remuneration for tlirir labour, every one 

 must rush into the thick of it— merchants, 

 traders, lawyers, physicians, and even min- 

 isters of the gos])el, all fearing that the cul- 

 tivators of the soil would deprive them of 

 their share of the golden harvest — all travel- 

 led out of the record, and were all nonsuited ! 



Such a state of things is to be deplored ; 

 and yet, but for this spirit of speculation 

 which seems to have been implanted in us 

 for wise purposes, how would it have been 

 possible for us to do in half a century what 

 else would have been the labour of centuries ] 

 let any one look back but twenty years, and 

 see what has been accomplished in that time, 

 to the astonishment of the whole world, and 

 say if these wonders could have been wrought 

 without a spirit of speculation — I had almost 

 said, oi reckless speculation T I know that 

 many point to the enormous debt due for in- 

 ternal improvements as an incubus on the 

 state — I confess I am not one of these — the 

 people of this generation have done gloriously 

 in expending that sum for the benefit of 

 future generations, and to them it is but fair 

 to turn over a large share of it for liquidation. 



To me it appears, that our country, in its 

 present deranged state of aff"airs may be liken- 

 ed to a ship that has been going before wind 

 and tide at the rate of fourteen knots, brought 

 up suddenly to a tack — she is at present in 

 stays — in a little time, however, she will get 

 a slant of wind, and will start away with the 

 swiftness of an arrow — it is but to carry a 

 leetle less sail for the future, and all will be 

 the better for thus having been brought up. 



I perfectly agree with you, that the present 

 disastrous state of the times, by which so 

 many are forced from the ranks of citizens 

 into the country, will form an era in agricul- 

 ture, which will redound to the glory, honour, 

 and welfare of our beloved country — I cite 

 myself as an instance, and have been induced 

 to take pen in hand by the observations on this 

 subject contained in your editorial address, 

 page 266 of the Cabinet for the present month. 



I subscribe myself one of the citizen agri- 

 culturists. Respectfully, 



Joshua Grant, 



April 29, 1840. Late of Baltimore. 



" In the preservation of seeds, grain, and 

 veo-etables, infinitely more pains are taken 

 to^preserve the varieties distinct and un- 

 adulterated than with us. In the vioun- 

 tains of Scotland there are certain districts 

 appropriated solely to garden seeds, and 

 no two varieties that are in danger of 

 becoming adulterated by being placed near 

 each otlfer, are allowed to be cultivated in 

 the same district." 



