82 



Blue Mud. 



Vol. III. 



multicaulis for the purpose of feedinor silk 

 worms, to inquire whether it is so entirely 

 acclimated that by no possibility their whole 

 plantations could be destroyed, root and 

 branch, by a very severe winter. It is well 

 known that the whole of the tree that is above 

 the ground, is frequently, if not generally, 

 killed in this latitude by the frost; and from 

 this it seems quite probable that an unusually 

 cold winter, or one of gfreat extremes of heat 

 and cold might destroy the roots. I believe 

 it is a universal practice amonirst those who 

 cultivate the multicaulis for sale, to di^r them 

 up in the autumn and srcure thcrn, snu^'- and 

 warm, in cellars- or other places where .I.ick- 

 frost cannot lay his hand on them and spoil 

 the golden dreams of their owners. I would, 

 therefore, say to the silk growers, plant at 

 least one-half your stock of the white Italian 

 or some other hardy variety. 



In the next place, it is to be presumed that 

 every prudent person who wishes to engage 

 in raising silk, will calculate the cost; and I 

 think he will find that the prices at whirh 

 the morus multicaulis are sold, are not only 

 far above their real valup, but much higher 

 than a silk grower can afford to give. Tiiey 

 are so easily and rapidly propagated, that if 

 no speculation existed and the demand was 

 confined, as it ought to be, to the silk grower, 

 they could be purchased at one-fiftieth of the 

 present prices. 



After considerable inquiry, 1 believe that 

 of the many thousands of trees sold in Phila- 

 delphia last spring, very thw, if any, were 

 purchased for any other purpose tli.in specu-j 

 lation. If a farmer, or any person who hast 

 a few acres of land, wishes to raise silk, and 

 thinks it desirable to have say one thousand 

 mulberry trees, is it to be supposed tli it he 

 will go to a speculator and buy that number 

 at once, paying him %7oO li)r them '! Would 

 he not rather purchase one hundred, and by 

 proper management raise one thou-and from 

 them in a sinjile summer! But here I am 

 told that he is losing titne and the state pre- 

 mium, and that it is all important to go at 

 once into the business if he expects to make 

 his fortune. A verjr simple calculation will 

 refute this doctrine. The difii^ronce between 

 the cost of one hundred and one thousand 

 mulberry trees at 75 cents each, is Jj)(67.5, 

 whicli sum a farmer will save in one summer 

 by cultivating his one thousand trees himself 

 Suppose, on the other hand, that he purciiases 

 one thousand trees at once, how many co- 

 coons must he raise to repay him his ^675? 

 and what an amount of care and labor will 

 they cost him compared with the propigation 

 of one thousand trees. It seems evi(i(Mit then 

 that where all are planting and pr(>pa!,^■lting 

 trees to sell, and none are purchasiii<r to feed 

 eilk worms, the trade must soon come to a 



close; and happy, 1 believe, it would be for 

 the community, a-nd for hundreds now en- 

 gaged in the speculation, if this were speedily 

 to happen. 'J'here are individuals within my 

 knowledge who wish to venture all they have 

 and more in the speculation, hoping it will 

 continue another year at least, and richly 

 repay their risk; thus they and thousands 

 more will be hd on to ruin. 1 have met 

 with very few spcculiitors who believe that 

 the present extravaf^-int pricos can be long 

 maintained; but they say we will make our 

 fortunes while the fever is up. Let me ask 

 them whether there mu?t not be, eventually, 

 a Idss sustained somewhere, equal to the 

 whole amount of gain wliich they have put 

 into their pockets. 



In throwing my views on this subject before 

 the readers of the Cabinet, I wish to call their 

 serious attention to it, hojjing the great and 

 rapidly increasiuL'" evil may speedily be ar- 

 rested. I am opposed to all speculations — in 

 the common acceptation of the word — believ- 

 ing them to be highly injurious to those en- 

 gaged in them, ruinous to the con)munity, 

 and in the end, destructi\ e to the interests 

 and success of whatever may be made the 

 sul ject of them. 



For t)ie Farmers' Caliiuet 



Blue Mild. 



JIr. Editor, — There is an article on our so It 

 marshes called the blue nuul, which duubth ss 

 possesses many fertilizing properties. Several 

 farmers have en;!eavored to experiment \A'ith 

 it in tlieir agriculture, but tlii'i:e have been 

 very few, and llieir experiments quite limited. 

 Where the article has b;-en exposed to severe 

 iro,~t, say one winter, (the object is to pulver- 

 ize it) and applied to corn in the month of 

 May, when it is tv\o inchesoutof" the ground, 

 it has had a very fine efii'ct. The corn be- 

 mg three times as good where this nmd was 

 applied, than in any other portiim of ti'ie field. 

 If this article is a valuable manure, we have 

 an iiiexliaustible store — and need not fear the 

 apparent increasing poverty of cur lands. — 

 TIk; probable properties are sea salt, oil and 

 sulphur. Some supjjose it is the washings of 

 the upp >r country, having a clay basis. This 

 seems improbable from the fact that when a 

 ditch is di!;r, where the tide has access, it will 

 be filled in a very sliort time w ith this sub- 

 stance. But what renders it difficult to de- 

 termine is the clay accompanying it; it i.s 

 atTirmed that the sea does not deposit that. — 

 As It will be a cheap niaiuire, and easily ob- 

 tained by every farmer, whether piopiietor or 

 rentor of laud, if tbund to be valuable, my 

 ohjfct is to elicit information through the 

 pages of the Cabinet. 1 hope some gentle- 

 man who is acquainted with the deposits ot 



