626 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



was purchased or delivered 1o order, subsequent to 

 the notice. I have now orders from several per- 

 sons (well acquainted with the facts,) for the same 

 kind, which I am daily expectino;, and that too, in 

 preference to the Muliicaulis, which I novy jmyc 

 received, and which was raised in the PhilUpine 

 Islands— not in France, as was supposed by my 

 asent. The nurseryman — who wroie you that 

 sweet letter, wishintr you to chastise me — could 

 not distinguish between that and the while ! ! Does 

 he know a white oak from a black oidi ? I must 

 take leave of the subject by repeatiuLT that there 

 has been no deception practised, and that in my 

 opinion, at least, the plants are more valuable than 

 the Multicaulis, which time will decide. 



As you, perhaps, will not be willing to credit 

 my assertions respecting the seed, I enclose you 

 the original bill as I received it from the hands of 

 the person who signed it, erasing the figures only. 



In publishmg the article you have v.Tonged 

 deeply wronged, my agent and myself. I, appeal 

 to your sense ol" honor and justice, and request 

 that my letter be inserted in your next number, 

 that those interested may form their own opinions. 

 Respectlully, 



SAMUEL WHITBIARSH. 



N'orihanipion, December 12, 1836. 



To the Editor of the Genesee Farmer: 



Your paper of the 3d inst., has been handed me, 

 in which you have indulged in cenain strictures 

 upon Mr. Whitmarsh and myself, in relation to the 

 sale of mulberry seed. Mr. W. informs me that 

 he has written to you, but as you have seen fit to 

 include me in your denunciations, I beg leave to 

 say a lew words for myself. As your remarks 

 breathe a spirit of prejudice, not to say hostility, 1 

 think it would have been more fair, had you not 

 prefaced them with demonstrations of candor and 

 disinterestedness. I hope you did not intend by 

 these professions to give more point to your poi- 

 soned shafts, and though at heart you may fee! re- 

 luctant to admit this communication, yet that you 

 will feel bound by your avowal of impartiality to 

 give to the public, through your columns, a brief 

 statement ol" fiicts, so flir as I am concerned. 



The advertisement of the " Chinese mulberry," 

 which you copy from the Hampshire Gazette of 

 March 28, was ordered by Mr. Whitmarsh while 

 in Europe, and its terms, and description were dic- 

 tated by him. This was the first knowledge I had 

 of his purchasing or intendilig to purchase seed. 

 1 then supposed, as you say others did in your 

 vicinity, that it was the Muhicaulis. Mr. Whit- 

 marsh did not arrive till quire the last of April, and 

 the seed did not come to hand till after his arrival. 

 It was not until I saw him that I found it was not 

 the Multicaulis, and I iunnediately stated in the 

 Hampshire Gazette, that it was not, in the para- 

 graph which you have carefully preserved and 

 co[)ied. [c] I was, myself, solicitous to do away 

 any incorrect impressions which I had innocently 

 given, and Mr. W. also stated expressly, that he 

 did not wish any one to take it, except with a know- 

 ledge of the fiicts. This correction would come to 

 the knowledge of all the readers of the Gazette, 

 and of all the exchange papers which were re- 

 quested to copy that advertisement. Not only 

 this, I took particular pains before any orders had 

 been supplied, when personal application was made 



for seed spoken for, to state that it was not the 

 Multicaulis, and 1 so stated where it was sent 

 abroad, [d.] except when the season had so fixr 

 advanced that it was too late lor delay, when time 

 had been given for the information to be diffused, 

 and when I had ascertained that purchnsers were 

 almost in every instance, as well satisfied with the 

 article sold, as with the Multicaulis. In one in- 

 stance, an individual demanded a return of his 

 money because it was not the Multicaulis, in so 

 insulting a maimer, that I reltjrred him to Mr. 

 Whitmarsh. It is not true, as you state, that an 

 agent was despatched to Rochester with the seed, 

 [c] Messrs. Reynolds & Bateham had sent a 

 very urgent order, and a gentleman of this town 

 happened to be goino; to Rochester on a visit, just 

 as the seed arrived, and I requested liim to supply 

 R. & B.'s order, as a favor to them. He took a 

 Cew other papers and sold just seven of them, and 

 no more. He was particularly instructed not to 

 sell it as the Multicaulis, and to inform purchasers 

 that it was not the Multicaulis. I have seen him 

 to-day, and he tells me that he perfectly recollects 

 those instructions, and tliat he gave the informa- 

 tion to those few who bought of him, and to Rey- 

 nolds Sf Bateham themselves. [/.] This was the 

 only seed delivered or sent away before the notice 

 was given in the Gazette that it differed from the 

 Multicaulis, that I recollect. You see then, that . 

 the foundation on which you rest your weightiest 

 charges is removed, and of course, the whole 

 U^bric of fiilse accusation falls to the ground. Your 

 main charge, so far as I am concerned, is, that 

 this information was not given, 'Hill after the or- 

 ders had been supplied.'''' 



Besides the refutation given above, the very 

 paragraph you quote from the Gazette of May 4, 

 shows its fdsity. That article beirins, by saying, 

 "the Chinese mulberry seed which we advertised 

 but a i'ew weeks since, has come to hand, and can 

 be had by calling at our office," &c. stating the 

 price, &c. that it was not the Multicaulis, and 

 quoting Mr. Whitmarsh for the character of the 

 plant. I had previously informed persons giving 

 orders, (in the Gazette, I think,) that they would 

 be notified through its columns, of its arrival. 

 Here then is a parasraph for the first time, an- 

 nouncing its arrival and price, and yet from this 

 paragraph, you infer that most, if not all, of the 

 orders had been supplied! [g.] The public will 

 judge what your inferences are worth. They can 

 determine whether one would be likely to advertise 

 the arrival of an article, after it had been already 

 sold 1 whether it should have been at the pains of 

 informing persons who had given orders that their 

 seed had arrived, when they had it already in 

 their possession ! Indeed, it appears fi'om your 

 statement, that Reynolds & Bateham knew that 

 it was not the Muliicaulis, for you say that they 

 refused to sell it on this account. How could they 

 have known it in less than a week after its arrival, 

 except through ourselves? As to the quantity of 

 seed in a paper, I never weighed w counted them, 

 relying upon Mr. Whitmarsh, and in him, I had 

 then, and have now, perfect confidence. He has 

 throughout manifosted a zeal, enterprise, and pub- 

 lic spirit, rarely to be found. He has hazarded 

 every thing in the culture of silk, except reputa- 

 tion, and that you and your backers seem disposed 

 to take from "him. As to the character of the 

 plant, I do not profess to be a judge, but I ana 



