1840.] SENATE— No. 36. 103 



trees. The production of silk did not enter into the calculation. 

 Thousands and thousands of acres were planted with the Perot- 

 tet mulberry ; and immense importations of these trees have 

 been made from foreign countries. 



By the caprices and fluctuations incident to all human af- 

 fairs, and by no means unexpected in a case of such violent 

 and extravagant speculation, as that of %vhich I have been 

 speaking, it has happened that the ebb has gone down in pro- 

 portion to the elevation of the flood. This speculation is at 

 an end ; and though all the growers and speculators in Morus 

 Multicaulis from Florida to Maine should pump at the bellows 

 together, they are much more likely to blow out the last em- 

 bers that remain on the hearth, than to fan them into a flame. 

 It is feared that in too many cases the exposure of the specula- 

 tion, as it was termed, would present only humiliating examples 

 of fraud and credulity ; and it would be an invidious and ungrate- 

 ful task to rake open the ashes for the sake of seeing the burnt 

 bones and carcases of those, who have perished in the flames. 

 The Multicaulis is no longer in quick demand, and maybe 

 purchased at a price far below its actual and intrinsic value. 

 The tree having ceased to be an object of speculation, it is now 

 hoped that public attention will be directed to the production 

 of silk. The best trees of the best descriptions being obtain- 

 able, even by persons of the most limited means, it becomes 

 matter of important inquiry, whether, to what extent, and un- 

 der what circumstances, the silk culture may be conducted and 

 encouraged as a profitable branch of agriculture. 



II. Patronage of the State. — The State having in this 

 matter ofl"ered the most liberal bounties,* it is on this, as well as 

 many other accounts, a subject, which, in my official relations 

 to the State, demands my particular attention. This has in- 

 duced me to visit all the principal parts of the State, where 

 silk has been cultivated ; and as well as possible to possess my- 

 self of the best information which I could obtain from practi- 

 cal and experienced men. 



* For Laws of the State, see Appendix N. 



