IVI I i> U t L L fl N t U 5 



[From ihc Soherlown Moms Mullicaulis Gazetlo.] 



GREAT MORUS MULTICAULIS KXCITE- 



^?ErVT. 



Great excitement in Sobertown — Public Meetinc 



Squire Jones called to the Cliair— Mr Wilson, 



Editor of the Courier, addresses the meeting 



Dr Potts discovers tlint tlio iMiilberry leaf con- 

 tains medical qualities, &c. 



It is not my purpose to enter into a learned ilk- 

 aertation on the stupendous benefits our country is 

 likely to receive in the successful culture of the 

 mulberry, or to speculate on the influence whicli 

 the raising of silk worms- will have on the morals, 

 religion and domestic habits of our people. I hese I 

 leave to abler hands ; but with becoming deference 

 l^will refer the curious of your readers to "Whit- 

 marsh on the Mulberry Tree and Silk Worms." 



I propose, however, to give a rapid sketch of the 

 rise and progress of tliis speculation in the village of 

 Sobertown, Connecticut — a village that, in former 

 years was remarkable for the sober and staid indus 



and the raising of silk worms the cause of humani- the growth of mulberries, it would be expedient to 

 !.{::„u !! i "'i\'^'°™'P°'"'"":^." '"'^^ ^ d'^tm-l send a committee to the Desert of Sahara, to test 



guished gentleman of Massachusetts, who assured 

 him that the mulberry business was destined to be 

 the great and absorbing business of the country, 

 and that this gentleman had plenty of trees to sell. 

 Mr .Tones assured bis hearers that all climates ai]d 

 every .'ioil were f\ivorable to the growth of the trees, 

 and that the profits arising from the s; 

 speakablo ; he was not in the habit of indulging in 

 speculation, but he felt authorised from his owngx- 

 peripnce, in saying, that every man, woman, and 

 child, would 3pe:'dily amass a fortune by attending 

 to the business. Phuit mulberries 1 concluded Mr 

 Jones. 



Deacon Smith said, im liad ever been an incred- 

 ulous man— his friends thought it a fanlt— he had 

 never believed in Metallic 'JVactors, Animal Ma<r- 



the value of that spot. ,^Ir Wilson, of the Gazette, 

 thought the plan feasible, but premature. Mr 

 Crane, the mechanic, was busy in taking out a pa- 

 tent for a machine by which he could make a silk 

 worm spin an endless thread, without fear of burst- 

 ^ ing. Th- leaves were to go in at one end of the 

 were un- worm and come out silk at the othei. He thought 

 this invention would sink the cotton gin into merit- 

 ed insignificance. Dr Potts had analyzed the mul- 

 berry leaf, and discovered that it contained medi- 

 cal qualities, with a large share of mucilage : he 

 had already ordered a steam engine to manufacture 

 pills, and had resolved to call his medicine " The 

 Leviathan Morus Multicaulis I'ilis." 



An article appeared in the Gazette, recommend- 



berry business was no humbug, 



Mr Williams, the tailor, proposed that mulberry 



buds he considered a legal tender in tratiic ; this 



was objected to by Mr Hunter, the dry goodsman, 



try of its inhabitants, and its freedom from all mod- \^'^ creating a difficulty in small change. Mr Wil- 



T), , , , , ., . - t—r> forced growth," "bottom heat," and " ^reen 



net.sm, or Phrenology, but the lucd expositmr, of houses." Squire .Tones 

 Great Pioneer, ' couviuced him that the mul- 



the 



ern humbug. The farmer was contented with the 

 fruits of his labor, the mechanic was fully employed 

 in his workshop, and .the merchant was satisfied 

 with his profits. There was only one individual in 

 the town who appeared restless and dissatisfied. 



Squire Jones ever bore the comprehensive title of 

 " speculator," and though of the age of fifty, and a 

 bachelor, he was continually scheming and enyao-. 

 ed in some new operation. In the early part oflast 

 spring, the Squire was often seen to work in his 

 front yard, cultivating a few rows of small cuttings, 

 which his ignorant neighbors supposed to be fruit 

 trees. The occupation at first attracted but little 

 notice, but soon the little trees began to put forth 

 very large leaves, quite unlike any leaves in the 

 village, and curiosity was at once aroused. The 

 Squire gave evasive answers to the many inquiries 

 of the busy bodies, which tended to heighten their 

 wonder, and when, on one morning, they discover- 

 ed that these mysterious trees had been taken up, 

 and gone, the e.xcitement e.xceeJedall bounds, and 

 the news flew like wildfire through the village. The 

 natural anxiety was relieved, however, when the 

 Squire entered the public bar-room in the evoninff, 

 and stated that he had sold his trees which cost 

 him ten dollars, to a stranger, for the sum of two 

 hundred dpllars, hard cash, and that the trees were 

 Morus Multicaulis. This extraordinary sale set 

 the whole village in a state of feverish excitement: 

 crowds of idlers gathered before the fence which 

 enclosed the Squire's front yard, and marvellous 

 were the speculations there formed and related. It 

 IS impossible to say to what extent this excitement 

 would have carried the villagers, had not Mr Wil- 

 son, the distinguished editor of the Courier, sug- 

 gested that a town meeting should be immediateTy 

 called, to adopt such measures as would best insure 

 a general cultivation of the Mqvus Multicaulis. The 

 people unanimously responded to his call, and on 

 the day appointed, the Town Hall was filled with 

 anxious speoti.tjis. Squire Jones was summoned 

 to the chair, and the editor of the Courier proposed 

 that he be called the '-Great Pioneer," which was 

 adopted with acclamations. 



Mr Jones on rising was delighted to sec so much 

 enthusiasm manifested on the important subject 

 which called them together. He considered the 



son then arose and said he had a coinmunicaiion to 

 make to his fellow citizens, which he thought would 

 create a great revolution iu the miilberry cause and 



' the Great Pioneer," was 

 detected in clearing out his conservatory, filling it 

 with boxes containing earth, and repairing his fur- 

 nace. The secret was soon out. Every green 

 house, hen house and smoke house was secured ; 

 raisin boxes and fig drums rose a hundred per cent, 

 apd cuttings commanded any price. The whole 

 town shared in the excitement — even the ladies 

 permitted boxes of mulberry shoots to grace their 

 drawing rooms instead of flowers and orange trees. 



matoriaUy affect the interests of the town and coiin- Mr Cr.me positively asse;t;d ^^Z li:? di^;:: 



try. After mature deliberation and reflection, he 

 had resolved to change the name of his paper from 

 "Sobertown Courier" to that of "The Sobertown 

 Morus Multicaulis Gazette." This announcement 

 completely electrified the audience, and was re- 

 ceived with corresponding applause. From the 

 adjournment of the town meeting, morus multicaulis 

 was the all engrossing topic of conversation, Ev- 

 ery stage was watched as it entered the village, 

 and the passengers questioned about the progress 

 of the trade. Seeds and cuttings were purchased 

 at enormous prices, and all hands turned to plant- 

 ing. The young and old, the rich and poor united 

 in the work, and even poor Giles, the vagabond, 

 was so much excited, that one day he imagined 

 himself a silk worm, and went reeling through the 

 streets. Autumn comes, and prosperity still shone 

 upon the laborers. Squire Jones had been offered 

 one thousand dollars for five hundred trees and re- 

 fused it. Deacon Smith came very near selling 

 out his whole stock at three dollars per tree, for the 

 man asked him if that was the lowest price. It 

 must be confessed, however, that amid this general 

 prosperity, there were a few instances of ill luck 

 and disappointment. Mr Williams, the tailor, 

 bought a paper of seeds of the real Alpine Mulber- 

 ry, of a pedler, foi- a suit of clothes, which he cal- 

 culated would yield a thousand trees, but what was 

 his rage and horror, when he discovered that the 

 products of his seeds and labor was a beo of double 

 headed cabbages. Mr Hunter was also a victim; 

 for he had procured of a Thomsonian doctor a bun- 

 dle of trees warranted as the real Multicaulis, but 

 they grew- up crpb apples, and the insects upon 

 them which he at first th(mght a spontaneous growth 

 of silk worms, proved, to be caterpillars. 



Schemes were formed for future operations. — 

 Squire Jones thought the attention of Congress 

 ought to be called to the subject, and proposed 

 that samples of the soil of Sobertown be forwarded 

 to our representatives, requesting them to present 

 the samples to the chairman of the committee of 

 commerce, and ask him to make a report. Deacon 



ered how to produce "bottom boat," by runnino- 

 flues under the earth and supplying them with hot 

 water. Deacon Smith thought hms might be used 

 to advantage in accelerating the development of 

 the buds, and though this novel application of hen- 

 labor might be thought detrimental to the egg-pro- 

 ducing interest, he thought ,tlie result would be 

 different, and that hens would lay better than for- 

 merly. The very boys of the village emulated as 

 far as their means permitted, the enterprising spirit 

 of their parents, and carried about in their pockets 

 roots and cuttings, and even slept in their panta- 

 loons to ensure a uniform temperature. 



The winter has just passed, and the result has 

 .equalled the expectation of the sanguine, though 

 not a person has had an offer for a single tree. Still 

 the work of transplanting is going on with unabat- 

 ed vigor. Our village is a wilderness of mulber- 

 ries, and it is computed that the value of the trees 

 a.t asking prices, exceeds one million of dollars. 



REVOLVTIVG HORSE RAKjg. 



The Revolving Rake which has lieen in g.eneral use in 

 most parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is found to be 

 one ol the most useful and labor saving machines now in 

 use. One man and horse with a hoy to lead, will rake on 

 an average from 2,5 to 30 acres per day, willi ease, and do 

 the work well. They are are coining inlo very general use 

 in all parts of the country, and will, no doubt, in a few years 

 supersede the use of the common hand rake. There is u 

 great advantage in this rake over all others, as the person 

 using it does not have 10 stop the horse to unload the rake 

 For sale hy JOSEPH BRECK & CO., 61 and 62 North 

 Market Slrect. 



cause of mulberry trees the cause of the country ; I Smith thought as sandy soil has proved favorable to 



GRAlSr CRAULJQS. 



The Graili Cradle is an article which is coming into very 

 general use ih ihe New England States, where 'Ibey were till 

 ol late but little known, although ihey have been in very 

 general use in the southern and western States, for manr 

 years, aud which is found to be decidedly the best mode of 

 harvesting grain, as it is supposed one man will cradle fiv« 

 acres in a day when he cannot reap more than one For 

 sale by JOSEPH BRECK & CO., 51 & 52 North Market 

 Street. 



July 10. 



THK NEW ESIGLA.iD FARMER 



Is published every Wednesday Evening, at S3 per annum 

 payable at the end of the year — hut those who pay within 

 sixty days from the time of subscribing are entitled to a de- 

 duction of 59 cents. 



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