Till: MULTICAULIS BUBBLE 14'J 



New England were too severe. One man near Hartford 

 lo8l aearly ten thousand trees from cold. Men Lost 

 their fortunes; and in 1839 the bubble burst. <>n.- 

 man near Philadelphia Bold 250,000 trees at one auction 

 in tlif fall of that year. 11«- realized 31 cents each, 

 with a c]i><-(»uiit of 7% per cent for cash. Hi- buyers 

 were mostly from the West. The eastern men had 

 grown cautious before this. Other dealers -old for 

 much less, and many had thousands of trees left upon 

 their hands. "The trees were Bold, in some instances, 

 for a few cents each, ami thousands, if not millions, 

 were never replanted after they had been taken out 

 of the ground in tin- fall of 1839," runs a contem- 

 porary account. So Mortis multicaulis passed from 

 Bight, ami the present generation knows nothing of 

 it. No nurseryman in the North grows it. <>n>- of the 

 last specimens in tin- Easl was cul down about twelve 

 years ago. It stood on the old battle ground at Ger- 

 mantown. Among others who went down as a resull 

 of this great collapse, was Jonathan II. Cobb, who in 

 tin- meantime had assisted in the establishment of the 

 Connecticut Silk Company, at Hartford. Bui his 

 name must always Btand amongst those enthusiastic 

 and prophetic souls who contribute so much to the 

 progress of the world. 



I cannot Leave this exciting topic without quoting 



Brockett's Btirring ; omit of this speculation, which 



rv properly calls "The Morus multicaulis mania": 

 "One after another of the experimenters in silk culture 

 began to advocate the Morus multicaulis, and recom- 

 mend their friends to cultivate the trees, and raise Bilk 

 if they could; hut at all events to raise multicaulis 

 Grave doctors of medicine and doctors of diviu- 



