642 Gardening in the United States 



expense. For example, suppose that any- of the houses at work becomes 

 overheated, turn the water for a time into any house that may be cold or 

 damp, and you have a more reasonable and economical way of getting rid of 

 the excessive temperature procured at so much expense, than by opening the 

 sashes that it may escape into the external air. 



I cannot conclude this paper without repeating your advice, and earnestly 

 reconnnending all whom it may concern, to employ, in the erection of this 

 apparatus, the inventor in preference to all others ; they will thereby not only 

 do an act of justice to Mr. Penn, but they will find him do the work better, 

 and consequently cheaper, than any other mechanic. 



Mr. Penn, be it understood, presses his invention upon no man. He cour- 

 teously exhibits the effects it has produced to all who desire it, and leaves them 

 to reject or adopt it at pleasure. Nor will he, I presume, trouble himself to 

 notice the attacks that may be made upon it. While others are finding fault 

 with his apparatus, he seems perfectly satisfied with pulling down theirs and 

 substituting his own in their stead. A short time ago we had some of their 

 apparatus, excellent in their kind, erected here ; but now, thanks to the 

 unsparing liberality of my respected emploj'er, I have been allowed to extend 

 the new system to every thing requiring it here, where it has been at work 

 for some time, answering admirably. Should I have to report progress, in- 

 dependent of the opinion I have so unconditionally expressed, you may 

 depend that it shall have fair play and no favour. The purpose to which the 

 underground connecting pipes might be applied, in connexion with the still 

 neglected scheme of portable houses, &c. (see my paper on the subject, in 

 vol. xiii. p. 442.), will, should it prove sufficiently interesting, form the subject 

 of another paper. 



Folkstone, Sept. 24. 1840. 



Art. III. Notes on the Progress of Gardeni^ig in the United Stales 

 durijig the Year 1840. By A. J. Downing, Esq., Newburgh, near 

 New York. 



Nothing has occurred so remarkable in the United States in the gardening 

 way, as the late Morus nnilticaulis fever, as it is now called here, which has 

 fully exploded and burnt out this past season, after a duration of about two or 

 three years. The production of silk, which is at the present moment carried 

 on to a very considerable extent, and which, no doubt, will in time be one of 

 the most important branches of industry here, will undoubtedly be greatly 

 benefited by the attention which the mulberry mania has attracted towards it. 

 In the mean time, thousands have wasted their time and money in this idle 

 speculation, and not a fev/ have been ruined or much embarrassed by it. In 

 the autumn of 1838, the demand for this species of mulberry was so great, 

 that the trees were sold by the 100 and 1000 at prices varying from Is. to 51. 

 per tree, according to the size and number of cuttings the plants would afford. 

 During the winter of 1838-39, in Nev/ Jersey and Pennsylvania, the gardeners 

 emptied their green-houses of plants, or built new ones to be occupied in the 

 propagation of this far-famed plant ; and, through the whole southern states, 

 every one appeared to be occupied in the same manner ; even the sashes were 

 taken out of the dwelling-houses to cover hot-bed frames filled with the 

 young cuttings. During the spring of 1839, the fever was at its height. 

 Auction sales of the plants and cuttings were made daily in New York at 

 enormous prices, large quantities were imported from France and the South 

 of Europe ; and not only were all the varieties of Mbvus alba sold for JM. 

 mukicaulis, but even the branches of some of our native trees, as (he Tilia 

 americana, were sold in bundles for cuttings of the M. niulticaulis. The 

 ordinai-y price for buds (every bud will produce a plant) was two to five 

 cents ; and not only gardeners and agriculturists, but merchants, lawyers, 



