74 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
have, both surface and subsoil ? The latter 
may not be very productive when you first 
throw it up, but by proper treatment you 
can most assuredly make it so, unless it is 
of a very peculiar character.— Piedmont 
Whig. ^_____ 
The Mulberry Tree— Morns Multicaulis 
in California. —Public attention should be 
awakened to the value of this tree to Cali¬ 
fornia. The climate favors it; it is a rapid¬ 
growing tree, and two or four years only are 
required to raise a tree of twenty or twenty- 
five feet high. Our climate also favors the 
successful growing of the “ silk worm,” 
whose favorite food is the mulberry. The 
slopes of our hills are the favored spots for 
the mulberry groves, and the “ cocooneries” 
and workshops for the manufactory of silk. 
There is a great similarity of climate be¬ 
tween the silk districts of China and of our 
State, and there can be no doubt but that 
manufactures of sewing silk and silk goods 
of many kinds will be the products of Cali¬ 
fornia soil in a very short time. The amount 
expended in the United States for silk goods 
is almost incredible. By careful estimates 
it is found to be nearly $60,000,000 per year 
for the last four years ; and, by proper effort 
on the part of the cultivators of California, a 
slice of this enormous expenditure could be 
retained within our nation.— California Far¬ 
mer. 
Adulterated Tea. —A London paper giv¬ 
ing an account of the manner in which tea 
is adulterated after its importation, furnishes 
the following information of the manner in 
Avhich the trade is carried on in China : 
The dishonesty of adulterating teas is not, 
however, confined to this country. It often 
undergoes a strange process of transmuta¬ 
tion before it reaches the hands of the Eng¬ 
lish dealer. The Chinese are not at all be¬ 
hind us in practices of dishonesty, and the 
genuine and fraudulent tea trades flourish in 
China with almost equal vigor. The people 
of that country have long enjoyed an envia¬ 
ble preeminence for their success in ingen¬ 
ious deceptions. Recent travelers have 
confirmed the well-known testimony of Sir 
Francis Davis, in reference to the extensive 
exportation of adulterated teas by the na¬ 
tives. He speaks of a regular manufactory 
for the production of spurious green teas, 
which, with the most daring effrontery, has 
been erected exactly opposite the European 
factories at Canton, on the other side of the 
river. He naturally found some difficulty 
in procuring admission within its precincts, 
but his object was at length effected through 
the influence of a Hong Kong merchant, and 
the scene is thus described : “ In the first 
place, large quantities of black tea, which 
had been damaged by the floods of the pre¬ 
vious autumn, were seen drying in baskets, 
placed over hot pans of charcoal. The dried 
leaves were then transferred in portions of 
a few pounds each, to a number of cast-iron 
pans, which are placed over furnaces. They 
were next stirred rapidly round with the 
hand by a workman, who had previously 
added a small quantity of turmeric, which 
imparted a yellowish tinge to the mixture. 
In order to convert this into a green hue, the 
color so much desired, some lumps of Prus¬ 
sian blue and gypsum were added in such 
proportions as reduced the dark blue to a 
light shade, of which a small teaspoonful 
was added to the yellowish leaves. These 
were then stirred before the fire until the 
tea had taken the ‘ fine bloom ’ color of hy¬ 
son, with very much the same scent. The 
transformed leaves were then picked, sifted, 
chopped small, and supplied to the merchants 
as excellent young hyson. 
Plow deep while sluggards sleep. 
Propagation of Figs. —Figs are propa¬ 
gated by cuttings and by layers. The latter 
method is the best, as plants at the end of a 
year are fit to take up from the stools, and 
to plant out where they are intended to re¬ 
main. Cuttings taken from plants from 
which layers can not be obtained may be 
planted singly in pots, and placed under a 
frame, in a gentle heat now, and they will 
make good plants by the end of the year 
The best of all methods, however, for obtain 
ing fruiting plants quickly is the following 
Take a potato, cut it in half, and scoop out 
of each half enough of the potato to permit 
it to be fastened round the stem of the in 
tended cutting. Then select a good fruitful 
branch with two or three shoots on it, fasten 
the potato round the stem where you are 
desirous roots should form, and cover it 
with moss. The moisture afforded by the 
moss and potato will soon cause it to emit 
roots, when it may be removed from the 
parent tree and potted. In this way you 
may make tolerably sure of having a fruitful 
tree.— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Horses are constantly becoming more 
valuable. This has been the source of 
good deal of surprise—as it was anticipated 
that railways would diminish the price of 
horses. As an illustration of the extrava¬ 
gant prices that are paid, Dr. Leavitt, a New- 
York banker, but now living in Berkshire 
County, Mass., drives a span of bays which 
cost him $3,000. They are over 17 hands 
high, and are counted to be the best team in 
America. The Emperor Louis Napoleon 
sports a span costing one thousand eight 
hundred dollars, but they are no comparison 
to Leavitt’s bays. 
Singular and Fatal Accident. —An Eng¬ 
lish workman named John Chester, while 
attempting to mend a belt in the Rifle Facto¬ 
ry at Hartford, last week, his hand slipped 
and the awl pierced his heart. He walked 
about thirty feet, fell down, and expired in 
about ten minutes. 
A MODEL *DTJN. 
An editor “ out west ” thus talks to his 
non-paying subscribers and patrons. If his 
appeal does not bring the “ pewter,” we 
think he need never try again. 
“ Friends, Patrons, Subscribers and Ad¬ 
vertisers: Hear us for our debts, and get 
ready that you may pay ; trust us, we are 
in need, and have regard for our need, for 
you have been long trusted; acknowledge 
your indebtedness, and dive into your pock¬ 
ets, that you may promptly fork over. If 
there be any among you, one single patron 
that don’t owe us something, then to him 
we say—“ step aside ; consider yourself a 
gentleman.” If the rest wish to know why 
we dun them, this is our answer : Not that 
we care about cash ourselves, but our credit¬ 
ors do.” Would you rather that we go to 
jail, and you go free, than you pay our debts, 
and we all keep moving? As we agreed,we 
have worked for you ; as we contracted, we 
have furnished our paper to you ; as we 
promised, we have waited upon you, but, as 
you don’t pay, we dun you! Here are 
agreements for job work; contracts for sub¬ 
scription ; promises for long credits; and 
duns for deferred payment. Who is there 
so mean that he don’t take a paper ? If any, 
he needn’t speak—we don’t mean him. 
Who is there so green that he don’t adver¬ 
tise? If any, let him slide—he ain’t the 
chap either. Who is there so bad that he 
don’t pay the printer? If any, let him shout— 
for he’s the man we’re after. His name is 
Legion, and he’s been owing us for one, two, 
three, four, five, six, seven and eight years— 
long enough to make us poor and himself rich 
at our expense. If the above appeal to his 
conscience doesn’t awake him to a sense of 
justice, we shall have to try the law and see 
what virtue there is in writs and constables.’ 
“A little humor now and then, 
Is relished by the best of men.” 
Logic and Swimming. —A logician and a 
swimmer, says a Persian story, were in a 
boat together. The logician said to the 
swimmer: 
“ Have you ever studied logic?” 
“ I never heard the name till now,” was 
the reply. 
“ Alas !” said L., “then has half your life 
been drowned in ignorance!” 
Just then a “ squall ” came up. Said S. 
to L.: “ Have you ever learned anything of 
swimming ?” 
“ Nothing but logic,” was the reply. 
“ Alas,” said S., “ then the whole of your 
life is drowned!” 
Snipes’s Litany. —From Nebraska bills, 
doctors’ pills, western chills, and other ills— 
deliver us ! 
From want of gold, wives that scold, maid¬ 
ens old, and by sharpers “ sold ”—preserve 
us ! 
From popish seers,mock auctioneers, Cos¬ 
sack spears, and woman’s tears—deliver us! 
From stinging flies, coal-black eyes, bak¬ 
er’s pies, and baby cries—deliver us ! 
From seedy coats, wrested notes, sinking 
boats, and foreign votes—protect us ! 
From creaking doors, a wife that snores, 
“ confounded bores,” and dry good stores— 
protect us! 
From colic’s gripes, Paddies pipes, and 
Mrs. Snipes—deliver us ! 
From modest girls with waving curls, and 
teeth of pearls—never mind ! 
A New Case of Bigamy. —A young couple 
were sitting together in a romantic spot, 
with birds and flowers about them, when the 
following dialogue ensued : 
“ My dear, if the sacrifice of my life would 
please thee, gladly would I lay it at thy feet.” 
“ Oh, sir, you’re too kind. But it just re¬ 
minds me that I wish you’d stop using to¬ 
bacco.” 
“ Can’t think of it. It’s a habit to which 
I am wedded.” 
“Very well, sir,since this is the way you 
lay down your life for me, and as you are 
already wedded to tobacco, I’ll take good 
care that you are never wedded to me, as it 
would be bigamy.” 
A Know Nothing. —The New-Haven Reg¬ 
ister says, there happened at the dinner ta¬ 
ble of one of our hotels a delegate to the K. 
N. Convention, and seeing among the viands 
some ice-cream, loaded his plate rather 
sumptuously. Knot Knowing exactly the 
substance of its composition, he placed a lump 
of butter on it, and waited awhile for it to 
melt. But it would not melt, and calling the 
waiter to him, he said—“Look here! bring 
me some kind o’ puddin’ that ain’t quite so 
coid!” 
Village Papers. —A gentleman recently 
went into the newspaper depot under the 
Astor House, in this city, and inquired if 
they kept Philadelphia papers. “ No,” was 
the reply. “ Do you keep the Boston pa¬ 
pers ?” “ No, sir,” exclaimed the youth in 
attendance, “ we don’t keep any village pa¬ 
pers.” 
