61 
[ Eep. No. 564. J 
house, bore a few mulberries in November, 1835; and one planted in my 
garden on the main grew so rapidly, that I have often been obliged to 
cut all the limbs off, say six feet long; and as I did not know that they 
would grow, they were thrown away. It is near two years since the In¬ 
dian war compelled me to leave home, and it is not in my power to speak 
■of the present situation of these plants. I take it for granted that they 
continue to grow. I left at the Cape Florida light-house seven young 
trees, and at the hunting ground garden twelve others. Had my attention 
been directed to their increase, there might at this time have been 2,000 
young trees. In October, 1835, W. L. Smith, of New York, brought out 
and planted at the cape about twenty young multicaulis plants; and in 
December, 1836, Mr. Charles Howe received a few of the plants, , which 
■were set out at Indian Key. These plants thrive well in this climate at 
all seasons; as a proof of which, allow me to state that about the 14th 
December, 1835, my son, as an experiment, cut off six small limbs, and 
stuck them in the ground. In twenty days from that time they had taken 
root, and had a new coat of leaves on them. One great advantage we 
will always have over our Northern friends, in the. cultivation of the Mo¬ 
rns multicaulis, is the fact that the tree does not cast its leaves through 
the winter, but is at all times in a situation to afford food for the silk¬ 
worm. Our winter, so far, has been cold: the thermometer, for a few 
hours on the 20th, was as low as 54°. Happily for us, it soon raised, and 
on the 21st, was 88°. 
Very respectfully, yours, 
JNO. DUBOSE. 
H. Perrine, Esq., Princeton^ NJ. 
N. B. Remarks by H. P. —Had Mr. Dubose known the nature of the 
Manilla mulberry, or Morns multicaulis, and the best treatment of it in 
a tropical climate, he might now have multiplied ..these plants a million 
fold. Professor Don Ramon de la Sagra, of the royal botanic garden at 
Havana, received two plants from New York in the fall of 1832, and by 
repeated subdivision, he obtained upwards of five hundred plants in the 
spring of 1834, from which he obtained leaves enough to make experi¬ 
ments with the silk-worm; which satisfied him that in Cuba, ten crops of 
cocoons could be obtained in a single year. In Guadaloupe, the French 
Government sustains an establishment of 40,000 plants of Morus multi- 
caulis; and there*Dr. Meunier, of the navy, cited by Sagra, obtained ten 
crops annually during three successive years. 
Had Mr. Dubose known the nature, value, or even names, of many 
other plants and seeds of the tropics, sent by me from Mexico via Ha¬ 
vana, New Orleans, and Key West, he would doubtless have preserved 
sand propagated many more. In 1835, the sea conspired with the Indians 
to destroy my tropical plants, by inundating all the southeastern coast of 
Florida; yet it is already seen that many valuable plants have survived; 
and I have no doubt others, not named, are now propagating themselves 
in tropical Florida. H. P. 
Key West, November 25, 1837. 
Dear Sir : Your letter of the 9th October I duly received, and you 
have my best wishes for your success in the application you are now 
making to Congress. That it deserves the favorable consideration of that 
