The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1856-06-18
Bubbles.

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we'll at the credulty of poor human nature. A
we recall those feverish speculations in merin
sheep, in Rohan potatoes, in morus multicaulis
in Shangha hens, and in various other pausi
bilities by which, during successive wears, tn
universal Yankee nation has been gulled, W
are convinced that 'tthe earth hath bubbles a
the water hath, and these were Of them!'
eBut unfortunately, these were not all of them
Tie last agricultural bubble has but just burs
when we find another expanding before us il
the shape Of an exotic escuIent of marvellous re
pute. Forgetting the sad experiences of tn
past, our ears and our purses are captiyated b,
the captivating story ola Dioscoreo batata. Ye
We ought to be wiser now than ever before, fo
there is everything in the agricultural expert
ences to which we have alluded calculated tt
instruct and benefit all those gentlemen who til
the soil, whether they till for the fun of it O
for the fruit of it. If the will only remembe
the past they will act prudently in the present
The batata fever, which is just beginning t.
spread in our rural districts, calls to mind tn.
extraordinary merno-sheep fever which made
our fathers crazy, and which ought to warn al
us children against similar epidemcs 1t frs
broke out in 1915. In the summer of that yea
a half-dozen sheep from Andalusia, in Spain
were imported into Boston. They were imme
diately invested with mysterious character
It was said that their heeces were of the fines
texture, and that the Introduction of the breed
into this country would enable our woolen man
ufactories to produce broadcoths that would
compete successfully with the finest European
fabrics. Our farmers became excited. Henry
Clay was consulted, and he Immediately gave
the opinion that these sheep were exactly what
was required to enrich both our agriculturists
and our manufacturers. The mania spread it
self rapidly. The six sheep at Boston sold fo,
fifty dollars each; they cost, in Spain, about one
dollar. This marvellous profit famed the flame
of speculation, and it was not long before fleet
SET sail from our shores In pursuit of the golden
tleeces from Andalusa. In December, 1916
there were one thousand merino- sheep in the
United States, which were valued at twelve
hundred dollars the head In 1917 the i'm
portaton and the value increased. In the sum-
mer of that year select ewes were sold in New
England at fifteen hundred dollars and bucks
at two thousand!
By the close Of 1877 the speculation in New
England began to decline on account ofshe ex-
cessive portation; but it increased rapidly in
the western and southwestern States, and par
tcularly in Kentucky, in consequence of Mr..
Clays opinions. 1t is narrated that in August,
1877, Samuel Long, a contractor, living near
Ashland, paid eight thousand dollars for q me-
rino buck eve; and he believed that he had Sc
cured fortune by the purchase! Some of the
Oldest inhabitants may remember Sam'l Trotter,
who resided at that time in Lexington, reputed
the wealthiest man in Kentucky, and the con-
trolling manager of the branch of the United
States bank. He owned merinobuck and eve,
which Long was anxious to buy. Troter offer
ed to give Long the merinos if he would build
for him certain house upon certain site.
The offer was accepted. At an expense of
about fifteen thousand dollars, Long built and
finished a tourstory brick house, about fifty
feet by seventy, and delivered it to Trotter for
the two merno sheep! In six months from that
time the value of the mcrinos had fallen to
twenty dollars Long kept them until they had
fallen to the value of other sheep, when he kill
ed them, made a feast of the costly mutton,
summoned his friends and, like the ruined We
netan, thanked God that he was not worth
iucat! He died soon after of broken heart;
as did many others who had suffered from this;
,xtraordmryo ryomerino mania. - "
e lem nesrs4 are - d |ata r .Dss;ss oi e
,:oEders of fa1ee llhe fist aJeount we have
# ieis in letter Written bySaS Prince Chales dc
3ohan,' Geneva, April 25, 1884, and publish
ID in the French agricultural journals of that
period Rohan stated that he had in his pos
esslon two Of these remarkable potatoes, which
rom seed "under lock and key" hsd given
'im in exchange for some varieties of the cac-
us, (which he greatly desired" Rohan pub
ished startling stories of the character of this
'otato. To give an idea of its extraordinary
he says:-''A proprietor near
pplied to me for tubers, and ] gave him one
With four eyes, weighing less. than half an
unce. The product weighed forty eight and
quarter pounds Another proprietor to
'hom he gave two tubers, obtained from them
six double horse loads and eight scuttles full"
'hese marvellous reports were copied into the
English journals, and thence into our own
hey stirred great commotion among our
armers, who swallowed every newspaper state
1ent respecting this remarkable vegetable with
ntire credulity. The agricultural press fell
ITO the current and told great stories of its fe-
undity, economy and superiority as an article
f food. Even the Cultivator, our leading ag-
cultural paper, endorsed the story. In 1883
>ese potatoes sold at $3 per busbel; in 1889
ley went up to 500. Every farmer specula-
I'd in then-and during its brief day no potato
as a favorite but the coarse, yellow, and un-
ainly Rohan.
But it seems that the fools are not all dead
ct. We had forgotten the merino, and null
erry, and potato, and tulip manias, and have
lst recovered from the hen fever, when we be-
in to be excited by another agricultural mar
el. The Dioscoro batata, OF Chinese potato,
now stealing upon our credulity. A potato,
gain! And it comes to us from France-pro-
ic mother of vegetable humbugs! But, ae=
'rding to the biographies, France has acted
lly as the nurse Of the young esculent. Its
alive soil is said 10 be the towery land of the
lestials-the land of long-legged chickens,
arvellous lotions, tooth powders, and tree
IN. It is claimed that this root is cultivated
;tensiyely in China and Japan, and is the com
on food Of the teen,ng millions Of the east;
ID that it is perfectly hardy, very nutritious, {
id excessively prOductiye