The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-12-31
An American Parallel 10 The Tulip
Craze iii holland.
By Irving Iy. Townsend.

II conversaut With the history Of the
silk industry in America, are aware
that the tulip mania which ragged
II Holland nearly three hundred years
ago, had It's counterpart here two
hundred years later.
Five haadred dollars was often paid
for a bulb Of the Admiral Liefkens
or Of the Giouda variety, $1,000 TO
81, 2e0, for a VFicercy, and $1,000 for a
Semper. Augustus during the mania.
in 1854 the craze became SO great that
all usual Industries were abandoned.
A choice bulb sold for $500 in cash,
two horses, carriage and as set OF
harness, representing IN all $500.
Persons freQuently invested $50, ,0G0 IN
a few dozen bulbs with which to begin
business, mortgaging their houses or
giving personal property In exchange.
These extraordinary values checked
the cultivation Of tulips, as the bulbs
ceald be bought and at once sold at a
proit 50 SPECTATORS. Finally the real
tulip levers became disguised and IN
February, 1881. suddenly placed large
anaatities OF sshe most valuable Yarie-
ties zpon the market. This produced
an Immediate and disastrous decline
IN the price Of bnlbs. Without days
Warniag, thousands found themselves
ruined. Is was several years before
Holland overcame the effects Of this
strange mania.
Now comes the analogy. James ],
who almost iasaneiy hated tobacco,
was determined that silk worms should
! be rearedin Virginia, mainly because
he thought he could thus destroy the
tobacco culture, which he ordered to
be abandoned. Some silk was produced
and sent to England. The coronation
robe Of Charles Ii, was made from such
silk. During She next hundred years
there occasionally appeared waist
coat or Handkerchief of Colonial
delegate, made from homespun and
woye six, and sometimes grand ladies'
we're arrayed IN gowns OF natiye-groWn
silk. For time SILK culture met
with great success in Georgia. In l759,
80, coo pounds Of raw silk were thence
exported TO England. Connecticut
vas, however, the center OF the IN
dGs5ry. The Legislature offered q
bounty for planting trees. AS late as
1928 she culture of ST TX was very gen
eraI there and also foUrished in Mas
sachusetts. In Pennsylvania it was
undertaken ard continued with success
mt the Revolution.
Silk worms were fed on white null
berry Mosus alba antiI 1880, when
5here appeared ehe Chinese mulberry
or Morus multicaulis. DR.. Felix
Pascalis made known the remarkably
rapid growth and the supposed excel
lent Qualities Of the Tree, thus opening
this PandoFa,s BOX whence so many
evils escaped. It was predicted that
By It's cuIture two crops Of silk could
he raised annually. Lt had large,
thin, tender leaves; it could be pro-
pagated easily by cuttings and eul-
tiTatsd as a shrub and iii was claimed
shat It's leaves formed the most natFS-
tio1s food fer silk worms. Soon all
the agricultural literature and the
newspapers Of the counbry became
sGrfeised with description, Of this
wonderful tIee
AT this very Time Congress was con
sidering th,s subject OF silk culture.
In 1928 The country had imported
silk goods valued at $40, coo, 600, and
had exported breadgtudfs worth only
s.. 5.0o9, ,D00 This was considered an
alarming state Of affairs. Secretary
Rush OF tie Treasury was directed to
prepare manual on the growth and
manufaetlre Of silk. This was issued
1928 and known as the Rush Let
Cor. Many documents relating TO-
serieult1re were published By Congress.
Congressional committee recon-
nlended that all public lands be leased
gratnitously to those who would under
take the cultiVation OF the mulberry.
A bill barely failed Of passage that
authorized an expert TO instract the
farmers everywhere how to cultivate
the Morns muIticaulis. The Massa
chusetss Legislature ordered the prepa-
ration Of manual on silk culture which.
was verg potent IN fomeE3ing the craze.
The legislature of nearly every State.
provided for the payment Of liberal
bounties for planning mulberry trees
and raising cocooEs.
Thus it was thai specuiatiEe fUror,
"a Teritable madness, seized upon all
classes OF people, and ratrticularly-of
al men-apon the shrewt3, calculating
- 3G h56.F3 741IAC cA44
Not only agEiculturists, f0ut doctors of
divinity, law and medicine, scholars,
tradesmen and mechanics, men and
women, old and youag, were infested
With an insane passion to raise null
berry trees. Every one thought the
glorious day was dawning when each
farm would be anursery for the young
trees, and every house have its CO.
cooneries and its silk worms yielding
two or more crops of coeoons yearly.
The farmers wives and daughters,
when not feeding the worms, were to
reel the silk which would become as
cheap as cotton, every woman having
at least.a dozen silk dresses. a writer
of the day said, You can scarcely go
into house but you find the inmates
engaged in feeding worms.
The large profits anticipated in pro-
ducing silk we're Insignificant compared
With the fortunes that all expected to
make by raising the new mulberry
t rec. This was planted in close hills
or in hedges, it adorned highways, and
rarely was a garden or any cultivated