The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1909-08-05
THE WONDERBERRY
Continued from Page !.

After examining the seeds of
the plant, and looking up the his
tory of It's parents, The Garden
ers Chronicle, an English publ
cation, concluded that the won
derberry was practically the
same thing as the nigntshade,
which in England is a poisonous
plant. To a correspondent who
wrote direct to Luther Burbank
about this Mr.. Burbank repli ed,
making an offer of $4,000 to any
one who can prove that the won
derberry is either the black
nightshade or is Identical with
any previously known berry.
Communication with Mr.. Bur-
bank elected letter, parts of
which are as follows:
"Having no personal or fnan-
cial interest in the sunberry. or
'wonderberry.' as it has been re-
christened by it's purchaser and
introducer, would refer you to
my own statement of the origin
of the sunberry. AS to it's abso-
lutely unique character you per-
haps can be further informed by
those who know it little better
than you do. .....
"Perhaps, also, you may OBJ
tain some further information,
which you evidently need, from
some of those who have seen the
plants growing on a large scale
during the past three years, and
who have eaten the fruit fresh,
and canned or in sauces, pies,
and in all other ways in which
the Vaccinium pennsylvanicum
is used; but the verdict is final.
and the editor of The Rural New
Yorker will be obliged to accept
it. fortunately, the sunberry,
like corn and cucum bers, can be
tested in single season, while
the value of fruit-trees can be
obtained only by long and extern
sive trials.
The Rural New Yorker. how
ever, is after Mr.. Burbank's
$4,000, in the possession of
which, apparently, the question
of edibility is not involved. but
only that of identity with the
black nightshade or some other
existing berry. On this point
the editor proceeds to give
botanical testimony. DR.. N. L.
Britton, of the New York Botan-
ical Garden. says of Mr.. Bur
banks production:
"Of course, it is Solanum, of
the affinity of Solanum nigrum,
the black nightshade or garden
nightshade, which runs into a
very great number of races in
nature. a good many Of which
have been regarded as species
by different botanical authors.
Solanum villosum is one IF the
best marked of these races, and
may, perhaps, be better regard
ed as a species than as race or
variety"
DR.. Chaales F. Wheeler, of the
United States Department of
Agriculture. is quoted as writing
on the same subject:
SIN regard to the question of
the identity of the so-called won
derberry. said to have been pro-
duced or originated by Mr.. Bur-
bank. Il can say thai I have
carefully examined the plants
growing here and cannot sepa-
rate them from the plant named
by Linnaeus Solanum nigrum
black nightshade]"
Prof. L. G. Corbett, of the
Government Testing Gardens at
Arlington, gives itas his opinion
that the wonderberry is identical
with a plant that has been known
and sold for years as the garden
huckleberry"; and E. G..
Matthews, who has grown the
new Burbank berry in Mexico,
states his belief that it is simply
the black nightshade and moth
ing else. Entirely by the way,
The Rural New Yorker mentions
that the berries grown on it's
own specimen, shave been sam