1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



58g 



proof. A litrht frost improves the fruit. Packet, 100 

 seeds, 10 cts. Miss Mahy E. Martin. 



Floral Park, New York. 



The fruit itself is insect-proof, so far as I 

 know; but the leaves of the plant are not so 

 by any means. Miss Martin does not claim 

 any thing for the fruit, as you will see, ex- 

 cept when it is cooked; and, so far as I can 

 see, her claims are not extravagant. The 

 seed was labeled, as you will notice, Solarium 

 nigrum; and if I am correct the wonderberry 

 is also Solanum nigrum. This being true, 

 even if it is a good fruit for sauce and pies, 

 where does the outcome place Childs and 

 Burbank?* To settle the matter, the Rural 

 New- Yorker has appealed to the best author- 

 ity in our land, and the following is the final 

 sentence of the reply: 



United States Department of Agriculture. 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, 



Washington, D. C. 

 Office of Chief of Bureau. 

 Mr. H. \V. CoUinswood, Editor Rural New - Yorker, New 

 York City. N. Y. 

 Dear Mr. Collinswood:—! regard the wonderberry 

 and garden huckleberry as variants or horticultural 

 varieties of the black nightshade, or Solanum nigrum, 

 and as such may have some value in the dry hot sec- 

 tions of the Southwest, where, 1 am informed, identi- 

 cal forms have been grown in back yards and gardens 

 for years. Very sincerely, 

 Aug. 18. B. T. Gallwav. 



the wonderberry— still more in favor of it. 



From the seed received from Childs I raised about a 

 hundred plants, of which I transplanted about thirty; 

 and if I had had more room I would have planted still 

 more. About the middle of July some of the berries 

 began to ripen to a dark-blue color, the size of a nice 

 large currant, and from three to six berries to the 

 bunch. When I picked the first berries they were in 

 full bloom; and as I write they are stiU in bloom, so 

 that they are really ripening and blooming right 

 along; and as for profit, I don't think there is another 

 berry grown that can come up to its standard, for it is 

 continually hanging full of berries. I have up to this 

 time picked about 30 quarts, and can pick a great many 

 more before hard frost kills them. 



When raw they resemble in taste the elderberry 

 somewhat, but are not so coarse-seeded; in fact, one 

 will hardly notice the seeds at all. For canning, pre- 

 serving, and pies, they are excellent, finely flavored, 

 and can not be surpassed by any other berry. They 

 contain hardly any acid, and consequently are a sav- 

 ing in sugar, for this berry does not need nearly as 

 much as other berries to sweeten them. Profitable? 

 Why, if I had one acre of these berries I could realize 

 more from them than from any other; and I am posi- 

 tive that, if once introduced on the market, there 

 would be a larger demand for these than for any other 

 kind. Think how many plants would grow on one 

 acre in rows three feet apart, the plants two feet apart, 

 and then over one quart per plant, as mine turned out. 

 Another advantage in its favor is that they do not re- 

 quire to be planted on rich soil, for they do the best on 

 poor soil, the same as tomatoes. And still one more 

 advantage is that, after being picked, they can be kept 

 in crates or baskets for a week without spoiling. Do 

 it with any other berry if you can. 



Sandusky, O., Sept. 5. Wm. F. Daniel. 



* Please notice that friend Phelps, in our first letter, 

 calls his berry the wonderberry. and the berries he 

 sent me in the box were genuine wonderberries, with- 

 out question; but they are so slightly different from 

 the wild nightshade that I was unable to detect any 

 difference whatever. And notice again that John 

 Nydegger, in the next letter, also calls them wonder- 

 berry; but the berries he sent were nearly if not quite 

 twice a large, and I think, too, all will agree with me 

 that the berries growing at the Soldiers' Home, as he 

 mentions, were genuine ^orc/crj huckleberries. I do not 

 think there can be any mistake about it. This being 

 true, it seems that we have abundant proof that Childs 

 sent out garden huckleberries when he received 

 orders for wonderberries; and he did a good thing, 

 for, as the Rural states, it is much the better fruit of 

 the two; and yet Childs declares he has had no ifarden 

 huckleberries on his place for years. 



Poultry 

 Department 



By a. I. Root. 



THREE HUNDRED EGGS A YEAR FROM EACH 

 HEN; ONLY HALF THE FEED REQUIRED FOR 

 LEGHORNS; PULLETS SOMETIMES COM- 

 MENCE TO LAY WHEN 3>^ MONTHS 

 OLD. 



One of the readers of Gleanings recently 

 sent me an advertisement that he says he 

 clipped from the paper I have so strongly 

 indorsed (because it sliows up humbugs), 

 and asks me what I think of it. Below is 

 the advertisement, which appeared in the 

 Rural New - Yorker: 



BUTTERCUPS.— The new breed. Record— 300 eggs 

 per year. Circulars and prices sent with pleasure. J. 

 S. DUMARESQ iCato's Hall), Easton, Md. 



When I wrote to Mr. Collingwood in regard 

 to it he replied as follows: 



Dear Friend Root: — As to these Buttercups, I did not 

 like to run the advertisement, as it seems like a great 

 story; yet the son of the woman who owns the farm 

 came here, and was so evidently honest, and showed 

 such strong statements and letters about the hens, 

 that we let it go. From what this man could tell me I 

 judged that the hens are some well-selected strain of 

 Hamburgs or some similar breed. I believe they are 

 good ones, though the 300-egg yield is so far ahead of 

 any thing we can make our Hope Farm hens do that 

 I know not what to say. H. W. Collingwood. 



New York, August 12. 



By writing for particulars I got a little cir- 

 cular from Mrs. Dumaresq. The circular 

 states that the Buttercups were brought from 

 the island of Sicily by tne captain of a vessel 

 who bought them to take the place of meat 

 on board his ship; but they laid so many eggs 

 (and kept right at it), that he did not have 

 the heart to take their heads off, and so he 

 brought them home. I think the woman 

 who advertises them fully believes that they 

 will lay 300 eggs in a year; but I can not 

 learn that she has ever made an actual test 

 with trap nest or otherwise. I should say it 

 is almost impossible that all she claims for 

 the Buttercups is true. For instance, in ad- 

 dition to the great number of eggs, we have 

 this statement : 



It does net require any more feed to keep in good 

 condition twenty-five Buttercups than it does a dozen 

 Leghorns, and if given free range they require no feed- 

 ing except during winter months. 



Now, added to the above we are told 

 that pullets have commenced laying when 

 only three and a half months old. The great 

 oint is that they excel every thing else 

 <nown for eggs. While they are excellent 

 for broilers they are not recommended for 

 roasters. I am glad they do not claim every 

 thing for them. 



Well, I have given you the above as a text 

 for a little sermon. Things of this kind are 

 constantly coming up — new plants that will 

 do wonderful things, as well as new animals; 

 and hundreds and thousands who enjoy 

 testing novelties rush off their money. I do 

 not know that I blame friend Collingwood for 

 accepting such an advertisement. We often 



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