THE SUNBERRY 289 



my consent and much against my wishes the 

 "Wonderberry." 



For the supposititious case that I have just 

 outlined really summarizes the facts as to the pro- 

 duction and introduction and traduction of that 

 fruit. 



The Sunberry, far from being merely a 

 familiar form of Solanum introduced under a 

 new name, as some ignorant and misguided 

 critics have alleged, is in reality the product of 

 one of the longest and most persistent series of 

 experimental hybridizations, culminating in the 

 blending of two specific plant strains that had 

 seemed to be antagonistic beyond the possibility 

 of amalgamation. 



The parent plants themselves, though they 

 no doubt belonged to a poison-bearing family, 

 like the egg plant, tomato, pepper, were not 

 in themselves poisonous. And the fruit of 

 their hybrid progeny is not only palatable 

 in high degree, but altogether wholesome, as 

 thousands who have eaten it habitually could 

 testify. 



Let me quote a paragraph from a letter re- 

 cently received, by way of substantiation, and 

 then let me turn from this controversial aspect 

 of the subject to consider the story of the Sun- 

 berry itself: 



10 Vol. 4 Bur. 



