113 
1910. 
JOHN LEWIS CHILDS AND WONDER-] 
BERRY. 
The following letter was received 
from Mr. Childs: 
Fditor Tiie Rural New-Yorker, New York, 
N.' Y. 
Dear Sir :—Your persistence in publishing 
evervthing bad you possibly can regarding 
the Wonderberry, and nothing good (of 
which we are told you have received many 
reliable reports), leads me to submit to 
vou the enclosed communication for pub¬ 
lication, if vou desire to be fair and square 
enough in the matter to publish it. You 
have repeatedly charged that the Wonder- 
berry was poisonous. This has been con¬ 
tradicted all over the world by people who 
have grown the fruit and eaten it. and by 
chemists who have analyzed it. The en¬ 
closed communication and analysis come to 
me entirely unsolicited. 
Yours very truly, 
JOHN LEWIS CHILDS. 
Here are the communications to which 
Mr. Childs refers: 
Town Clerk’s Office, Warrington, England. 
29tli December, 1909. 
Dear Sir :—Having regard to the conflict¬ 
ing statements with reference to the value 
of the “Wonderberry,” I submitted both 
the fruit and the leaves from plants which 
1 raised from seed purchased from you last 
year to our public analyst, and herewith 
enclose you his report, which I have no 
doubt you will consider satisfactory. I 
have sent copies of the report to several 
gardening papers here. 
Yours faithfully, 
(Signed) j. lyon whittle. 
Laboratory and Assay Office, 
Corporation Street Chambers, 
Warrington (England). 
29th November, 1909. 
J. Lyon Whittle, Esq., Warrington, Eng¬ 
land. 
Dear Mr. Whittle I have now finished 
a very exhaustive analysis for poisonous 
alkaloids of the “Wonderberries” received 
from you. The leaves and fruit resemble 
in appearance the Atropa Belladonna, or 
deadly nightshade, and evidently belong to 
the species Solatium. In all parts of the 
various common varieties of this species 
poisonous alkaloids have been found, the 
most important of which are atropine and 
solanine. The leaf of belladonna being rich¬ 
est in alkaloid, varying from .3 to .9 per 
cent, I have analyzed both the leaves and 
fruit of this sample of “Wonderberries.” 
making a special search for the alkaloids, 
atropine and solan ine contained in some 
members of this species. I am of opinion 
that neither solanine, atropine or other 
poisonous alkaloid is present in either the 
leaves or fruit of this sample of “Wonder¬ 
berries” grown by you. 
Yours faithfully. 
(Signed) fred’ic g. ruddock, f. i. c. 
We hope Mr. Childs is now convinced 
that we are willing to be “fair and 
square.” We do not doubt the state¬ 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
ment of Prof. Ruddock, but it simply 
shows that this one sample of Wonder¬ 
berry contained no poison. It has been 
pointed out repeatedly that these Sola- 
nums vary greatly in their ability or 
habit of secreting poisons, and that is 
where the danger comes in. 
The Kew Botanical Gardens in Lon¬ 
don decided that the Wonderberry is 
the old black nightshade. To make 
doubly sure they sent to the noted spe¬ 
cialist, Dr. Greshoff of Holland, samples 
of the wild British black nightshade, 
the garden huckleberry from Canada 
and the Wonderberry grown from 
seeds sold by John Lewis Childs. The 
Curator of the Kew Gardens, Mr. W. 
Watson, sends us the following copy of 
Dr. Greshoff’s report of the analysis: 
I have carefully examined the three va¬ 
rieties of fruits of Solanum nigrum you 
have sent to me. This plant is very vari¬ 
able, not only in form but in toxicity, and 
the poison contained in the plant (solanin) 
is not always distributed in the same man¬ 
ner; sometimes the leaves are the most 
poisonous part, and sometimes the berries. 
In Europe fatal results are rare, because 
here the leaves are much more poisonous 
than the berries, which, as a rule, contain 
only traces of solanin. In the wild plants 
in this neighborhood the leaves are six 
times as poisonous as the ripe berries. 
Nevertheless the fruits are dangerous if 
taken in quantity or by feeble children. 
In analyzing the three kinds, taking for 
comparison of the toxicity (poisonous prop¬ 
erties), the blood dissolving (haemolytic) 
power of an infusion and its amount of 
saponin, I have found the following: 1. 
The three forms of fruits differ in size, 
but not in taste (I think they taste mawk¬ 
ish and disagreeable) and in chemical be¬ 
havior. 2. They are all slightly poisonous. 
i. e., they contain somewhat the same prin¬ 
ciple as the leaves, which have oflen occa¬ 
sioned fatal cattle poisoning. 3. The most 
poisonous is the Wonderberry from Cali¬ 
fornia, the least poisonous is the British 
variety. In hmmolytic power and saponin 
content the Wonderberry is ttciee as strong 
as the British fruit: the huckleberry from 
Canada is about the same as the last, but 
still more poisonous, say three grams of 
huckleberry will do the same harm as four 
grams of the British form. 
Considering the literature of Solanum ni¬ 
grum poisoning of men and animals (vide 
Dt. 2 of my Description of Fish-Poison¬ 
ing Plants, Aleded. Buitenzorg, No. 29, 
1900, p. 114), I cannot recommend 5 the use 
of this frail as food. Some dag deadly re¬ 
sults will follow. It is true that tomatoes 
are not so very far from nightshade 
fruits, but they have been rendered innocu¬ 
ous by long cultivation, although unripe 
or unsound tomatoes are slightly poisonous 
and prove so from time to time 1 
In the face of that what becomes of 
Mr. Childs’ claim? He might find 1,000 
plants free from poison, yet if it were 
found in one there would be proof 
of the dangerous tendency of the plant. 
Let us point out what we mean by 
analogy. Suppose Mr. Burbank claimed 
to effect a cross between a wildcat and 
a Canada lynx. He might claim that 
the resulting animal, unlike its wild 
parenis, had a most “delicious” disposi¬ 
tion and was the best house pet ever 
known. Suppose, further, that John 
Lewis Childs bought the stock of this 
animal and introduced it as the “Won- 
derbeast,” blowing the usual amount of 
hot air into Mr. Burbank’s claims. As 
people shied at that wildcat ancestor, 
let us suppose that Mr. Childs employs 
a learned scientist to prove the “Won- 
derbeast” is not a wildcat. This man 
does what he can to make his cat angry, 
but never a scratch will the beast put 
up. Therefore Mr. Childs claims that 
his “Wonderbeast” is unscratchable and 
entirely harmless. While he is shout¬ 
ing up comes a child with its eye 
scratched out by another “Wonder- 
beast!” We put it to Mr. Childs and 
ask him which he thinks offers the more 
conclusive evidence as to the danger 
from that animal. Dr. Greshoff found 
poison in the Wonderberry. His 
prophecy is: “Some day dangerous re¬ 
sults will follozv.” Is John _ Lewis 
Childs still willing to take the risk? 
THE MILK INQUIRY.—Up-State milk 
producers testified January 13 at the open¬ 
ing of a three days' sitting before the spe¬ 
cial deputy attorney-general, J. C. Coleman, 
who is conducting an inquiry into the milk 
dealers’ combine and the high price of milk, 
especially in New York city. Isaac Magoon 
of Addison, the principal witness of the 
morning, testified that the farmers in his 
vicinity found it to their advantage to man¬ 
ufacture and sell cheese rather than sell 
the milk, which could not be produced for 
less than three cents per quart. The milk, 
he said, was taken by the farmers direct to 
neighboring cheese factories. Figures were 
given by Mr. Magoon relative to the cost of 
keeping fifty head of cattle at the present 
prices of feed, upon which he based his de¬ 
duction of a cost of three cents per quart 
for milk. It was the opinion of the wit¬ 
nesses that the dairymen received only from 
2% to 3% cents per quart for their milk, 
and that there was little profit for them. 
The milk, they said, was sold to middlemen 
and wholesalers, who shipped it to New 
York, evidently making substantial profits, 
in view of the fact that nine cents per quart 
was charged to consumers. G. M. Brown of 
Hinsdale, Columbia County, another milk 
producer, was the second witness, and was 
followed by dairymen from Allegany. Otsego, 
Broome, Chemung and Tioga counties. The 
consensus of the witnesses was that the 
dairymen got. only from 2% to 3% cents a 
quart for their milk and that the margin 
of profit to them was practically nothing. 
The milk was sold to middlemen and whole¬ 
salers who did the shipping to New York, 
and the producers thought considerable 
profit might go to the middlemen in view 
of the selling price of nine cents a quart to 
consumers in New York. It was elicited 
from witnesses that the cost of production 
in the farming districts tributary to Nor¬ 
wich and to Goshen averaged each farmer 
about 3 1-3 cents and that other elements 
of cost, including labor, added to the total 
so as to bring the production price up to 
3% cents. The average selling price is 3Vz 
cents, so that there is no margin left the 
farmer. Usually the farmer gets three cents 
for milk except during the few Winter 
months, when he gets four cents. Witnesses 
told the referee without exception that they 
believed there was a combine of milk deal¬ 
ers in New York. They declared that the 
only market they had for milk was through 
the Consolidated Milk Exchange and that 
they must accept the price fixed by the ex¬ 
change from month to month for milk or 
spill the milk on the ground, there bc'lng 
no other outlet. The Borden Milk Company, 
it was declared, fixed the contract price that 
they would hold to on January 1 for the 
ensuing six months. Dean Herbert E. Cook 
of St. Lawrence Agricultural College at. Can¬ 
ton was the principal witness January 14. 
He ventured no opinion as to whether there 
was a combination to control the price of 
milk. Dean Cook said that nobody could 
tell definitely what it cost to produce milk, 
as it was a by-product, and various things 
had to be taken into consideration in de¬ 
termining its cost. He believed the farmer 
made a fair profit. The railroad rates for- 
transporting milk were rather high, he be¬ 
lieved, and the value of milk as a food in 
the home underestimated. Several farmers 
and dairymen again testified along the line 
of the witnesses examined January 13; 
namely, that the producers were not getting 
a fair return, but that the big profits were 
secured by the middlemen. 
Harry Vail, a farmer of New Milford, 
testified at the New York inquiry January 
17, that he had produced in the last year 
44,000 quarts of milk. Vail was asked if he 
had with him any exact figures showing 
what it cost him to produce his milk and 
what he received. He produced a list of 
bills paid by him for the month of Decem¬ 
ber, 1909, amounting to $408.SI, which he 
said was the cost of producing in that 
month. “What did you get in return for 
your milk that month?” asked Mr. Coleman 
The witness handed over a check from the 
Borden Company for $339.44. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—J. C. Barnett of 
Canton, Miss., a graduate of the MissisippI 
Agricultural and Mechanical College, has 
been notified of his appointment as adviser 
in the Department of Agriculture in Siam. 
For the next two years he will be stationed 
at Bangkok. 
Commissioner Whipple of the Forest. Fish 
and Game Department, in his annual report 
to the Legislature of New- York State, made 
January 5, among other recommendations, 
advises the passage of a law whereby land 
dedicated to tree growing and planted with 
trees be relieved from increased taxation for 
thirty years. The passage of such a law, in 
every State, would quickly solve the prob¬ 
lem of forestation. 
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SPECIAL IMPORTERS 
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GREAT 
WESTERN 
This picture shows the front end of the GREAT WESTERN Manure Spreader. 
It looks good, doesn’t it ? 
Let's begin at the bottom and tell you more about GREAT WESTERN construction:— 
The front axle is made of cold-rolled steel shafting. Mounted on this is a big, heavy, OAK 
axle cap, damped on with EIVE clips. Above the axle cap is securely bolted a great, big, strong, 
16-inch MALLEABLE circle, or tifth-wheel, braced front and back with MALLEABLE braces. Theso 
braces are bolted solidly to the axle cap and take in the steel axle as well. This makes the front 
end of a Great Western so strong that you can put on the largest load of wet, heavy manure, and 
hitch on as many horses as you wish. WE GUARANTEE you can’t pull the front end out or break it. 
On top of this big 16-ineh fifth-wheel, you will see two short OAK braces, and bolted on to 
them are the two big, heavy, 3x5-ineh OAK BOLSTERS. 
The big, strong Iron brackets on each end of the bolsters weigh 25 pounds each, and the con¬ 
nection with the sills or frame is SOLID. 
The Great Western has the only automatic oscillating fifth-wheel made. If one front wheel 
drops into a hole or a dead furrow, it opens up just like a spring wagon and the body is not twisted 
out of shape. You can see that this twisting of the frame, going over rough ground, makes the 
manure bind on the sides of the bed. That means heavy draught. 
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 
The FRONT END of the manure spreader is a VERY important part of the machine, because 
you pull from it. The spreader always carries a heavy load, and you need the BEST material and 
STRENGTH in spreading manure on frozen ground, in corn stubble, going across dead furrows, 
etc. It NEEDS great strength, doesn’t It? 
LET US REPEAT—with the GREAT WESTERN construction you can’t put horses enough on 
or load enough on to pull the front end out or break it. 
please REMEMBER that every stick of wood shown in the above picture is OAK. and that 
the 16-lnch fifth-wheel and all braces and clips are the best MALLEABLE—and NOT cast Iron. 
The Great Western Is the “World's Best’’ today, and all we ask Is that you make comparisons, 
investigate and THINK before buying. Breakdowns with a manure spreader are expensive and 
dangerous to both the man and team, so you want to buy quality. 
BECAUSE of the great strength and proved superiority of the GREAT WESTERN Spreader; 
because it stands head and shoulders aboveall cheap imitations and light machines on the market. 
We Guarantee Every Great Western Manure Spreader to Have 
50 per cent less breakage 50 per cent more strength 
More Oak, Hickory, malleable and high-grade steel; 50 per cent more wear and service than any 
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It's true, that a high-grade machine, like the GREAT WESTERN, built out of the very best 
material that money can buy, cost more to start with, but it's by far the cheapest in the end. 
Don't let anyone sell you something that they say is just as good, and charge you as much as you 
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know for yourself whafrevery part is made of. Take your knife and see that the timber is OAK; 
take your rule and measure the parts; take a sledgehammer and pound the fifth-wheel. It pays 
big to buy the best. 
If you are interested in increasing your crops and building up your farm, please write us to 
our nearest office for our large free Art Catalogue No. D5U . We will gladly post you oil what to 
look for, and what construction means in a manure spreader. 
Smith Mfg. Co., 158 E. Harrison St., Chicago 
Minneapolis, Minn. Omaha, Neb. Kansas City, Mo. 
Colambus, 0. Indianapolis, Ind. 
GREAT WESTERN 
GREAT WESTERN 
