1910. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
691 
LUTHER BURBANK COMES AGAIN,; 
But Not With That $10,000. 
Since the Carnegie Institute withdrew 
its support from Luther Burbank little 
has been heard from that gentleman. 
Mr. Burbank made the stupid bluff of 
saying he would give $10,000 to anvone 
who would prove that his “Wonder- 
berry” was a black nightshade. We 
called his bluff, and offered proof, but he 
has never come up to the rack. Now, 
however, he breaks out in a private letter 
printed, with his permission, in the Bos¬ 
ton Transcript. Out of the three columns 
of extravagant self-praise we select the 
following direct allusion to The R.- 
X. Y. and the Wonderberry: 
"Yes, there has been considerable dis¬ 
cussion about the Wonderberry. It all 
originated with the editor of the It—- 
X- Y-. lie has received letters 
from prominent seedsmen regarding that 
and other matters connected with my life 
work which he refuses to publish. 1 have 
learned from private sources, on good au¬ 
thority. that their subscribers have fallen 
off from their action in this matter, which 
was wholly personal and worthy only of a 
‘yellow journal’‘class of paper. They at¬ 
tacked the wrong man this time and have 
found it out to their sorrow, as I have not 
replied to them in any manner. 
No. Mr. Childs only paid me $300 for the 
complete control of the Wonderberry. I am 
told that he made something over $30,000 
from it last year. lie writes me that the 
sale is even greater this season. It is 
without question the best berry ever intro¬ 
duced to this world. . . . The Won¬ 
derberry has been examined by one of the 
best official English chemists, who pro¬ 
nounces it both in foliage and fruit—in 
fact, the whole plant—as being absolutely 
free from any poisonous principle what¬ 
ever." 
We have had the great pleasure of 
reading other private letters sent by Mr. 
Burbank to various people, in which we 
are called villains and other cheerful 
compliments. We will admit that Mr. 
Burbank can create language, whatever 
one can say of his plants. If the plants 
are no more true than his language the 
Carnegie Institute was very wise in call¬ 
ing in its $10,000. For example, in the 
statements printed above, Mr. Burbank 
gives three falsehoods and one half-truth. 
We specify them for his benefit. 
No. 1. The statement that we have re¬ 
fused to publish letters from prominent 
seedsmen about Burbank. We have 
never refused to publish any such letters. 
No. 2. The statement that “subscribers 
have fallen off from their action in this 
matter.” The past year was the most 
prosperous in the history of The R.- 
N. Y. We have over 10,000 more paid 
subscribers now than we had when this 
Wonderberry discussion started. For 
every person afflicted with Burbank- 
aphobia who left us at least 10 have 
come because of the position we took 
regarding the Wonderberry and its in¬ 
troduction. We know this because these 
people tell us so. 
No. 3. Is the silly statement that “I 
have not replied to them in any manner.” 
On page 653 of last year we printed a 
letter from Mr. Burbank which has been 
pronounced the most foolish and egotis¬ 
tical epistle ever written by a public man. 
No wonder Mr. Burbank wants to for¬ 
get it and deny it, but there it is in black 
and white. He even went so far as to 
tell us we must name the price we would 
pay him for stating what proof he de¬ 
manded on his silly bluff. We replied 
that he could deduct $1,000 from the 
$10,000 we considered that he owes us. 
The half-truth is his statement about 
the English chemist. The missing half 
which he conveniently leaves out is the 
report by Dr. Greshoff, the highest au¬ 
thority on vegetable poisons. The Kew 
Botanical Gardens sent Dr. Greshoff 
samples of Wonderberry. Garden huc¬ 
kleberry and wild black nightshade. 
After examination Dr. Greshoff report¬ 
ed : 
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 mawkish and 
disagreeable) and in chemical behavior. 
2 . They are all slightly poisonous, i. _e.. they 
contain somewhat the same principle as 
the leaves, which have often occasioned 
fatal cattle poisoning. 3. The most poison¬ 
ous is the Wonderberry from California, 
the least poisonous is the British variety. 
In hsemolytic power and saponin content 
the Wonderberry is twice as strong as the 
British fruit; the huckleberry from Can¬ 
ada is about the same as the last, but still 
more poisonous, say three grams of huckle¬ 
berry 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 
I‘t. 2 of my Description of Fish-Poison¬ 
ing Plants, ' Medcd. Uuitenzory. No. 29, 
1900. p. 114). T cannot recommend the use 
of thin fruit an food. Some day deadly re¬ 
sults trill follow. 
There they are—three falsehoods and 
one half-truth. A very good record for 
a “wizard.” In withdrawing its support 
the Carnegie people mentioned Mr. Bur¬ 
bank's “commercialism.” We understand 
that was a very polite way of suggesting 
a shorter word, “fake.” In the above 
statement Mr. Burbank does a very good 
; rh of hanging another tag on himself. 
EVENTS OF THE WEEK. 
DOMESTIC.-—May 5 an explosion in mine 
No. 3 of the Palos Coal and Coke Com¬ 
pany, 20 miles from Birmingham, Ala., en¬ 
tombed 45 white men and 90 negroes. The 
explosion is believed to have been caused 
by gas and dust. It happened at a time 
when employes were not supposed to be 
blasting in the mines. The explosion was 
of such terrific force that Samuel Goolsby, 
a justice of the peace and rural free de¬ 
livery carrier, walking on a railroad track 
200 yards from the mouth of the mine, 
was instantly killed, his body being burned 
almost to a crisp. The country for miles 
around was shaken by the explosion. The 
little mining village is in mourning. More 
than half of the male population is be¬ 
lieved to have perished. Coming so soon 
after the disaster in the Mulga mine of the 
Birmingham Coal and Coke Company, at 
Mulga, Ala., where 41 men lost their lives 
last month, the disaster has spread con¬ 
sternation in the mining villages in that 
section. Many miners who escaped the first 
disaster had come to Palos to work, and 
several of them lost their lives. Sixty- 
seven bodies had been taken out of the 
Palos mines May 8. An estimate is made 
that there are still 18 bodies, which will 
reduce the first accounts of the disaster to 
S5 in all. 
An explosion at Hull, Ont., May (5, in 
the works of the General Explosives Com¬ 
pany, caused the death of at least 10 per¬ 
sons and injured 21. Several others are 
missing and the list is likely to run up 
much higher. Hull is two miles from Otta¬ 
wa. The noise could be heard there very 
plainly and hundreds of plate-glass windows 
in Ottawa were broken. Twenty houses in 
Hull were wrecked. Practically every win¬ 
dow in Hull was broken, and glass was 
broken in every part of Ottawa, the principal 
business street being literally strewn with 
fragments of what had been plate-glass 
store fronts. Windows were blown out of 
tlie Canadian Parliament building, and liideau- 
Hall, the official residence of the Governor- 
General. which was only two miles from 
the. scene «of the explosion, lost practically 
all "of its windows, and two chimneys came 
down. Previous to the explosion, the work¬ 
shop of the factory caught, tire and the sight 
attracted a crowd of a thousand men and 
boys who had been watching a base-ball 
game in a field near by. Danger warnings 
were disregarded and the crowd stayed. Two 
explosions filled the air with flying stone. 
The walls of the factory were two feet 
thick, but they flew into the air, a mur¬ 
derous broadside of ragged rocks. Men and 
boys were mowed down as by a blast of 
artillery. Skulls were crushed, arms and 
legs broken, and the wounding was scat¬ 
tered over a quarter of a mile of ground. 
There were scores of remarkable scenes. 
Huge stones crashed into houses when the 
residents were at supper. Six dogs and a 
cow were struck with stones and instantly 
killed and a eat in a hou^e was cut in two 
by a huge boulder that just missed a 
woman. A bad lire followed the explosion. 
Hull has twice sought orders from the court 
for the removal of this industry, but the 
company was each time able to convince the 
court that its method provided absolute 
safety and that life was not menaced by 
its presence. The Quebec law requires ex¬ 
plosives to be made behind heavy walls, 
instead of the flimsy structures ordinarily 
employed in such works, and this largely 
accounts for the loss of life. The property 
damage is probably within $100,000. 
Lee O’Neill Browne, of Ottawa, Ill., 
Democratic leader in the Illinois House of 
Representatives, was indicted May 6 on a 
charge of bribery, and Representative Rob¬ 
ert E. Wilson, of Chicago, and Representa¬ 
tive Michael E. Link, of Mitchell, were in¬ 
dicted on charges of perjury by the Cook 
County -Special Grand Jury, which for a 
week lias been investigating the election 
on May 2G, 1909, of William Lorimer, of 
Chicago, to the United States Senate and 
other doings of the Legislature. The evi¬ 
dence on which the indictments were re¬ 
turned in Judge Kersten’s court was sup¬ 
plied by Representative Charles A. White, 
of O’Fallon and, Representative II. J. Eecke- 
meyer, of Carlisle. Wilson and Link, as 
well as White and Beckemeyer, are Demo¬ 
cratic members of the Legislature. The 
indictment against Browne is based on the 
charge that he gave Representative White 
$150 at a hotel in Chicago late in May, 
1909, as part compensation for White's vote 
for Lorimer for Senator. The perjury in¬ 
dictment against Link is based on his testi¬ 
mony given before the Grand Jury. Link 
is alleged to have sworn that lie was not in 
St. Louis on July 15, 1909. and that he did 
not there meet Representative Wilson. The 
jury declares that it finds that Link was 
in St. Louis on that date and did meet 
Wilson. It: further declares that Link wil¬ 
fully perjured himself after full realiza¬ 
tion of the value of his statements. 
FARM AND GARDEN.—Gov. Herbert S. 
Hadley was elected president of the National 
Farm Homes Association, a corporation or¬ 
ganized at St. Louis, Mo.. May 5, with 
$1,000,000 stock, of which $400,000 has been 
subscribed. The association's purpose is 
to lend money to back to the farm enthu¬ 
siasts with which to buy farms, the loans 
to be secured by liens on the land. Arch¬ 
bishop Glennon and Rabbi Harrison en¬ 
thusiastically supported the movement and 
were elected to the board of directors. Gif¬ 
ford Finchot and F. B. Tucker were elected 
vice-presidents: John G. Curran, secretary, 
and Walker Hill, a St. Louis banker, treas¬ 
urer. 
New York is to have a flower market 
similar to such markets in Covent Garden, 
London: Buffalo, Washington. Milwaukee, 
and other cities. This city has, in fact, 
been a great way behind foreign capitals, as 
well as American cities, in this matter. At 
present no market worthy of the name ex¬ 
ists here. Some of the plant growers and 
dealers have a temporary market on the 
old Clinton Market site for about three 
months in the Spring and Summer. The 
various booths are sheltered by a tent, which 
frequently blows down on windy days, and 
in general business there is carried on under 
difficulties. The new market is to be lo¬ 
cated under the appproach of the Queens- 
boro Bridge—the approval of the Bridge 
Commissioners having been obtained^—at 
First avenue, between 59tli and 60th streets. 
There is space there for the accommodation 
of hundreds of stands, and more than 100 
applications for places already have been 
received. A petition urging the flower mar¬ 
ket plan has been signed by representatives 
of the New York Florists’ Club, the New 
York Cut Flower Exchange, the Growers’ 
Cut Flower Company, the New Jersey Mar¬ 
ket Florists’ Association, besides 150 in¬ 
dividual flower growers and dealers. 
In an effort to prove that the farmer is 
not reaping the benefits of the high cost 
of foodstuffs, I’rof. John N. Shepperd. dean 
of the North Dakota Agricultural College 
at. Fargo, May 10, gave some expert testi¬ 
mony before the special investigating com¬ 
mittee of the Senate at. Washington. His 
figures were based upon a comparison of 
present-day values with 10 years ago. He 
admitted that land had increased in value 
150 per cent, and claimed that the pro¬ 
ducing capacity had decreased 20 per cent. 
The retail prices of agricultural machinery 
had advanced 19 per cent and labor 60 
per ent. As the price of labor advances, the 
efficiency decreases, he said. Prof. Shep¬ 
perd said that $1 wheat to-day was worth 
no more than 80-cent wheat was 10 years 
ago. 
OLEO INVESTIGATION.—The selling of 
oleomargarine as butter is not an offence 
under the internal revenue laws of this 
country, according to the testimony of the 
Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Royal 
E. Cabell May 5 before the House Commit¬ 
tee and Appropriations, at Washington. Mi - . 
Cabell told the committee that the oleo¬ 
margarine law had been held by the courts 
not to be a part of the internal revenue 
laws, but a law unto itself, thereby de¬ 
priving the internal revenue service of the 
summary rights and remedies, such as the 
right of search without a warrant of a 
place where oleomargarine not bearing the 
proper stamps, has been secreted. The right 
of tlie assessment of penalties for these vio¬ 
lations is also denied for the same reason. 
The commissioner told the committee tiiat 
the most flagrant form of violation of the 
oleomargarine law was the purchase of un¬ 
colored oleomargarine by dealers, its subse¬ 
quent coloring and wrapping in uncolored 
oleomargarine wrappers, and its sale as but¬ 
ter. When asked by Representative Tawney 
what there was under present conditions to 
prevent the sale of oleomargarine in butter 
firkins as butter, Mr. Cabell replied : “That 
is what we consider a weak point in the 
statute now.” In consequence of this testi¬ 
mony the House Committee on Appropria¬ 
tions will include in the sundry civil ap¬ 
propriation bill some new legislation de¬ 
signed to make the oleomargarine law ef¬ 
fective. This legislation will extend the 
summary rights and penalties of the reve¬ 
nue laws to oleomargarine. In the mean¬ 
time tlie oleomargarine manufacturers are 
trying to persuade the House Committee on 
Appropriations to report a bill repealing the 
oleomargarine law in its entirety. 
POLITICAL.-—The Senate May 4 passed 
the bill previously passed by the House di¬ 
recting the raising of the wreck of the 
battleship -Maine in the harbor of Havana 
and for the proper interment of the bodies 
of the men who perished at the time of the 
wreck in the National Cemetery at Arling¬ 
ton. Provision is also made for the erec¬ 
tion of a suitable foundation ip Arlington 
for tin' mast from the wreck; $100,000 is 
appropriated for the work. 
A candidate for tlie United States Senate 
can be voted upon in a primary election as 
a recommendation to the 'State Legislature, 
according to a decision rendered May 10 by 
Judge Babcock in Common l’leas Court, at 
Cleveland. O., who refused an application to 
restrain the placing of United States Sen¬ 
ator Charles Dick's name upon the primary 
ballot. 
The Republicans of the House, uniting for 
the first time this session, passed the Ad¬ 
ministration railroad bill May 10. The 
measure went through by a vote of 200 to 
126. The House bill goes to the Senate 
with a provision for the creation of a com¬ 
merce court. It contains a clause that 
prohibits the railroads from charging more 
for a short than for a long haul over the 
same line. It authorizes the committee to 
suspend rates upon complaint for a period 
of 120 days. It requires the railroad to 
route goods as indicated by shippers. It is 
made an offence for the railroads to give a 
false quotation in the matter of a rate. It 
authorizes a physical valuation of railroads. 
Telegraph and telephone companies are de¬ 
clared to be common carriers. It makes it 
unlawful for a railroad to raise rates with¬ 
out giving cause after a railroad has put a 
water line out of business by lowering rates. 
It extends the provisions of the law to water 
transportation in Hawaii. The bill pro¬ 
vides for governmental supervision over the 
issuance of railway stocks and bonds. 
Gov. Hughes, after a conference with 
legislative leaders, approved May 10 the 
Callan automobile bill as it will be after it 
has been amended to meet certain objec¬ 
tions of the Governor. The Callan bill has 
passed the Assembly. The Senate Commit¬ 
tee on Internal Affairs has amended the bill 
as suggested by Gov. Hughes, and it is slated 
to pass the Senate. This new law will bring 
additional revenue to the State each year 
of between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000. The 
bill provides that no person shall operate 
a motor vehicle who is under 18 years of 
age unless accompanied by a duly licensed 
chauffeur or the owner. The Secretary of 
State is to issue a certificate of registra¬ 
tion to each owner of a car and two num¬ 
ber plates without expense to the applicant. 
The new law is to take effect on August 
1 next, but applications for registration may 
bo made as soon as Gov. Hughes signs tlie 
law. Thereafter registration certificates 
will be issued each year in February. 
The Senate May 10 passed a resolution 
reported from the Committee on Post Offices 
and Post Roads by Senator Carter, direct¬ 
ing the committee to investigate and report 
to the Senate on alleged abuses of the frank¬ 
ing privilege and with special reference to 
the circulation through the mails under a 
congressional frank of a document of nearly 
500 pages entitled “The Story of the 
Tariff." There was no objection to the 
resolution directing the investigation. 
DEATH OF KING EDWARD.—Edward 
VII of England died at Buckingham Palace, 
London. May 6. King Edward was born 
at Buckingham Palace on November !), 1841, 
the second child and eldest son of Queen 
Victoria and Prince Albert. He at once 
inherited the title of Duke of Cornwall, 
and was a few days later created Prince 
of Wales. 11" left England in 1860 and 
first went to Canada. He was then the 
representative of the Queen, and was in¬ 
trusted by her with the duty of returning 
her thanks for the assistance which the 
Canadians had afforded to the mother coun¬ 
try in the Crimean war. He stayed at 
Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, and 
was present when Blondin, the tight-rope 
walker, performed the spectacular feat of 
carrying a man across tlie Falls of Niag¬ 
ara. At Detroit the Prince entered the 
United States, dropping for a time his royal 
state and traveling as Lord Renfrew. He 
first visited the Middle West, seeing in turn 
Chicago, St. Louis. Cincinnati. Pittsburg, 
and then went to Baltimore. In Washing¬ 
ton he was the guest at the White House 
of President Buchanan. On March 10. 1863, 
tlie Prince was married, at St. George's 
Chapel. Windsor Castle, to her Royal High¬ 
ness Alexandra of Denmark, who survives 
him. He is succeeded by His second and 
only surviving son, and leaves three (laugh¬ 
ters, the Duchess of Fife, the Queen of 
Norway, and Princess Victoria, unmarried. 
He succeeded his mother, Queen Victoria, 
in January, 1901. llis reign lias been mark¬ 
ed by increasing cordiality in the relations 
of Great Britain with other European na¬ 
tions. and he lias shown groat diplomatic 
ability in reconciling prejudices and dis¬ 
agreements between nations. His influence 
in European politics has earned him tlie 
title of "Edward tlie Peace-maker,” and he 
has also shown marked friendship for Amer¬ 
ica. His successor. George V., was trained 
for the navy, and has traveled extensively. 
He was born in London in 1865, and mar¬ 
ried in 1893 to his second cousin, Princess 
Victoria Mary of Teck, who is also Eng¬ 
lish by birth. They have five sons and one 
daughter. The new sovereign has taken 
little part in public affairs so far, and is a 
somewhat reserved man of domestic tastes. 
While tlie death of King Edward is re¬ 
garded by ail classes as a national calam¬ 
ity, it has already modified the bitterness 
of domestic politics in Great Britain, and 
it is not believed that there will be a dis¬ 
solution of the present Parliament this year. 
The new Queen will be designated as Queen 
Mary, in accordance with tlie wish of the 
late King, while the widowed Queen Alex¬ 
andra will be entitled the Queen Mother, a 
title which has not been used in England 
since the days of Henrietta Maria, wife of 
Charles I. 
SHORT PACKAGE LAW. 
Last year the New York Legislature 
amended the berry basket law so that it 
is now unlawful to offer small fruits in 
short packages, even though they are 
marked "short.” Following is the text of 
the law in effect October 1, 1909 : 
Section 5 : The standard of measure for 
buying and selling strawberries, raspberries, 
blackberries, currants, gooseberries, plums, 
cherries, cranberries and other small fruits 
shall be the quart, which shall contain 
when even full. 67 2/10 cubic inches: the 
pint, which when even full shall contain 
33 6/10 cubic inches; the half pint, which 
when even full shall contain 16 8/10 cubic 
inches; multiples of the quart, which when 
even full shall contain like multiples of 
67 2/10 cubic inches. 
Section 391. Any person in this State 
who sells or offers for sale fruit packages 
that are of less than the standard sizes 
and capacity as defined in section 5, or 
any person who sells or offers for sale fruit 
in packages that are of less size or ca¬ 
pacity than those defined in section 5, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor 
and upon conviction thereof in any court 
of competent jurisdiction shall be fined not 
less than. $5 and not more than $25, for 
each violation and each sale shall con¬ 
stitute a separate violation, but a varia¬ 
tion of not more than seven per centum 
shall not be deemed a violation under this 
section. (Article 26 , Section 391, as amended 
by laws of 1909 : in effect October 1. 1909.) 
With regard to this law and the measures 
he is taking to enforce it. Dr. Reichmann, 
State Superintendent of Weights and Meas¬ 
ures, says: 
“The State statute relating to berry 
boxes clearly states that such boxes must 
be a quart, pint or half pint dry measure, 
and that a variation of 7 per cant is al¬ 
lowed. The violations in relation to these 
boxes at present are on boxes coming from 
the South, as all the berries now coming into 
market are from outside of this State. To 
enforce this law I am having some of the 
inspectors watch the berry boxes as they 
are being received early in the morning and 
also testing the berry boxes at: the stands 
where they are being sold. This law was 
given all possible publicity last Summer and 
last Fall, and there is really no excuse why 
short baskets should be received. In the 
past few weeks there have been a few 
arrests and a few convictions on selling 
berries in boxes which were less than the 
legal size. I have sent out a letter to all 
of the sealers of weights and measures ask¬ 
ing them to keep close watch upon the 
berry boxes, and I fully expect to keep a 
close watch on the berry boxes throughout 
the whole Spring and * Summer. At the 
same time, I am strongly urging the pas¬ 
sage of the berry l>ox law similar to the„ 
one introduced by Senator Lodge in Con¬ 
gress. though I do not agree with all the 
details and provisions of that bill, so that 
the berry boxes throughout the whole coun¬ 
try will practically be the same, then those 
who ship berries into this State from other 
States which are not up to standard size 
can be prosecuted under the Federal 
statute.” F. REICHMANN. 
Superintendent. 
CROP NOTES. 
With potatoes 18 cents per bushel and 
draw them six miles at that, I cannot see 
where the farmers are getting very rich. 
Brandon, Vt. a. .r. 
Oats and barley are all in, and nearly 
all stock looks fine. Hogs scarce, Spring 
pigs not very plentiful. a. a. w. 
Durant, Mich. 
Very dry here; wheat crop gone, and 
fruit crop frozen. There will not be more 
than 15 per cent of a crop. J. f. f. 
Wichita, Kan. 
Wheat here badly winter-killed and full 
of Hessian fly: will be about one-half 
average crop. Wheat and 'corn main crops 
here. Ground working fine. it. o. 
Bluffs, 111. 
We had lots of apple bloom, but tha 
fruit did not set, and now tlie apples are 
few and far between. It takes lots of 
faith to spray large trees that are entirely 
lacking in apples. samuel s. guerrant. 
Virginia. 
We are having a very cool spell here 
now - after a hot one. In fact, the lasH 
two nights (May 6) there has been sji 
slight frost. So far as I am aware from 
incomplete reports, our prospects are very 
good, with one exception. The Winesapsj 
are said to have fallen off very heavily. 
Peaches, cherries and other stone fruits! 
are a very heavy crop. Our strawberries, 
which are" now beginning to get ripe, will 
l>e a very heavy crop. Of course, there may 
be further change in the form of probably 
falling this month, but I think the above 
will give you the present conditions. 
WALTER WHATEI.Y, 1| 
Sec. Va. Horticultural Society, it 
