116 



THE GARDENERS MONTHLY 



[^April, 



French PirriN Apple. — Mr. Bnssett, Hum- 

 montun, N. J , says : — " I notice an item about 

 the French Pippin Apple. We had a French 

 Pippin in Massachusetts, ripening nearly with 

 the Porter and similar in shape, but tapering 

 less toward the blossom. It was an enormous 

 bearer and a very good apple. I have a tree of 

 it here just commencing to bear, and it promises 

 well. 



Thrips in a Cold Vinery.— T. S. G.,West Corn- 

 wall, writes : — " For the past two years my vines 



have sufTered much from the ravages of a little 

 lively insect which I suppose to bo Thrips. They 

 havenotshown themselves much until the latter 

 part of the season, when the presence of the 

 fruit forbids the use of anj' poisonous or oflTen- 

 sivp application. Hoav shall I destroy them ? 

 Will a safe fumigation with tobacco or sulphur 

 do it ? 



[Tobacco smoke is generally cfTectual. If one 

 dose is not sufficient repeat it. Sulphur in 

 "fumigation," is fatal to plants and insecta 

 alike.— Ed. G. M.] 



ATURAL MISTORY AND ffeCIENCE. 



COMMUNICA TIO^S. 



THE EFFECT OF FROST ON THE FRUIT OF 

 THE PERSIMMON. 



BY W. C. FLAGG, MORO, ILL. 



In your ever welcome magazine for March I 

 find a quotation from a correspondent of the 

 London Journal of Horticulture, in reference to 

 the popular belief that the Persimmon is rip- 

 ened by frost, which you quote, to say that you 

 thought "intelligent persons everywhere now 

 kneAv that it was not frost that gave sweetness to 

 the Persimmon, though it often helps the cause 

 that does." 



In that event I have not so high an opinion 

 of the knowledge of intelligent persons on the 

 Persimmon question, as yourself. Looking over 

 our botanists, they seem to all repeat the error. 



Darlington, in his " Weeds and Plants," fays 

 of it: "Soft and pulpy, after frost; sweet and 

 luscious after being subjected to the action of 

 frost." Wood, in his "Class Book of Botany," 

 says: "They are rendered sweet and palatable 

 by the frost." Gray, in his " Field, Garden and 

 Forest Botany," says : " Very acerb, but yellow, 

 sweet and eatable after frost." Fuller, in his 

 " Forest Trees," comes nearer the facts when he 

 Bays : " In its more northern limits it does not 

 ripen until frost (?) ; farther south it matures 

 before, consequently, it does not alwaj'S require 

 cold weather to make it eatable, as is sometimes 

 asserted." These are all intelligent men, but 

 most of them believe frost a necessary agent in 

 ripening, and Mr. Fuller makes only a partial 



denial. Bryant, in his "Forest Trees," says: 

 "The fruit is best if ripened before severe frosts 

 occur. Freezing removes the astringency, but 

 is not, as some suppose, necessary for complete 

 ripening. If the fruit has not reached a certain 

 stage of maturity before freezing, it is rendered 

 worthless." 



• This fruit appears to be a " huckleberry above 

 the Persimmon " of our standard botanists at 

 least, and Mr. Bryant alone to hold the "longest 

 pole that knocks down the Persimmons." I 

 think there is no present danger of excess of 

 information. 



I wish to raise the farther question — does frost 

 have any ameliorating effect, even on nearly 

 ripened fruit? I am inclined to think not, but 

 have made no experiments since I was a young- 

 ster, seeking practical results in eatable Persim- 

 mons. Judging from my remembrance of them, 

 frost simply hastened the dessication of tho 

 fruit, but did not have any other eflect. Per- 

 haps the ripening process went on to some ex- 

 tent, but this I should attribute to the heat of 

 the day, rather than the cold of the night. 



Can yourself, or any of your correspondents, 

 give any new, or 'old, facts as to the outdoor or 

 under-glass culture of the Japanese Persim- 

 mons? Can you inform me, also, what is the 

 edible value of the Diospyrus Texana, or Black 

 Persimmon of the Southwest? 



[Tliere seems to be no difference between our 

 views and those of the botanists quoted, except 

 in degree. If they were as good chemists as 



