Hume: Planting Persimmons 



137 



Phelps. Under some conditions some 

 of these same varieties may produce 

 them. 



CONFUSION in names. 



It must be remembered, too, that 

 there is much confusion in the names of 

 varieties of D. Kaki dating back to the 

 time of their introduction into America. 

 The older varieties mentioned have been 

 under observation for many years and 

 are believed to be correctly named. 

 Particular reference must be made to 

 Tanenashi, a normally seedless variety 

 which fruits well without pollination. 

 It is very difficult to secure seed in its 

 fruits from the most careful hand polli- 

 nations. It would be a drawback to 

 have poUinizers near this variety if the 

 pollen from them caused seed develop- 

 ment. Fortunately pollination has 

 practically no effect on it in this par- 

 ticular. The ovules have so far proved 

 to be largely sterile. There is some 

 evidence to prove that Tamopan is very 

 similar to Tanenashi in its behavior 

 toward pollination. 



Unfortunately very few of the varie- 

 ties which have produced staminate 

 flowers can be depended upon as poUin- 

 izers. Okame, Taber's No. 23 and 

 Taber's No. 129, for instance, produce 

 staminate flowers one year and not the 

 next, though pistillate flowers are borne 

 each season. Of these three Taber's 

 No. 129 is the most constant in its be- 

 havior. Gailey (as the tree found near 

 Eagle Lake has been named) is known 

 to be a constantly staminate variety, i.e., 

 it produces a good percentage of stam- 

 inate flowers every time it blooms. The 

 other varieties mentioned cannot be 

 placed at this time as thc}^ have not 

 been under observation long enough. 

 The lists will doubtless be largely in- 

 creased within the next few years as 

 the behavior of new introductions be- 

 comes known. Seedlings are also being 

 raised and doubtless they will add to 

 the number. 



Hence the only variety which can be 

 recommended at this time, as a pollin- 

 izer, is Gailey. This variety has a long 

 flowering season, and the flowers are 

 abundantly supplied with pollen. The 



fruit, however, is quite small, and con- 

 sequently not so valuable as the larger 

 sorts with which it woiild be planted. ' 



planting plans. 



For this reason, and for another 

 reason which will be touched upon later, 

 the number of Gailey poUinizers in the 

 orchard should be reduced to a mini- 

 mum, having in mind at the same time 

 that enough trees should be set to pro- 

 duce the pollen necessary to insure good 

 crops of fruit. While it is a recognized 

 fact that poUinizers are necessary in 

 plantings of other kinds of fruits such 

 as apples and pears, for instance, it is 

 also a fact that specific recommenda- 

 tions as to the nirmber of poUinizers re- 

 quired and their location in orchards of 

 these kinds have seldom been made by 

 writers on this subject. 



The full complement of seeds (eight) 

 is objectionable in fruit of D. Kaki, par- 

 ticularly in the smaUer varieties. If 

 one seed develops in a fruit, its develop- 

 ment appears to be quite as efficient in 

 causing fruit to hold as if the full num- 

 ber is formed. It has been observed, 

 moreover, that as the distance of a tree 

 from the poUinizers increases, the average 

 nimiber of seeds in the fruit decreases. 

 Therefore to reduce the number of seeds 

 in the fruit to a miminum, the nimiber 

 of poUinizers should be reduced to the 

 very least number which will provide 

 for effective fruit setting. This prob- 

 lem has not yet been worked out abso- 

 lutely and additional time will be re- 

 quired to decide it definitely. 



Plantings made this winter have been 

 made according to the accompanying 

 diagram. It will be noted that " the 

 poUinizers are placed every third tree 

 in every third row, in such a way that 

 the spaces in the pollination rows are 

 broken. The proportion is one to seven 

 or eight. In large plantings by this 

 plan, each tree requiring pollination 

 has a poUinizer, directly adjoining it on 

 one side. It may be that a lesser num- 

 ber will in the end prove satisfactory, 

 but there is no doubt but that this plan 

 will insiire sufficient pollination for even 

 the most pronounced sterile varieties 

 such as Hachiya and Yemon. 



