284 FLORIDA FRUITS JAPANESE PERSIMMON. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



JAPANESE PERSIMMON, OR DATE PLUM. 



Among the fruits quite recently introduced into Florida, 

 and indeed into the United States, is the Diospyros kaki, or 

 Japanese persimmon. Wherever it has been tried and 

 many are now scattered all over the State it has done 

 well; even the imported trees have given a satisfactory 

 account of themselves, and now that our nurserymen have 

 succeeded in propagating it on seedlings of the' wild per- 

 simmon stock that grows luxuriantly on pine land and 

 hammock alike, we may look for still better results. Its 

 successful culture and great profit to the grower is fully 

 established, and henceforth the Japanese persimmon will 

 rank as one of Florida's favorite fruits. 



In Japan it is considered the choicest and most popular 

 of all the many fruits of that favored country. 



There are several varieties, some conical in shape, some 

 round, and they do not at all resemble in any respect the 

 typical "persimmon" of our own land. 



The fruit of the finer varieties is of a beautiful yellow 

 or red color, and measures from three to four inches in 

 height, and from eight to nine inches in circumference; 

 of seeds, it has from five to seven, of a small size. The 

 fruit ripens from September to March, and its flavor 

 is so delicious that it is readily understood why it is 

 so great a favorite in Japan, where its different varieties 

 have been so carefully crossed and recrossed that it has 

 become to that country what the apple is to the United 

 States. 



The dried fruit is as palatable as the fresh, is fully the 

 equal of the fig, and can be kept a long time ; moreover, 



