EXPERIMENTS AT MACCLENNY, FLA. 



11 



noted in the case of Triumph find Hachiya occurred with the proc- 

 essed fruits of the Tane-nashi variety. When soft the processed 

 specimens could not be distinguished from those that had softened 

 normally. 



Zengi. Two groves of persimmons at the Griffing Bros/ nurs- 

 eries at Macclenny bear fruit resembling Zengi but differing from it 

 as ordinarily described in that most of the fruit is yellow-fleshed and 

 seedless as well as much larger in size. It closely resembles in habit 

 of tree, lateness, and size and shape the variety known as Taber's 

 23, and indeed the fruits of the two varieties can not be distinguished. 



A large number of these Zengi persimmons were gathered and 

 placed in process on September 25. Two days later the fruit was 

 found to have become sweet. The processed specimens, together wi,th 

 the controls, were expressed to Washington, D. C., on September 27 

 and were examined on October 2. In marked contrast to all the other 

 lots experimented with in Florida, the processed fruit as well as the 

 controls endured the shipment without softening. From this time 

 on counts were made of the firm and softened fruits at intervals until 

 October 20, when the fruit had dried out to such an extent that the 

 .counts became uncertain. The figures are shown in the following 

 table: 



TABLE II. Rate of softening of processed and unprocessed Zengi persimmons skipped 

 to Washington from Macclenny and kept at a temperature of about 69 F. 



It is evident that although processing perceptibly accelerates soft- 

 ening, the effect is but slight and not apparent until 22 days after 

 picking. The natural excellent shipping qualities of the variety 

 were therefore uninjured. No deterioration in flavor or color occurred. 

 The processed persimmons were excellent in flavor at all times before 

 and after softening. 



Hyakume and Yemon. But three and two specimens, respectively, 

 of these varieties were available for study. They were processed in 

 desiccators, becoming nonastringent in 36 hours. It is regretted that 

 it was not possible to secure more specimens so as to determine the 

 effect of processing on the rate of softening. Both varieties are of 

 distinct promise in view of the fact that they become nonastringent 

 very readily. 



