GROW PAPAWS 237 



of either the Pacific or the Atlantic coast, where 

 I lived for a time. Was Professor Bailey right 

 when he wrote that most persons do not relish 

 its flavor, and doubted whether it would be pos- 

 sible to awaken much interest in this fruit? 

 Was it another case of "pigs and boys"? Evi- 

 dently! For, in an encyclopaedia for young 

 people called The American Educator I 

 found this, under "Papaw": "It is of no value 

 for the table, but is enjoyed by birds" 



This didn't convince me that I must be a 

 bird, for I had previously read in that great 

 book, The Country Home, by the horticul- 

 tural epicure, E. P. Powell, "I see no reason 

 why this delicious fruit, a sort of hardy banana, 

 should not be grown everywhere in our gardens." 

 And my belief in my epicurean precocity was 

 fully justified when I found that Luther Burbank 

 also must be a bird, as he enjoys his improved 

 papaws more than any other fruit in his Sebas- 

 topol and Gold Ridge orchards. 



Here is what, in response to my question, he 

 wrote, under date of September 11, 1920: 



The papaw which I am growing is a hardy papaw, 

 and will thrive in New York State and possibly in Maine. 

 No one, as far as I know, has succeeded in raising them 

 from seeds except myself. I obtained some most delicious 

 varieties of the fruit from Illinois, Indiana, and Ten- 

 nessee, and have grown some wonderful seedlings from 

 these, the fruit in flavor being much superior to the 

 tropical "papaw," which is a totally distinct species, 

 ours being the Asimina trilobu. It is a common saying 

 if 



