THE PERSIMMON 435 



Until recently there were no well defined varieties under 

 cultivation. We have found, however, many well-marked varie- 

 ties growing wild. They differ in quality as much as our culti- 

 vated apples. Some are very astringent, others are insipid and 

 worthless, while still others are sweet and delicious. Almost 

 every tree is a variety of itself, as the persimmon, like the 

 apple, does not reproduce itself from seed with certainty. In 

 the wild state it is sometimes found growing in clusters of ten 

 or a dozen trees, and all apparently of the same variety, 

 but these probably came from the roots of the original or parent 

 tree. The fruit differs in size from that of a small wild plum 

 to that of the large cultivated kinds, an inch and a -half to two 

 inches in diameter. They also vary greatly in form : some are 

 globular, others either conical or oblong, those of the globular 

 form predominating. 



The persimmon is readily propagated from seeds, whicli 

 should be procured in the fall or early winter, and planted in 

 the same manner as peach pits. The young seedlings will often 

 attain a height of over two feet the first season. These seed- 

 lings, especially from cultivated varieties, cannot be depended 

 upon to reproduce themselves. In fact, this fruit varies greatly 

 in the wild state. Twenty trees raised from the seeds of one 

 parent tree may produce twenty distinct varieties ; we must 

 therefore resort to budding or grafting the young stocks with 

 buds or cions from the variety which we desire to propagate. 

 A desirable seedling variety may be multiplied by breaking up 

 the roots of the parent tree, thus causing it to throw up sprouts 

 or suckers. These, however, are difficult to transplant success- 

 fully, owing to a deficiency of root development. 



The following extracts from a letter from Eli H. 

 Chandler, Marietta, Ga., show how variable the 

 persimmon is : 



In northern Delaware some thirty years :igo were two trees 

 (the only ones in the neighborhood) whose fruit myself ami 

 brothers highly esteemed. Six miles from there was a grove of 

 persimmon trees equally desirable from a fruit standpoint, and I 

 knew of a very few isolated trees in Chester and Delaware 

 counties, Pennsylvania. On none of these trees was the fruit 



