The Persimmons 



fruit; but the defrauded darkey v/ho marked that tree for his 

 own can afford to keep his temper. The fat 'possum on his 

 table on Thanksgiving day is especially delicate for this 'simmon 

 feast, with which it tops off the season. So there is no question 

 but that he laughs best W'ho laughs last. 



The 'possum is a nocturnal beast, and he likes company. 

 It is not unusual for three or four to be found by night up a 

 persimmon tree, hanging on with their bare, prehensible tails, 

 or bracing themselves in crotches of limbs, within reach of the 

 soft sugar lumps of fruit. They are lazy, and do not climb up 

 if enough fruit is to be found under the tree to satisfy their appe- 

 tites. In a near-by rail heap or a hollow tree the opossums sleep 

 off the effects of heavy feeding, and return to their quest with 

 zeal the following night. 



The following, from high authority, is conclusive: "Anyone 

 who has hunted quail through the Carolinas in January or Febru- 

 ary, when the fruit still hangs on the trees (as it occasionally does 

 in the woods on young trees only six to eight feet high), knows 

 that toward the end of a long day's tramp no more delicious or 

 refreshing morsel can be imagined than these persimmons. They 

 are thoroughly ripe then, entirely without bitterness or astrin- 

 gency, sweet, rich and juicy." 



It is tannin in the fruit that gives it its astringency. This 

 is gradually withdrawn, probably quite independent of the action 

 of frost. The orange colour comes to it long before the fruit is 

 ripe. 



The Black Persimmon, or Chapote {Diospyros Texana, 

 Scheele), is a scrubby tree that covers its matted top from Feb- 

 ruary till the following midwinter with dark, leathery leaves, 

 which are narrow and scarcely an inch long. The black, insipid 

 fruit ripens in August, and its juice is used as a black dye. The 

 wood is black, often streaked with yellow, and handsome when 

 polished. It is sometimes used for engravers' blocks. The tree 

 grows in western Texas, and south to the Gulf of Mexico. 



The wood of our two persimmon trees somewhat resembles 

 that of their esteemed tropical relatives, the ebony trees of the 

 East and West Indies. But, as often is true of temperate-zone 

 species, the quality is inferior. 



In Japan, the native persimmon, Kaki, in the Japanese 

 language, has been improved, until there are numberless horti- 



426 



