518 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



the persimmon thickets by means of devious paths that wind with 

 many a labyrinthic turn which takes in all that is worth finding. 



The variation in the quality of persimmons is greater than that of 

 most wild fruits. Nature usually sets a standard and sticks closely to 

 it, but the rule is not adhered to in the case of persimmons. Some are 

 twice as large as others; some are never fit to eat, no matter how severely 

 or how often they are frosted ; others require at least one fierce frost to 

 soften their austerity; but some may be eaten with relish without the 

 ameliorating influence of frost. 



The austerity of a green persimmon is due to tannin. It is sup- 

 posed that cultivation might remove some of this objectionable quality, 

 but no great success has thus far attended efforts in that direction. 

 Japanese persimmons, which are of a different specie, are cultivated 

 with success in California. 



The sizes of persimmon trees vary according to soil, climate, and 

 situation. They average rather small, but occasionally reach a height of 

 100 feet and a diameter of nearly two. Mature trunks are usually little 

 over twelve inches in diameter, and many never reach that size. 



The dry wood weighs 49.28 pounds per cubic foot, which is about 

 the weight of hickory. It is hard, strong, compact, and is susceptible 

 of a high polish. The yearly rings are marked by one or more bands of 

 open ducts, and scattered ducts occur in the rest of the wood. The 

 medullary rays are thin and inconspicuous; color of heartwood dark 

 brown, often nearly black; the sapwood is light brown, and frequently 

 contains darker spots. 



The value of persimmon depends largely upon the proportion of 

 sapwood to heartwood. That was the case formerly more than it is 

 now; for until recent years the heartwood of persimmon was generally 

 thrown away, and the sapwood only was wanted ; but demand for the 

 heart has recently increased. There is much difference in the propor- 

 tion of heartwood to sapwood in different trees. It does not seem to be 

 a matter of size, nor wholly of age. Small trunks sometimes have 

 more heart than large ones. A tree a hundred years old may have 

 heartwood scarcely larger than a lead pencil, and occasionally there is 

 none. In other instances the heart is comparatively large. 



Persimmon has never been a wood of many uses, as hickory and 

 oak have been. In early times it was considered valuable almost 

 wholly on account of its fruit, and that had no commercial value, as it 

 was seldom offered for sale in the market. In the language of the 

 southern negroes who fully appreciated the fruit, it was "something 

 good to run at" meaning that the ripe persimmons were gathered and 

 eaten from the trees while they lasted, but that few were preserved. 



