156 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



eye, it is quite smooth. The wood is soft, 

 and good for nothing. The only value of 

 both these trees is in their appearance, and in 

 their hardiness ; they bear cold extremely 

 well, and grow very fast, and for these rea- 

 sons are much esteemed for purposes of orna- 

 ment : as for utility, they have no pretensions 

 on that score. 



"I have a fruit tree now to describe to you, 

 my dears, which I suspect you have never 

 seen. The fruit looks something like a plum, 

 only it is yellow instead of purple ; its name 

 is the persimmon : it grows, I am told, in New- 

 Jersey and Pennsylvania, but I never saw it 

 except in Virginia and North Carolina ; it is 

 very common there, and in the other Southern 

 States, and the people think very highly of it, 

 not only on account of the fruit, but also 

 for the goodness of the wood. It grows from 

 forty to sixty feet high there, but in the more 

 northern parts of the country its size is 

 much less. The leaves are from four to six 

 inches long, green on the upper side, and 

 white below." 



" Uncle Philip, I have seen persimmons at 

 the fruit-shops in New- York ; they were quite 

 shrivelled, and the man that kept the shop told 



