LUTHER BURBANK 



ing a considerable company of other fruits that 

 have come to us from tropical and sub-tropical 

 regions. 



The olive, the fig, the persimmon, the guava, 

 the alligator pear, the banana, the pomegranate, 

 the pineapple these are but a few of the more 

 familiar members of a varied company of fruits, 

 not in themselves related except that they all had 

 their original home in the Tropics and for the 

 most part have proved indisposed to migrate ex- 

 tensively into temperate zones. 



One or two of these, to be sure, have shown a 

 tendency to follow the example set by the plum, 

 the pear, and the apple, and try their fortunes in 

 regions lacking the perpetual summer of their 

 original habitat. 



Most notable among these, perhaps, is the per- 

 simmon, which made its way to Japan on one con- 

 tinent, and to the south central regions of the 

 United States on the other. 



This fruit has been cultivated to best advantage 

 in Japan, where the secret was first discovered 

 that its astringency is lost when the fruit is packed 

 closely in air tight receptacles. In this country it 

 was discovered by Mr. Geo. C. Roeding of Fresno 

 that the secret of the Japanese persimmon is no 

 more mystifying than this : It is merely necessary 

 to pack the fruit in tubs from which Saki or 



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