Man and Nature 



415 



the South, may liave been victims of a little practical joke on 

 the part of our friends, when we accepted from them a fruit 

 somewhat resembling a plum or large cherry of a yellowish 

 or pinkish color, which made our mouths water in anticipa- 

 tion and pucker in realization. But the Japanese long ago 

 learned how to take the pucker out of persimmon by packing 

 it in barrels saturated with sake or Japanese "booze," and 

 experts of the Bureau of Chemistry have found a means of 

 similarly de-puckering the persimmon with carbon dioxide. 

 But this process is unnecessary with a new variety of Chi- 



A View of the Avenue of Pistache Trees 

 At the Plant Introduction Station at Chico, California. In the 

 autumn the leaves of this Chinese pistache turn a beautiful scarlet. 

 Uourtesi/ of the U. iS'. Bureau of PUint Industry. 



nese persimmon found in the valley of the Ming Tombs west 

 of Pekin, by Mr. Frank Meyer, one of the plant explorers of 

 the Bureau, who has traveled extensively in China, whence 

 he has sent us some 2,500 new varieties of plants. The Japa- 

 nese persimmon has also been introduced, and is thriving 

 at many points in our southern states. 



The tung oil tree of the orient, from the seeds of which is 

 obtained one of the best drying oils known, the importation 

 of which in 1911 amounted to $3,000,000, has been introduced 

 into California and the Gulf States, where it appears to bo 

 thriving; while the pistache tree, a native of central west- 

 ern Asia, is doing nicely in California, so that in the near 



