THE PERSIMMON. 



casional selection of a wild tree whose product was of better 

 quality than usual. 



[The illustration (Fig. 817) shows the usual appearance of 

 the wild persimmon, and Fig. 818 of one which has been care- 



FiG. 817 Virginia Persimmon. 



fully cultivated. The American persimmon is entirely hardy 

 at least fifty miles north of New York City, and will bear 

 full crops annually. While in the Southern States it is said 

 to be easy to transplant, it is farther north quite different. 

 It is not an easy tree to transplant, its long tap-root be- 

 ing intolerant of molestation; saplings two to three feet 

 high may be moved, however, with fair prospect of success. 



The hole in which they are 

 to be placed should be dug 

 out fully three feet deep, 

 and the original eartt re- 

 placed with good surface 

 soil. Do not give them up 

 if they do not put out a leaf 

 the first season. I have 

 had them start and grow 

 well the second summer. 

 The tree is dioecious, and 

 unless one has a number 

 of them, the only sure way 

 to get fruit is to insert a 

 graft from a male tree oil 

 a female, which will in a year or two furnish sufficient pollen 

 to fertilize the entire tree. It bears at six to eight years 

 from seed. (Grafting on the persimmon is usually done 

 in winter, as in apples, by collar-grafting.) As there is 



FIG 818. Effect of Cultivation on 

 Persimmon. 



