SOME OTHER TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS. 219 



varieties are grown that are almost seedless and of excellent 

 quality. We saw and tested some of these varieties five 

 inches in diameter during the summer of 1882 in the far 

 East. 



It is much grown in the Gulf States, Arizona, and Cali- 

 fornia, but the fruit is not commercial, as it is rarely seen 

 in market except where locally grown. But it is superior 

 to the lemon for summer drinks, and the less acid varieties 

 with colored pulp have an agreeable, refreshing flavor, 

 and are recommended by physicians as a tonic. Indeed, 

 it seems a medicinal tree, as the astringent rind is used in 

 medicine and the bark of the root is used as a vermifuge 

 and in dysentery. It is quite easily propagated from hard- 

 wood cuttings planted early in the open ground and it 

 layers about as readily as the grape. At the North, double 

 red and yellow varieties are prized for ornamental use in 

 plant-houses and in living-rooms. Where it bears as freely 

 as in the dry climate of Arizona, this handsome fruit might 

 be made commercial if the people were educated to its use 

 as they have been with the lemon. 



217. The Persimmon. What is known as persimmon or 

 date plum may be said to be a new fruit in west Europe 

 and the United States. For this reason probably De 

 Candolle in his "Origin of Cultivated Fruits" does not 

 mention it, yet he gives quite large space to many fruits 

 vastly inferior in size, value, and quality, to the varieties of 

 the persimmon (Diospyros kaki) grown in China and Japan 

 and to less extent in south central Asia and the mild climates 

 of the United States. It is said that the Japanese regard 

 the best varieties as the most desirable in size, quality, and 

 beauty of the fruits grown in that climate. In the south 

 of France it is now grown as a profitable home and market 

 fruit, and in England, as grown under glass, Burbridge 

 says: " The fruit is delicious, with a flavor like apricots." 



