PERSIMMON. 365 



At the present time the Japan varieties (Diospyros Kaki) are attracting 

 much attention in sections of the South where the thermometer does 

 not fall below ten degrees above zero. In the coast region, from 

 Norfolk southward, and quite generally in the cotton belt, they 

 reach perfection of tree and fruit. By budding or grafting them 

 above ground on native stocks their culture has been extended north- 

 ward to New Jersey and South Ohio, but they suffer during severe 

 winters. At this period varieties are being introduced from North 

 Japan and from China. Hon. Charles Denby, the United States 

 Minister to China, sent scions of hardier Chinese varieties to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, w r hich were lost by drying during the voyage. 

 But the seeds he sent at the same time grew, and about three hundred 

 seedlings have been sent out for trial. Some of these may extend 

 the culture of large and good varieties northward. Recent attempts 

 have also been made, we are told, to introduce the hardy and good 

 varieties of south Central Asia. As the Japan varieties bear when 

 only from two to four years old, and the fruit is set so abundantly 

 that thinning is needed to keep up needed size and to prevent the 

 trees breaking down, the production of train-loads for market in. 

 congenial climates is easily possible. But it is a new fruit and our 

 people must be educated to its use. The round or flattened varieties 

 with dark flesh, such as the Mazeli, will prove most profitable for 

 market here, as has already been experienced in France, as they are 

 sweeter, less astringent, and can be eaten before they are entirely 

 softened. These varieties can also be picked when hard, and will 

 ripen up in the crates like tomatoes. In the near future the best 

 varieties will be shipped, wrapped in tissue-paper, as in France, and 

 instruction given the grocers not to expose for sale until in the proper 

 condition for dessert use. 



When grown in larger quantity the best varieties will also be 

 dried like figs. The writer, in connection with many American 

 visitors, at the great commercial fair at Nishni-Novgorod in 1882, 

 decided that the dried and pressed Asiatic persimmons were far more 

 delicious and healthful than the Adriatic figs prepared in the same 

 way. 



The earlier varieties of these persimmons mature gradually. Hence 

 growers go over the plantations several times at intervals, select- 

 ing the fruits in proper condition for shipment. This is easy 

 after a little experience, as the color varies in ripening with 



