THE PERSIMMON 4:;.") 



Until recently there were no well defined varieties nnder 

 cultivation. We have Found, however, many well-marked varie- 

 ties growing wild. They differ in quality as much as our culti- 

 vated apples. Borne are very astringent, others are insipid and 

 worthless, while Btill others are sweet and delicious. Almost 

 every tree is :i variety <>f itself, as the persimmon, like the 

 apple, (Iocs not reproduce itself from Beed with certainty. In 

 the wild state it is sometimes found growing in clusters of ten 

 or a dozen trees, and all apparently <>f the same variety, 

 l>ut these probably came from the roots of the original or parent 

 The fruit differs in Bize from that of a small wild plum 

 t<> that of the large cultivated kinds, an inch ami a -hair to two 

 inches in diameter. They also vary greatly in form : some are 

 globular, others either conical or oblong, those of the globular 

 form predominating. 



The persimmon is readily propagated from Beeds, whic'j 

 shoiihl l.e procured in the fall or early winter, ami planted in 



tin- same manner as peach pits. The young Seedlings will often 



attain a height of over two feet the firsl Beason. The-e geed 

 lings, especially from cultivated varieties, cannot he depended 

 upon to reproduce themselves. In fact, this fruit varies greatly 

 in the wild state. Twenty trees raised from the seeds ol 

 parent tree may produce twenty distinct varieties; we musl 

 therefore resort to budding or grafting the young Btocks with 

 buds or cions from the variety which we desire to propagate. 

 A desirable Beedling variety may lie multiplied by breaking up 



the roots Of III" parent tree, thus causing it to throw up sprouts 



or suckers. These, however, an- difficult to transplant Bucoess 

 fully, owing to a deficiency of pool development. 



Tin- following extracts from :i letter from Eli II. 

 Chandler, Marietta, 6a., show how variable the 

 persimmon is : 



In northern Delaware some thirty y< '.sire two I 



'the only ones in the neighborhood) whose fruit myself ami 

 brothers highly esteemed. Six miles from there was a grove "! 

 ; illy desirable from a fruit standpoint, and I 



kmw of a v. rv few Isolated trees in Chester and Delaware 

 counties, Pennsylvania. On none of tin-,, trees was the fruit 



