16 



AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORCHARDS OF CHINA. 



and travelers passing through on the railroad from Peking to Mukden 

 in the fall of the year are certain to see boys and men coming to the 

 train and offering baskets of these small persimmons, together with 

 walnuts, grapes, chestnuts, peanuts, and other natural delicacies. 

 In their wild state the trees vary considerably in productiveness, 



size, and color of the fruit. 

 Near Changli there are a 

 few trees that have de- 

 cidedly elongated berries, 

 covered with a bluish 

 bloom and very sweet to 

 the taste. In the Pangshan 

 district there are one or 

 two trees bearing globular 

 fruit, which is perfectly 

 seedless ; and in the moun- 

 tains southwest of Pau- 

 tingfu, small, yellow-fruit- 

 ed varieties are occasion- 

 ally found. 



As a stock, however, 

 this persimmon may give 

 to its grafted host a much 

 longer life than the native 

 American persimmon 

 seems to be able to, for in 

 China all the cultivated 

 persimmons grow much 

 older than they do in Amer- 

 ica. Of some varieties 

 there, one finds trees 

 grafted on this D. lotus that are centuries old and still very pro- 

 ductive. (See fig. 1.) (S. P. I. Nos. 17173, 17905 to 17907, 18266, 

 18599, 19395, 22370, and 22599.) 



PEACHES. 



[Chinese name, "Tau" and numerous variations.] 



Fig. 6. — The trunk of a large specimen of the wild persimmon 

 tree (Diospyros lotus), showing its black bark with deep 

 irregular grooves. 



CULTIVATED VARIETIES. 



As is well known, China is supposed to be the original home of the 

 peach (Amygdalus persica). Whether this is correct has not been 

 settled, for peaches have been found wild in the southern Himalayas 

 near Mussuri, according to Royle, and in the province of Ghilan in 



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