460 



THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN— VII. 



round ; color bright red, mottled and striped with darker 

 lines ; flesh firm, very dark, sweet ; seeds large. 



In general, the Japanese divide their kaki into two 

 classes — Ama-kaki (sweet kaki) 

 and Shibu-kaki (astringent kaki). '^^i^**!;"'-'-..,. 

 The former are edible as soon as '.^ ■ " " 



they begin to ripen, and lose flav- ^ 

 or after they become fully ripe i 

 and begin to soften. The astrin- \ , \ 



gent ones, on the other hand, j >s. 



must be fully ripe and soft before 

 they are edible, This is the 

 class that is dried, and to ameli- 

 orate them, they are often soaked 

 in lye or even smoked before they 

 are good. 



The dried kaki have met with 

 so great favor abroad, several 

 good judges pronouncing them 

 equal to the dried figs of com- 

 merce, that a brief description 

 of the method of drying may 

 here be of interest. 



For this purpose, the Hachiya, 

 Tane-nashi and 

 similar varieties 

 which are too soft 

 to handle when 

 ripe, are used. 

 They are gathered 

 when about half 

 ripe, and stored in 

 baskets or tubs for 

 a week, in which 

 time they lose 

 much of their as- 

 tringency, but still 

 remain firm. They 

 are then pared by 

 hand, and the larg- 

 est and finest of 

 them are tied to- 

 gether, two and 

 two, by their 

 stems, and hung 

 over bamboo 

 sticks to dry under 

 a shed with a 

 southern exposure. 

 The small and in- 

 ferior fruits, after 

 being pared, are 

 simply speared on 

 thin bamboo sticks 

 and hung up to 

 dry. Here they 



remain for several weeks, the length of time depending 

 somewhat on the weather. Care is taken that they do 

 not get damp when it rains. As winter approaches, the 



process is often finished by spreading them on straw 

 mats in the sun during the day, and putting them under 

 shelter at night. They have now become dark brown 

 in color, have lost their astringency, and 

 are styled Ai?ia-boshi-kaki (sweet dried 

 kaki). 



They are next packed in little shallow 

 boxes, holding from thirty to fifty fruits, 

 >\ a layer of rice straw being usually placed 



• ^, in the bottom. Here they soon become 



covered with a white frosting of sugar 

 exuding from the fruit, from which fact 

 they are called 

 Shinio-fitri -kaki 

 (frosted kaki). 

 Thus prepared, 

 they appear in the 

 markets from De- 

 cember till spring. 

 It is only by spe- 

 c i a 1 precaution 

 that they can be 

 kept through the 

 following summer. 

 The place most 

 noted for the pro- 

 duction of dried 

 kaki is in the prov- 

 ince of Mino, in 

 Gifu prefecture, in 

 central Japan, 

 whence all the best 

 fruit is obtained. 

 American growers 

 of the kaki will 

 doubtless find 

 some more expedi- 

 tious method o f 

 drying the fruit. 

 Those varieties 

 which have but 

 little or no astrin- 

 gency can prob- 

 ably be dried in 

 the fruit-drier, but 

 this method may 

 fail in the case of 

 the astringent 

 sorts, since the 

 quality of the ar- 

 ticle depends on 

 the gradual elimi- 

 nation of the tan- 

 nin during the pro- 

 cess of drying. 

 The kaki is put 



into another very important use by the Japanese. They 

 express the juice of certain astringent varieties, and use 

 it as a varnish for the protection of all kinds of wood 



Fig. 13. Mame-Gaki. [Diospyros Loins.) See page 462. 



