SOUTHERN ORCHARD PLANTINGS 21 
There are dollars and pleasure in a back-yard orchard. The bigger the orchard the 
bigger the results 
their trees when they look Ukc this, but it is a mistaken idea. Perhaps that 
overloaded tree will get tired of being worked too hard and the weight of tlu 
fruit may break the branches. These heavy crops sap the life of the tree, and if 
allowed to mature all its fruit, you will get nothing but a short-lived tree at 
the most. Allow your trees to bear heavily this year, and next year you may 
have to be satisfied with less than half the crop. 
It takes nerve to thin out the fruit, but if you want your trees to continue 
bearing until thev reach old age, go over each one when the fruit is about the 
size of a dime. Pull off enough fruit so that the tree can comfortably carry its 
load. If you do this you may expect better results year after year. 
Persimmons 
This fruit is rapidly coming to the front as a really desirable semi-tropical 
introduction. The Japan varieties arc the best, and when budded on our 
native varieties, they will grow and bear almost anywhere in the cotton belt, 
although not adapted to localities north of it. 
In soil requirements. Persimmons are not unlike other deciduous fruits. A 
rich, soft soil will help the trees along wonderfully and increase the quality of 
the crops. The flesh of unripe fruits of the light-fleshed varieties is astringent 
or puckery. Dark-fleshed sorts are edible before they are fully ripened. An 
excellent way, and, so far as we know, the best way to ripen Persimmons is to 
allow them to hang on the tree until frost is near. Pick them then and take them 
into the house, where they ripen slowly and to the very center. This method 
gives a uniform flavor clear through the fruit. Do not think your Persimmons 
are ripe when they begin to color. Nearly all sorts color when about halt 
grown and this does not indicate ripeness. 
