Report on Figs and Kaki, 
By J. H* Wylie. 
Mr. President and Members of the State 
Horticultural Society: 
Having been made one of the commit¬ 
tee on Grapes, Figs and Kaki, I feel 
it my duty to contribute what I can. The 
other two members of this committee 
are well known to this society, and their 
practical experience in the past has been 
of an instructive character in this state. 
Hence my little report will be confined 
tO' our section and county. In grapes we 
have fruited several varieties of the Mus¬ 
cadine class quite successfully, and be¬ 
lieve them perfectly at home in any part 
of this state. We consider the following 
kinds the best, viz.: Thomas, Scupper- 
nong, James and Flowers. We find that 
the James at two' years old will begin 
fruiting at the same time not retarding 
the growth, the fruit holds on until late 
in the season. We have also succeeded 
in getting very fine specimen bunches 
of some of the trellis varieties, such as 
Niagara, Concord, Moore’s Early and 
Delaware. 
r Figs. 
My experience with figs has been 
mostly with the native varieties of Ce¬ 
lestial, Lemon and Brunswick. These 
seem to be the leading kinds. While 
these all do well in our section I consider 
the Celestial the most valuable, as the 
tree seems to be hardier and is the most 
prolific and regular bearer. The fruit, 
though not so large, is very sweet and 
excellent for preserves. 
One of my neighbors, Mr. Charles 
Francis, has succeeded in working up 
quite a trade on fig preserves. About 
two years ago he began in a small way 
putting them up in fancy glass jars, and 
sending to friends in the North. The re¬ 
sult is that his business has increased so 
until now he is unable to fill his orders; 
he finds it profitable and is thinking of 
going into the business on a larger scale. 
If we can succeed in producing an 
abundance of fine fruit I believe there 
will be great possibilities in canning; al¬ 
so in fresh fruit for nearby markets. I 
feel sure that if we would give the fig 
culture as much attention as we do oth¬ 
er fruit trees, the time will not be far 
distant when we will have as good figs 
in our market here as any that we can 
import from any other part of the world. 
Kaki. 
The Kaki or Japan persimmon is cer¬ 
tainly a fine fruit for home use, and also 
has considerable market value, as they 
are found in all our large fruit markets in 
their season, and practically all of these 
are raised in Florida. 
In conversation with a man not long 
ago, whO' has been the means of estab¬ 
lishing a colony in Putnam county, he 
remarked that the different varieties of 
the Japan persimmon were grand, and 
after testing the different kinds as to 
flavor, quality, etc., has become so in¬ 
terested in the matter that now he in¬ 
tends to plant quite an orchard, at least 
40 acres to begin with, and in the future 
work up a special trade on the fruit. 
The right soil for persimmons is quite 
an important thing to consider, for while 
