64 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
so I abandoned tillage altogether and for 
several years past merely run the mower 
through the orchards during the late sum¬ 
mer and again in the fall, using the cut- 
grass weeds to mulch the trees. During 
the first season or two there was not suffi¬ 
cient grass to make a heavy enough 
mulch, and I had to cut over some twenty 
acres or so of old fields and haul in suffi¬ 
cient to make up a coating about six in¬ 
ches deep and cover an area as large as the 
limbs of the tree. I found this more ex¬ 
pensive than cultivation, while it lasted, 
but now that the sod in the orchard has 
become older and produces heavier grass¬ 
es, such as broom grass, there is enough 
to mulch heavily. The ground under this 
mulch is looser and more friable than it 
could be made by any system of cultiva¬ 
tion, being protected continually from the 
packing effect of rains, while at the same 
time the fibrous roots remain undisturbed. 
The trees are vigorous and healthy and 
make a good growth each season. No 
other fertilizer except this rotting mass of 
vegetation is given, and its slow and con¬ 
tinuous effect as a fertilizer seems more 
suitable to bearing persimmon trees than 
any other I have tried, for reasons which 
I will explain later. 
In large quantities for commercial pur¬ 
poses I have only three varieties. The 
‘‘Hyakume,” “Tane-nashi,’’ and “Hache- 
ya,” though I have also a few trees of 
‘‘Yemon” and “Taber’s No. 129.” Of 
these “Tane-nashi” is the best market 
kind; of good size and appearance; nearly 
always seedless and holding its fruit better 
than the others. 
The “Hyakume” produces larger fruit, 
is more juicy and of a better flavor than 
“Tane-nashi” but not so clean and bright 
in appearance, and sheds its fruit badly. 
“Hacheya” is also very large, with a fine 
flavor, but must be kept, till very ripe, as 
the astringency common to nearly all un¬ 
ripe persimmons is more marked in this 
variety than the others. 
The persimmon seems very free from 
diseases and insect pests. I started plant¬ 
ing my first trees in peach orchards that 
were badly infested with “San Jose” scale 
and although the persimmon tree is class¬ 
ed among those on which this scale can 
exist, I could never find the slightest trace 
of any attack by the “San Jose” from the 
surrounding peach trees. Twig girdlers 
and borers give them some attention but 
1 have not had sufficient trouble from 
them to make treatment necessary. My 
orchards are on pine land. In hammock 
districts where there are probably larger 
quantities of these insects they would per¬ 
haps work more injury. The greatest 
evil that the persimmon grower has to 
contend with is the extraordinary propen¬ 
sity that most varieties have for shedding 
their fruit. The cause is unexplained in 
any existing literature on persimmons 
that I have seen, but I have formed my 
own conclusions on this subject and 
whether correct or not they may be of in¬ 
terest. The varieties having a very deep 
cavity at the stem and a hard stiffs calyx, 
such as “Hyakume” shed much more than 
those with shallow cavity and thin more 
pliable calyx like “Tane-nashi.” I fre¬ 
quently have “Hyakume” trees which 
after setting thousands of fruits, shed 
them all, while the “Tane-nashi” bears a 
fair crop. The preliminary shedding just 
after the fruit is formed is common to 
most deciduous trees that habitually set 
more fruit than they could possibly bear. 
It is not to this that I refer, but to the con¬ 
tinuous dropping that takes place after¬ 
wards during the growing season right up 
to the time the fruit is mature. After 
