32 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the Experiment Station last year with 
persimmons in different stages of ripe¬ 
ness. As saki casks could not be ob¬ 
tained, glass jars were taken in place 
of these, and alcohol was substituted 
for the saki fumes. 
The fruit used in this experiment 
were of the Costata variety. All of the 
fruit were mature, but still hard and 
totally unfit for eating at that time. 
The lot was made up of three grades 
according to stage of maturity. First, 
a lot of slightly bruised fruit which had 
been gathered for a few days and 
would have been ripe naturally in 
about three days; second, a lot of fruit 
that had been stored for a few days 
with the ripest fruit gathered on the 
date of experiment, most of which 
would have ripened naturally in about 
five days; and third, a lot of the firm¬ 
est fruit, which was fresh from the tree 
that day and which would have ripen¬ 
ed naturally in about a week or ten 
days. Equal quantities were weighed 
and placed in ten lots, sO' as to have the 
fruit in each lot as nearly the same size 
and stage of maturity as possible. 
We then prepared ten 2 1-2 gallon 
jars in which to do the fermenting. 
Glass was chosen because this would 
enable us to make observations from 
time to time without opening the ves¬ 
sels; and also because it does not give 
off any gas or liquid as wood might 
even absorb liquid or gas. Eight of 
these jars were then prepared by plac¬ 
ing some absorbent cotton in the bot¬ 
tom, to which had been applied approx¬ 
imately I oz. (25 cc—of 95 per cent, 
alcohol. A glass plate was placed over 
the cotton to keep the fruit from com¬ 
ing in contact with the alcohol and yet 
allow the gas of the alcohol to rise and 
fill the jars. The jars were then ready 
for the fruit, which was carefully 
placed. Another set of glass plates 
large enough to cover the jars were 
then placed on, being made fast and 
air-tight by paraffin. Two aquaria, to 
be used as checks, were prepared 
without the use of alcohol. Each jar 
was numbered, the stage of maturity 
of the fruit in each being noted. These 
were allovfed to stand away from the 
direct sunlight for nine days when one 
of the checks and a representative 
number of the others were examined. 
They were then examined every two 
days. 
In the two check lots, there was no 
external change to be noted in the 
fruit, except a gradual ripening which 
was shown in the darkening of the fruit. 
When one of these was examined, 
after standing nine days, the fruit 
was mellow and some of them even 
soft, but none of them were entirely 
free of the puckery taste. As the rip¬ 
ening continued, they became very 
soft before the astringent quality dis¬ 
appeared, and at this time the fruit 
had begun to mold. There was no 
striking internal change in color, ex¬ 
cept the natural darkening as the fruit 
became ripe. 
Among the fruit treated, the least 
mature fruit gave the best results. In 
the two aquaria containing the least 
mature specimen, the fruit remained 
very firm, was in excellent condition 
after sixteen days’ standing, and kept 
very much better than the riper fruit 
which was carried through the same 
process. When examined after the 
nine days, they were mellow through 
and through, and were free of the as¬ 
tringent flavor. The sickening sweet 
