152 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
in the United States can have all the 
peaches they want the whole year round, 
by the right selection of varieties for each 
locality and by canning fruit while in 
season. But I must drop the peach here 
and mention some other fruits of com¬ 
mercial importance. Figs, kaki or Jap¬ 
anese persimmons, and plums are gain¬ 
ing in favor and importance as commer¬ 
cial fruits. The demand for canned and 
preserved figs is away beyond the supply 
and is rapidly growing. There are sev¬ 
eral varieties that succeed well in Florida, 
but perhaps the celestial or sugar fig is 
Lie best allround fig we have. 
There is no more delicious fruit grown 
in Florida than a well grown good ripe 
Japanese persimmon and as soon as the 
fruit loving public learn how and when 
Lo eat it, it will become a very profitable 
t.op to grow. 
By a proper selection of varieties we 
can have for the table or to ship, Japan¬ 
ese persimmons six months in the year. 
Figs and Japanese persimmons have a 
great advantage over most other fruits 
as they are almost entirely exempt from 
disease and insect enemies. Japanese 
persimmon trees have proved to be rath¬ 
er short lived in most places in the State, 
but in my opinion it is due almost entirely 
to want of proper care and fertilization. 
A Japanese persimmon needs as much 
fertilizer as an orange and as good care 
otherwise in order to bear the immense 
crops they bear every year and keep 
health. 
There are three or four varieties of 
plums which will pay well to grow for 
market and which should be found in 
every home garden. The Terrell, Howe, 
and Excelsior are about the best and 
most reliable varieties. They are a cross 
between the Kelsey and the native varie¬ 
ties. 
There are many other deciduous fruits 
that can be grown in Florida with more 
or less success, such as pears, quinces, ap¬ 
ples, grape, etc., but I will only name a 
few varieties of each that succeed here. 
Do not waste time and money plant¬ 
ing any of the northern pears in Flor¬ 
ida, LeConte, Keifer, Smith, Cincincis 
and Garber do well almost anywhere in 
Florida. 
The Japanese Quince does well almost 
anywhere in the State. Some other va¬ 
rieties succeed in some localities. 
I believe a few varieties of apples 
could be grown here for home use by us¬ 
ing southern varieties such as Jennings, 
Florida, Red Astrachan and Horse Apple 
and by grafting on our native wild haw 
root. In 1902 I grafted an apple on a wild 
haw root dug out of the woods and in 
1906 it bore about two dozen apples. 
That fall San Jose Scale killed it. Last 
spring I grafted a Red Astrachan apple 
into a haw root. At this time it has three 
apples on it. 
I shall experiment further in this line. 
As fine grapes can be grown here as 
anywhere in the United States. Of 
course all the Bullace or Scuppernong va¬ 
rieties do well almost any where in Flor¬ 
ida. Of bunch grapes the White Niag¬ 
ara, Moore’s Early, Delaware, Agawam 
and a few others do well here. 
The reason of our failure to have plen¬ 
ty of all these fruits is not the soil or cli¬ 
mate of Florida, but a failure to use va¬ 
rieties adapted to our soil and climate 
together with ignorance of how to 
