GREAT EXCITEMENT ON OUR MOUNTAIN-SIDE 
The Chinese Persimmons Arrive! 
Like most travelers in China I fell in love with the Chinese 
persimmons while in Peiping one autumn some years ago. 
As with the apple in America the persimmon in China has been 
developed into many varieties of large size and it holds a position 
comparable to that of the apple in the United States. 
Near the famous Ming Tombs not far from Peiping I ate little 
wild persimmons the size of the end of your thumb, and very good. 
Nearby were orchards of the horticultural varieties loaded with 
beautiful orange-colored fruit three and four inches in diameter, 
seedless, and delicious. 
These fruits are picked hard, taken to the home of the consumer 
while they are still hard, laid away in a cool place until they become 
soft enough to eat with a spoon. Then you spoon the soft pulp out 
of the skins. If you are not careful you will offend Miss Emily Post 
by smacking your lips. In China these large persimmons are also 
dried and used as we use prunes and figs. 
Knowing that the climate of Peiping has average July and 
January temperatures almost identical with those of Omaha, 
Nebraska, I set out to supply myself with the hardiest strains of 
persimmons I could find. I searched through Korea, and the area 
north of Peiping up to the base of the Great Wall (there are no 
persimmons grown north of the Great Wall). I also sent couriers 
into the western plateau province of Shansi.. You can share the 
results of these expensive efforts by the very simple method of 
buying some of the trees from my little nursery. I got very quick 
results by grafting cions of these importations on to native Ameri- 
can persimmon trees in an abandoned field. 
Some of these varieties have now been on my Blue Ridge 
mountainside for 15 summers and have borne fine crops of delicious 
fruit. These are worthy of testing by other experimenters. I have 
fruited 29 varieties but have had most of them too short a time 
to know much about them other than that they start off beautifully 
and are delicious to eat. They help to make my summer a season 
of thrills. Each year my price list and news bulletins will report 
progress. 
The Chinese persimmon (Diospyros kaki) is a tree of unusual 
beauty with very dark green, thick, glossy leaves almost like an 
orange tree. I am planting one near my porch where we may enjoy 
its foliage all summer. After the leaves fall the orange-colored fruits 
shine in the sun and make the tree itself a striking autumn orna- 
ment. The fruit should be allowed to stay on until after frost. 
Autumn leaf—color of some is a dark Chinese red that I have never 
seen elsewhere except in lacquer. It is a color of marvelous beauty 
and a week of this foliage is of itself sufficient reason to own a tree. 
I doubt the wisdom of trying these trees north of the line, 
New York-Harrisburg, Pa. But do not plant them without reading 
our booklet about planting, fertilization and care. 
SUNNY RIDGE NURSERY 
(For address see previous page) 
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