St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-10-10

AND PLANTER
THE pERslMMoss:

FARMER AND PLANTER |
THE PERslMMON.
Abest Oss q the Nest ~
niliar Fruits Sa she oosthlAnA.
The persimmon, or date-plum. il
'ound growing wild in most Of the
southern states, where it produces
'ruit in the greatest abundance. 1t Is
adapted to the soil and eli
nate of the southern half of Indiana,
but will ripen its fruit - far north as
The great lakeA
The fruit has . very disagreeable,
quality when green, or but
partly ripe, but this disappears in
most varieties when the fruit becomes
fully ripe. The date Of ripenin9 varies
from the lat Of August to December.
The old notion of early botanists that
this fruit must all be subjected to the
action Of frost before it becomes edi-
BILE Il now known to be false, ~ many
varieties ripen their fruit in August
lnd September. long before the ap-
pearance Of frost. In fact, these carly
ripcning varieties are preferable be-
cause Of their greater market value,
since they present the best appear
ance. and have sold for from six to
eight dollars per bushel in the large
cities.
The fruits vary greatly IS to the
Of seeds which they contain.
Most of the old wild varieties are full
Of large seeds, which is . most unde-
sirable quality, but in many OF the
newer varieties only two or three
seeds are found in . single fruit, and
some are practically ssedlesa The
fruit differs also in quality; some Va
rieties arc ~ sweet - dates, whlle
others never become edible. being 20
exceedingly puckery. or astringent,
that neither sun nor frost has any
effect On them.
Tho persimmon II readily propa-
gated from seeds. which should be
in the fall or early winter,
and planted In the same manner -
peach-pita Tho young seedlings will
often attach height of over two feet
the frat season. These seedlings. es-
pecislly from cultivated varieties, can
not be depended upon to reproduce
In fact, this fruit varies
greatly in the Wild state. Twenty
trees raised from the seeds Of one par
ent tree may produce 20 distinct Va
rieties: we must therefore resort to
budding or grating the young stocks
with buds or seions from the variety
which We desire to propagate.
Both budding and grating should
be done in the spring. Fall budding
has proved failure on account Of the
dow Of sap. which prevents the ad-
herenee of the bud to the stock; but
the operation may be readily per
formed in the spring as soon ae the
bark will slip freely. Old trees may
be top-worlxed in the spring.
The persimmon 10 more difficult to
transplant successfully than almost
any other kind of fruit-tree. The
tree has . long center. or tap. root.
and II too much Of this root IS cut on
In transplanting, the tree will be most
sure to die. The safest plan il to &C.
cure quite young trees. ono or two
years from the graft being preferable.
Older trees may b successfully plant.
ed II they have been transplanted
once or twice while growing in the
nursery. The soil where the trees are
to be transplanted should be thor
oughly pulverised with . subsoil-plow
70 . depth Of Ut least eight inches BE-
low the bottom roots. 20 that IN
abundance of moisture may be sup
piled to the young growing roots dur
ing the first season.
Transplanting is most suecessfully
done in autumn, - the tree then be.
comes adjusted to its place by spring,
and the roots, II properly pruned BE-
fore planting. will he nicely ealloused
and ready to throw out their 6broua
rootlets q soon . the warm days oi
spring appear. II IL similar to thu
peacl. and plum In its choice Of soil and
location, but It will grow we'll on al
most any kind Of soil, from rich bot
tom land to poor, thin soil Of the hill
tops. A warm soil. however. wcn ex
posed to the sun, II best adapted to ths
persimmon.
The persimmou may be greatly I'm
proved by cultivation. It is especiall,
necessary that the trees Be well cul
tivated for the first few years aftel
planting, until they become adaptet
to their new surroundings The tree
will stand great deal Of neglect wheI
once we'll started, but should not b
subjected to such treatment II one ex
poets to secure the best resultA In tn
wild state the trees will thrive ON yer!
thin land and under seemingly dia
couraging circumstances. but still bea
fruit of very good quality, but tn
| largest and best fruit II only produces
when the trees arc kept in . perfectl'
healthy condition by cultivation
vAnJETIHA
Until recently there were NO well
defined varieties under cultivation. w
have found. however. many well
marked varieties growing wild. The.
differ in quality ~ much - our cult
vated spplea Some are very astriu
gent, others are insipid and worthless
while still others are sweet and del
eious.. Almost every tree is variet
| Of itself, ~ the peEsimmon. like tn
apple, does not reproduce itself fros
seed with certainty. In the wild stat
II IL sometimes 1oand growing in clul
tiers Of ten or = 0ooen trees. and al q
parently Of the sane variety; bat thea
probably came fFo0 the roots Of th
original. or pan1nt tree.
The fruit diAess u sise from that I
. small Wild plum 10 that Of the lara
eultivated kinds. m inch and half
two inches In dianeter. They also vas
greatly in 1orm-somo are globula
others either conical or oblong. tho
Of the globular form predominatin,
There are more than > half-doz1
named kindsnow ,tntroduesd. and mar
Of them are evidently Of much val,
for cultivation and msrketing.-Bull
tin Of the Indiana Experiment Ststio
Fyassseai tAesD Hssbssdrv.
Sheep are peculiar IN that they mn
have per1ectly sweet food Anythiz
sour eives them Ats, literally hts
various kinds, which the shephel