The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-15
"HCCKLEBERRY ABOVE YOUR
PERSIMMON."

political,
campaign, this paper has been DILL
gently and vainly trying to ascertain
the origin of the saying: 'HuckleDerry
Above Your P~ersimmon." o hear
that expression in the cabins OF the
toilers, on the marts of trade, in the
palaces of the wealthy, and Yet up to
yesterday nobody could account for
its origin. Three years g this paper
pursued a long historical research to
learn the composition of a
the favorite edible or drink upo
which Wilkes county people grow to
robustness. Bob Deal undertook to
give a written description, but this
writer refused to accept his version
unless he would send a sample for
consumption. Therefore that inquiry
must be further pursued. But hap
pineSs has come to this sanctum, and
no more does it wander in the laby-
rinth of doubt as to the meaning of
hat classical expression, "Huckle-
berry Above Your Persimmon." This
distinguished scientist, politician, his
torian and philosopher, Col. P. M.
Pearsall, who is never so happy as
when doing good, has been making a
thorough investigation and relieves the
public tension by giving the following
account of the origin of "Huckleberry
Above YOur Persimmon"
The Real Origin.
New Bern, N. c., july %. 1911.
To the Editor: l noticed in your
paper recently that you desired to
know the origin of the expression,
"Huckleberry Above Your Persim-
mon."
l am a native of Sampson county
and am proud of that fact, but l don't
boast of it at all times, especially at
a Democratic convention. Being a
native of that county, | know the his
tory of the origin Of that expression.
A look at the map will show that
the counties Of Cumberland and
Sampson join each other for a dis
lance of about forty miles. Sampson
county is famous for it's huckleberries;
Cumberland county is noted for it's
persimmOns, these being the chief
food products Of these counties. There
has grown up a rivalry between these
counties, often amounting to bitter
ness, as to which Of these fruits is
the superior. In the a~lluvial soil of
the Coharia section of Sampson they
raise a h~uckleberry which is the pride
of the county,, known as the big
Blue the bushes sometimes growing
to a height Of from fifteen to eighteen
feet. Over in the sand hills Of the
adjoining county of Cumberland the
persimmon tree is of a dwarf variety,
owing to the thinness of the soil,
growing only from ten to twelve feet
high.
Many years ago a man from Mingo
f0NL-nChin in neon an1nfy-I h I'M
a Mr.. Sessoms-went owe to Cumber-
land county to a eorn-shucking. Pass
ing through the county, he noticed
these dwarf persimmon trees and re-
marked hat they grew huckleberries
in his count higher than their per-
simmons; hence the expression, "A
Huckleberry Above Your Persimmon."
While discussing the matter, there
are one or two features about this
that / might mention. In Sampson
county they raise a breed Of dog with
short tails. In Cumberland county
they raise a breed of dog with short
legs. The plain people OF Cumberland
have generally the bench-legged fee,
the more pretentious own the Dachs-
hund. The reason of the different
kind of dogs is that the Sampson dog,
with short tail, nay not knock the
huckleberries off as they run through
the woods. The Cumberland county
mar WISHES q dog that he can Outrun,
IS he opens the front gate in the
morning, from the house to the per
simmcn tree. to get the persinmOns
that have dropped during the night.
BY this training the Cumberland
county man gets to be a fine Splinter,
and many Of them could qualify for
the Marathon races.
Wish to say further. in a most en-
phatic way, that the charge made
that the children of Sampson ounty
have rings upon their legs is a myth,
pure and simple. The practice of
placing bells around the necks of the
children, that they may be located
near night. and turning them out in
the huckleberry ponds. is fast passing
away. One rarely sees this now IN the
county.
The above is a true statement of the
whole matter.