The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-04-05

suckers as they grow. This Accomplishment!
of the Department of Agriculture is not re re-
suit of any one mans effort, but the prodlct
of at least dozen minds working over ne
riod of 20 years and in seven different cou2
tries
There are among these hundred varieties
those which candy on the tree, others which
are used mainly for cooking, and some which
are hard and not sticky. There are early
varieties and late-ripening ones, varieties short
and long, and every sort can be told by the
grooves on it's seeds. /.
The date as a delicacy is known to every
American child but as food, remains to be
discovered by the American public When
the date plantations of Arizona and California
come into full bearing, as they should in
about ten years, the hard, dry dates, for ex
ample, now quite unknown on our markets.
are sure to come into prominence and find
their way to the tables of the poor as we'll as
of the rich. The heat of our American sum
mers is forcing us to study the hot-Weather
diets of other countries, and dates are sure to
become important items of food.
The persimmon of the South, Oh which the
opossum fattens, is very different fruit from
its relative the kaki, persimmon OF the
Orient the growing of which is SO great al!
industry in Japan as to nearly equal the Jap,
anese orange-growing industry in Importance
Our persmmon is wild fruit, which viii
some day be domes:!cated, while the kaki has
been cultivated so long that it is represented
by different forms and colors 1t is true that
the Oriental persimmon has been grown in thie
country; in fact, the census records q produc.
ton of GO tons; but this is scarcely begin
ming as compared with the $4,000 tons which:
is the output of Japan.
We have misunderstood the persimmon. Gu,
own wild ones we can eat only after they have
been touched by the frost. and the imported
Japanese ones we have left until they becom.
soft and mushy and almost on the verge
decay. We never thought until quite recent,
of wondering whether in a land where tn.
persimmon had been cultivated for centurie.
they would not have worked out some artif
cial method for removing the obJectionabl,
pucker. In Japan we find this Is done b,
packing the fruit in barrels saturated witt
sake, and Mr.. H. c. Gore, of the Department,
of Agriculture, is now working out new meth
DDS of processing the Oriental persimmon. 81
that it can be eaten when hard as an annie
and there will no longer be any reason why
should not take it's place among the grea
fruits of the country.
The whole question of the Improvement O..
the persimmon has been opened I'D. and e,
are getting for this work the small-fruited spe
cies called "lotus," from Algeria; a tropica
SpeCleS WIFI Wulte, cneeSe-nke pulp, from Man
lila, Mexico, Erithea, and Rhodesia: spetse
from Bangalore, from Sydney from Madra.
from the Nankau Pass, in China, and from tn
Caucasus.
II the Oriental timber bamboo had prodnce,
seeds oftener than once in 40 years it vpul,
long ago have been introduced and be n,,.
growing in the South. The fact that It haf
to be brought over in the form of nv.,f
plants, and that these plants required specis
treatment, has stood in the way of the oujc,
distribution Of this most important plan
throughout those portions of America where T.,
will grow After several unsuccessful at
tempts, beginning has at last been made. and
the department has a grove of Oriental BAN
boos in northern Florida, and search fs he
ing made in different parts OF the world TO,
all those species which are adapted to our
climate.
In this country l predict It Will be nsea
earliest for barrel hoops, for cheap irrigatfng
pipes, for vine-stakes and trellises, for light
ladders and stays for overloaded f.rtt trees
for baskets and light fruit shipping crates. and
for food. AS wind-breaks and to hold canal
banks and prevent the erosion of steep h.n
sides. there are species which excel all other
plants while for light furniture and i.:ousta,
1t is sure to find market whenever the green
timber is available