Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1912-03-21

suckera az thew grow, This accomplishment
of the Department of Agriculture is not the re-
suit of any one mans effort, but the proouct
of at least a dozen minds working over a pc
riod of 20 years and in seven different conn-
tries.
There are among these hundred varieties
those which candy on the tree, others Whlch
are used mainly for cooking, and some whlch
are hard and not sticky. There are early
varieties and lateripening ones, varieties snort
and long, and every sort can be told by the
grooves on its seeds.
The date as a delicacy is known to every
American child, but, as a food, remains to be
discovered by the American public. when
the date plantations of Arizona and California
come into full bearing, as they shoeld IN
about ten years, the hard. dry dates, for eX-
annie. now quito unknown on our markets,
are sure to come into prominence and find
their way to the tables of the poor as well as
of the rich. TIE heat of our American sum-
mers ia forcing as to study the hot-weather
diets of other countries, and dates are sure 10
become important items of food.
The persimmon of the South, on which the
opossum fattens, is a very different fruit from
its relative the kaki, or persimmon OF the
Orient, the growing of which is so great an
industry in Japan as to nearly equal the Jap
anese orange-growing industry in Importance.
Our persimmon is a wild fruit. which will
some day be domesticated. while the kakt has
been cultivated so long that it Is represented
nv different forms and colors. 1t is true that
the Oriental persimmon has been grown IN this
country; in fact, the census records a produc-
ton of 6S tons; but this is scarcely a begin
ming as compared with the $4,000 tons which
is the output of Japan.
wv 1-.-- ga,ndnrptnOd fha TarciraD1nn npr
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 become
soft and mushy and almost on the verge of
decay. We never thought until quite recently
of wondering whether in a land where the
nersimmon had been cultivated for centuries
they would not have worked out some artiti.
cial method for removing the Objectionable
pucker. In japan we find this Ia done by
packing the fruit In barrels saturated with
sake, and Mr.. III. G. Gore, Of the Department
of Agriculture, is now working out new meth
DDS of processing the Oriental ~persimmon, so
that it can be eaten when hard as an apple,
and there will no longer be any reason why it
should not take its place among the great
fruits of the country.
The whole question Of the improvement of
the persimmon has been opened up, and We
are getting for this work the small-fruited spc
cies called lotus" from Algeria; a tropical
species with white, cheeselike pulp, from Man
lila, Mexico, Erithea, and Rhodesia; species
from Bangalore, from Sydney, from Madras
from the Nankau Pass, in China, and from the
Caucasus.
II the Oriental timber bamboo had produced
seeds oftener than once In 40 years 1t woult
long ago have been introduced and be nov
growing in the South. The fact that It hal
to be brought over In the form of Twin,
plants, and that these plants required specia
treatment, has stood in the way of the quicl
distribution of this most important plan
throughout those portions Of America where /
will grow. After several unsuccessful al
tempts, a beginning has at last been made, an
the department has a grove Of Oriental ban
boos in northern Florida, and a search is be
ing made in different parts Of the world 70
all those species which are adapted to on
climate
In this country l predict 1t will be use
earliest for barrel hoops, for cheap irrigatin
pipes, for vine-stakes and treuises, for ligt
ladders and stays for overloaded fruit tree
for baskets and light fruit shipping crates, an
for food. As wind.breaks and to hold CAM
banks and prevent the erosion Of steep hi
sides, there are species which excel all 9th,
plants, while for light furniture and ~jalousit
1t is sure to find a market whenever the gree
timber is available.