The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-11-03

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Z country pathNay IN Maryland.
used ~ dozens 81 mixers every
Sunday, stands . large persimmon
tree loaded with fruit which y now
ripA
OF the passsrsby some stop and
Gather up 3 few Of the fallen per-
simmons, some never see them ct
all, and some ask Whist they are
and whether they are good 70 ee1
Doubtless Ill Of these people are
accustomed to pay In tine city 70
10 CENTS apiece Tor apples. peaches.
bananas and other common fruitS.
Yets here, growing wild and reg
lected, IL . native American fruit
which has more food value than 1ey
Of these, and Is fine . favor Has
the best Of them. with rich soft
pulp connecting Ike that Of baked
apple. This fruit may be eaten
fresh, it may be preserved in sew
eral ways, and it lends itself to
cooking, mixed with corn meal Or
flour, better than other fruits. 1t
may also be made into candies,
buildings and ice cream. and (whis-
Der it!) into a pleasant beverage.
Il may be dried for winter keep
ing. tits nearly one-third sugar.
and in food value is rivaled among
fruits only BY the date. for which
we pay such high prices.
For all Of these reasons the per-
simmon occupies q place among
the neglected native products OF
America. It was more appreciated
in the old days than 1t 1s now. for
the Indians made good use Of 1t.
mixing it with their corn meal to
make q sweet cake. The early ex-
plorers of America considered the
persimmon . great find. and devot-
ed much space to describipg the
delights Of eating it when ripe. and
It's astonishing ability to pucker
up the mouth when green. Such
celebrities. Is De Soto and Captain
John Smith wrote about 1t at
length. But the persimmon failed
to become fashionable. 30 that now
comparatively few. city-dwelling
Americans have ever tasted one.
In a few places 1t is gathered and
sent to local markets. and some
slight progress has been made in
developing improved varieties, but
it must be regarded on the whole
Is a neglected food.
Widely Distributed.
Although few persons seem aware
Of the fact. persimmons grow In al
most all parts Of the southeastern
quarter Of the United States. %
far west as .central\ Kansas. as far
north as New York and Michigan
and as far south rs the Carolinas
The center of abundance is In
Maryland and the Virginias. where
the tree is found in almost all
woodlands. 1t seems to grow in
all sorts of soils, in a great variety
Of climates, and at various eleva-
tons.
Most Of the persimmons thai
grow in this country 60 to waste
Here and there they are gathered
and sent to a local market, but II
you buy q persimm0n in the mar
ket it is more than likely to be the
Japanese variety. for which you
will pay a fancy price. although II
cannot be said to be much better
1 in flavor or food value than the
ones you might find growing wild
in your own section OF the coun'
try. In some places persimmor
trees are cultivated after fash
ion, so that the fruit when it falls
may be used IS hog feed. and in
few places it Ifs cultivated for thu
market. In this way several differ
ent varieties have been evolved.
The persimmon offers uAusuall!
good opportunities for improvement
BY selective breeding because o
the many variations which 1t shows
Thus scme Of the trees are tall ant
upright in habit, while others hav'
q pretty. dropping form. Some o
them bear fruit less than an incl
in diameter and some have fruit
1.-TWO inches in diameter. The fruit
varies greatly in quality and ia
Ivor.
Most interesting of all is the va!
in which the harvest season Of var