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ujiik'h bueui live mpnniy witn one anomr-r.The Japanese Persimmon.Mr. Henry Loomis, of San Francisco, says, in a letter to the Pacific Rural Press:“There is no fruit in Japan more common or popular than the persimmon. It has been crossed and recrosRed, until it is to Japan what the apple is to America. The fruit is found in about the same varieties of climate as the wi’d persimmon of the Eastern States and appears to be equally as hardy. Not only will the tree stand the frost, but tbey flmrish where there are four months of winter. It yr^vs in China as far north as Peking* and wil’probably grow to perfection in Oregon and even in Washington Territory. Its adaptation to the whole of California is beyond all question. The various experi ments made have proved that the trees can be readiiy transplanted from J*pan and succeed bore. Dr. Burdell, of Marin county, brought with him from Japan, a year ago, a dozen troes, all of which are thrifty and promise woll. The grafted trees bear in about four or five years, while the seedlings require double the time, and, like the apple or peach, are not reliable.There are two principal varieties of the fruit, the first of which is large, round, shaped like the Rhode Island Greening. The flesh of tbia resembles the pear or apple and it is eaten in the same manner. Its color is rich, golden, and the meat juicy, vinous, and firm. It ripens in November and keeps well until March. We have seen specimens four and five inehes in diameter, and it could be readily transplanted to any part of the country.The second variety is oblong, resembling in shape a Minie ball. This hss a deeper, darker shade than the other; is soft, sweet, and custard like; is eaten with a spoon ; and, with cream and sugar, is one of the most delicious fruits that 1 have ever tasted. This fruit attains a very large fize. I have seen specimens that would weigh over a pound. It ripens the last of October and lasts until the New Year. It is the variety mostly dried and prepared like fi^s for market.There are many varieties that might be introduced into this country, and which would undoubtedly prove very desirable. It is unquestionably destined to become one of our most common and popular fruits.I have just received from Professor W. E Griffis, the author of ‘The Mikado’s Empire,’ the following statement.“As regards the value of the persimmon there can bo but one opinion. The tree itself is one of the handsomest of fruit trees, and in the fall, yith its golden* hued fruit haBgirig to the branches after the leaves have fallen, f irms a beautiful and strking picture in a landscape.The timber furnished by this tree is very valuable and is much used by the Japanese for carved work, cornices, solid articles of furniture, and such objects as require a com paratively heavy and close-grained wood, which by its color and tissue is well suited for ornamentation and handsome utility.— The juice expressed from unripe persimmons forms a very useful liquid for staining wood, giving it a rich brown color, like walnut.Much of the carved w^od and woode,n utensils and cabinets from J ipan, often sup posed to be walnut by our people, is in reality only common wood, stained with persimmon juice. Some of the most elegant wood carvings at the Centennial were of this nature.As to the fruit itself, it is nutritious, pal atable, and to a high degree charged with those chemical ingredients which give most fruits their value in preserving the health and purifying the blood. This fact is insist ed on by the Japanese doctors, some of whom I have knowo to cure their patients by a ‘persimmon cure,’ like that of the ‘grape cure’ of Southern Europe.The most luscious Japanese persimmons are ripened by air-tight closure in casks con taining kaki (a kind of beer made of rice,) which in two or three weeks perfect a remarkable flavor. Unlike our fruit, the Japanese species ripen without frost, though frost improves the common varieties.The large amount of ‘grape’ sugar in this rruit has set some persons experimenting on them, to determine whether sugar could be extracted in paying quantities. I do not know whether satisfactory results have yet been obtained. The fact of their eontaining so much saccharine matter is the reason of the ease with which they may be dried or cured, in which form they are sold as sweet meats in Japanese shops.”
Newspaper Details
Central Presbyterian
Richmond, Virginia, US
Wed, Apr 04, 1877
Page 4
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USA 07 Jun 2021
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