In order to give a better idea of the size of the stalks the following weights and measurements are presented: Twelve stalks averaged as follows: Average weight... Average length of petiole... Average width of leaf blade.. 4.64 oz. 17.33 in. 4.45 in. 21.79 in. 3.02 in. In regard to the profits from the "new rhubarb culture I have only this to add. In the very first test made by us, the product from a space 8 x 10 feet sold for over $10 or more than five times as much as we could have realized from a single crop of the same roots grown out of doors in the ordinary way. From a double crop grown in 185 square feet of space we sold $35.55 worth and this came from seedling roots. In these tests no special effort was made to push the commercial side of the business, but the results were certainly satisfactory in a financial way. Near our large commercial centers, and under good management this new industry should pay splendidly. All that is needed is a careful preparation of soil, a wise selection of seed, proper thinning and good cultivation, and roots of one season's growth will yield a handsome profit. When not grown in a commercial way a succession of fine rhubarb during winter, when fresh vegetables are scarce and expensive is within the reach of all who have a garden plot and cellar. THE JAPANESE METHOD OF RIPENING PERSIMMONS. BY DAVID FAIRCHILD, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D, C. Before going to Japan, in 1902, I had often eaten in America both native and Japanese persimmons, but as sold on our markets they never appealed to me. Their over-ripe condition, bordering on decay, made me doubt whether they would ever become an important fruit in the eyes of the American public. On a steamer traveling between Nagasaki and Shanghai I ate for the first time. persimmons cured by the Japanese method. To my astonishment the passengers were quartering and paring their persimmons as though they were apples, and although as firm in texture as a Northern Spy no trace of tannin was perceptible. My first thought with regard to these persimmons, which were perfectly delicious although still firm and hard, was that they represented a different variety or different varieties from those heretofore introduced into America. Upon inquiry, however, I discovered that this is not the case and that although there are sorts which may be eaten while still hard, all of the table varieties can be treated successfully according to the Japanese method. Upon returning to Japan from Persia in the spring of 1903 I was unable to follow up the clew which I got on the steamer going out, and keeping the matter in mind upon arrival in this country I have never failed to call persimmon growers' attention to this method. In the inventory of the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction Dr. S. A. Knapp published in 1900 a statement made by the Agricultural Society of Japan with regard to the best way of treating persimmons to ripen them (see S. P. I. No. 2726). It is probable that previous to this time similar descriptions had been published in this country. These descriptions lack the same preciseness of detail which my own information gotten in Japan did, and in order to get the precise method used by the Japanese, I suggested in a letter to Mr. Watrous, whom we made a special honorary representative of the Department, that he give particular attention to the question of the ripening of Japanese persimmons. Mr. Watrous, during his visit to Japan, secured this desired information and forwarded it to the Department. Upon its receipt I published the report in the Fruit World of Los Angeles, California, and also sent copies of the report to Mr. Roeding, of Fresno, Mr. Elwood Cooper, of Santa Barbara, and several other persimmon growers in the West. The only one of these growers to respond to this suggestion was Mr. Roeding, of Fresno, who, with his characteristic initiative, carried on an experiment with this season's fruit and sent to my Office by mail a half dozen of the treated fruits. The result was entirely successful, the fruit arriving at the Department in excellent condition, and although hard and firm there was scarcely a trace of tannin in any of the fruits which we examined. Not only do these fruits appeal to one from delicious flavor and crispness but it was evident that their shipping qualities had been in no way affected; on the contrary, that they were likely to prove just as well adapted for shipping purposes as before treatment. The process in question, as described by Mr. Watrous, is a very simple one indeed, but there are many points to be explained with regard to the chemical changes which are involved in the process, which have already been made a subject of research by Dr. Howard and Mr. Gore of the Bureau of Chemistry. I quote Mr. Watrous' report in full. Dr. Fairchild asked me to make investigations as to the methods used by the Japanese for removing or changing the superabundance of tannin in the Persimmon at its maturity, without waiting for the fruit to come near to decay as is the natural way. Upon my arrival at Yokohama, whither I went for this purpose, Mr. Suzuki kindly took me to various places where experts make a busine s of that work, packing hundreds and thousands of casks annually, as he stated. I will give the substance of the talks of various informants rather than make a detailed statement of what was said by each one. It appears that they have experimented extensively for many years in this work and have thus far been thoroughly successful in only one way; that is, to take casks in which their beer called saki has been stored and have the fruit put in the casks as soon as they have been emptied. The head of the cask must be immediately returned to its place and the package made air tight. So treated, if the saki be of very pure quality and not adulterated with alcohol, the fruit, in five or eight or fifteen days, according as the weather may be quite warm or less so, may be removed from the package in a firm, sound condition, ready to be shipped long distances but with the astringency all gone and the flavor fine. They have tried many other ways to cure the kaki but nothing has succeeded except the saki casks, used as above described. They say they find that if the saki is adulterated with alcohol or if the fumes of alcohol be used, the astringency is soon removed from the fruit which, when first opened, looks and tastes as it should but within a few days turns black, loses its high quality and is utterly ruined, tasting like an old turnip. The only casks used by the Japanese for this purpose are made of the wood of the Cryptomeria, closely resembling our cypress. The wood is quite soft and tasteless as I found upon personal test. If, upon first opening the cask, the fruit is found not quite cured, the plan is to close the cask again as quickly as may be, then bore two small holes in opposite sides near the top and blow through, thereby removing the outer air from the top layer of fruit. Then the small holes are tightly plugged and the fruit left for further amelioration according to the judgment of the operator. All agreed that the proper curing of the kaki is expert work, requiring skill and judgment. New casks of Cryptomeria wood are made ready for curing kaki by wetting the inside thoroughly with good saki. This is then turned out and the cask allowed to dry. This operation is repeated four or five times, thoroughly wetting each time the inside of the cask and the lid and allowing both to dry, absorbing as much as possible of the saki into the wood. From all that I was able to learn from the Japanese experts, I believe that if our growers desired to grow persimmons for market, the best way would be to make casks, holding about one-half barrel, from the wood of our southern cypress. Then import firstclass saki from Japan and use as above described. All with whom I consulted agreed that success would be reasonably certain if the work was properly done. C. L. WATROUS. To illustrate the difference between the way in which the Japanese persimmons are now marketed and the way they should be marketed if this ripening process was brought into general use, Mr. Barrett and Mr. Crandall, of our office, photographed a plate of Japanese persimmon fruits offered for sale by the California Fruit Store on F street in this city. These fruits were so far gone in the natural process of ripening as to be almost disgusting in appearance and even attacked by the common blue mold of decay. No fruit lover, unacquainted with Japanese persimmons, would ever be enticed to purchase such a thin skinned mass of mushiness as one of these naturally ripened persimmons. For comparison with these naturally ripened fruits they also photographed a plate of persimmons which in appearance and firmness of texture were apparently identical with those received from Mr. Roeding as a result of his first experiments with the Japanese method of ripening. Anyone seeing these two photographs cannot fail to appreciate the contrast and be convinced of my contention that the most important factor which is preventing the Japanese persimmon from becoming a really popular fruit in America is the failure of persimmon growers and handlers to introduce the simple Japanese method of ripening the fruit. This Japanese process deserves to be given the widest publicity possible and the persimmon growers of the South and the Pacific Coast should be encouraged to try it next season, at least on a small scale. It is the intention of the Department of Agriculture to publish a bulletin on the subject, in which will be given directions for getting the saki barrels or suitable substitutes and the addresses of firms from which the saki can be purchased. What the chemical and microscopical changes are in this process will doubtless be well worked out by Messrs. Howard and Gore, of the Bureau of Chemistry, and it is not at all improbable that they will discover other things than saki which will ripen the persimmons quite as well as the saki does. With the new interest that is being taken in our native persimmon, 1 which has possibilities that are quite distinct from those of the Japanese varieties and with the introduction of the North China varieties that are now being arranged for through our Agricultural Explorer, Mr. Meyer, and especially through the use of this Japanese method of ripening the fruit, this new industry, which is worthy of a much more important place than it now holds in this country, will be given a decided impetus. It is to be hoped therefore that the time is not far off when we can have persimmons to eat as we do apples-out of hand-and not require a plate, a spoon, a napkin and a finger bowl. HORTICULTURAL BOTANY. BY L. C. CORBETT, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. As the title of this paper, Horticultural Botany, would indicate, we are to concern ourselves, in the present discussion, with plants which have been brought under the influence of cultivation, and have, therefore, departed from their original or specific types. Darwin was sufficiently interested in this subject to write a book upon it, but in the short space of time allotted to this discussion, and the limited opportunities of the writer it will not be possible for us to discuss the subject in a manner fitting its importance. We must, therefore, content ourselves by merely referring to some of the problems in horticultural botany which are now before the students of cultivated plants. It is natural for the horticulturist, in attempting to determine the position occupied by any plant with which he is working, to refer to works upon botany. Let us first ask the question. To what extent the botanists have and are assisting the horticulturist in his work? The systematic botanist can be relied upon, so far as generic relations are concerned, but when it comes to the more minute and detailed study of cultivated forms we find little help or solace in studying the work of these systematists. They drop their investigations just where we begin. They content themselves with studying what they consider to be fixed forms, at least sufficiently fixed to be worthy of distinction as species. The species of the botanist is the starting point of the horticulturist. We are concerned with the economic aspect of the problem, and are not so much concerned with the natural relations of the plants in feral nature. The innumerable forms which naturally arise when plants are released from the struggle for existence, which binds them down and holds them to specific types under natural conditions, are only too familiar to the horticulturist. This maze of difficultly classified material has, it would seem, been an impenetrable wall against which the efforts of the botanists have been unavailing. Botanists have found defense in the argument that the forms which originate under cultivation, and which, for convenience sake, are called by horticulturists, varieties, are not sufficiently marked and suffi ciently fixed to justify the title of species. Therefore, they are beneath the dignity of systematic consideration. What are we to do? Are we to abandon the struggle and to consider the products of our efforts unworthy of distinguishing names and specific classification similar to that accorded to forms which have through generations been built up under natural conditions? The market gardener and the fruit grower are not concerned with a sufficient number and variety of these plants to give the matter any consideration. For the man, however, who is interested in improving any strain, variety, or race of economic plants, the problem at once assumes great importance. It is impossible to intelligently undertake the systematic improvement of any horticultural variety of plants without knowing something of the history, relations and tendencies of the plants with which one is to deal. Without, then, some system of classification which will assign these products of our efforts to definite places it is impossible for us to in any way predetermine what the results of our efforts may be. The subject of plant breeding has of late assumed wonderful economic importance. The disclosures of the Mendelian theory have placed plant breeding upon a comparatively safe basis instead of working entirely in the dark and securing indifferent results, the plant breeder now knows that by pursuing certain methods for a definite period results of no uncertain character are bound to follow. This then places a new importance upon the subject of horticultural botany, which, previous to this time, it has not carried. The course followed by systematic botanists in determining the position of genera and species is not sufficient for the work which is before the student of horticultural botany. External characters which are in themselves sufficient to determine the varieties fall short of giving the distinction necessary for the future work of the plant breeder. The type of horticultural botany, therefore, in which we should at the present time interest ourselves is a type which will carry not only a description of the variety sufficient to distinguish that variety from all others, but shall also include a brief history of the plant, to show its relations to others which have been developed or which may be developed later. It is also of great importance to the plant breeder to know whether or not the particular variety with which he is concerned carries as its important commercial factor a dominant or recessive character. Such work as this must ever fall to the student of plants under cultivation. During the last few years important movements along this line have been made. The horticulturists or the students of plants under cultivation have, for instance, concerned themselves with the study of the cultural forms which have arisen from the eight species of lettuce recorded by botanists. When this work was begun the record of plant forms was confined to a discussion of these eight or more species. When Mr. Tracy completed his study of the culture forms of lettuce he found it necessary to describe distinct sorts. When Professor Bailey undertook to study the native plums of America, which had been included in three or four species, he found it necessary to erect several new species and to classify many |