occasional season when there is only a light crop on account of late frosts, but it generally bears some, as it is a late bloomer. One redeeming feature of the pawpaw is that it has no insect or fungus enemies; consequently there is no need of spraying. Stock do not browse the bush in the pasture, not even sheep have any relish for it. So we have one fruit that is immune from the ravages of blight, insect, and fungus troubles and that means a great deal to the fruit grower. Pawpaw bushes are generally found in a state of nature growing in clumps. The trees throw up suckers so that a clump of bushes is formed with the parent tree in the center of the group. The pawpaw is by nature an undergrowth. It seems to thrive best when found growing in woods that have been thinned out. Its natural situation is in virgin soil where the surface of the ground is covered with humus and dead leaves. Unlike any other fruit tree the papaw is not retarded in growth or bearing on account of close planting. The largest and most luscious fruit is found in clumps of bushes that stand so close that a cow would be hidden among them. If you enter these clumps of trees in autumn you will find the ground strewn with the finest fruit and the limbs laden to the ground. Shade is no hinderance to the quantity or quality of the fruit.

One of the strangest things is that while the paw- paw is one of the richest of fruits in saccharine matter, hogs will not eat it. There are a few persons who do not relish the pawpaw and they give as a reason that they do not eat things a hog won't eat. They consider

2023年1月1日星期日