HORACE MCQUEEN: Persimmon Seed and Winter Predictions

Several readers have asked about the story told by persimmon seed. So, we harvested some of the orange fruits off a couple trees in our pasture.

The old “legend of the persimmon” indicates the severity of the upcoming winter season. If the cut seed shows a spoon, winter will be a wet one, so much so that you might want to build an ark. But a fork in the seed calls for a winter so fine we will winter without a coat.

A knife means awful cold temperatures with snow and ice and winds that will cut to the bone. Lots of folks have been cutting seed of the persimmons for several years and think the seed offers a better weather forecast than some paid meteorologists.

This go-round, I cut four seeds and found three knives and one spoon. If this legend proves true, this will be a winter to remember…Lots of cold, cold weather coupled with plenty of moisture in the form of rain, snow or ice. Come April of 2018, we will know for sure! From what I gather from other folks around Texas, a knife seems to be the most consistent this year in persimmon seed.

It’s high time for some real moisture — and not just a few sprinkles. Lots of folks want to overseed ryegrass in pastures for winter green, but it’s too darn dry to take the risk. Just a little shower would germinate the ryegrass and if the dry weather continued, the seedlings would wither and die. Hay season is about over, with some good yields, some not so.

Dr. Joe Paschal, a Texas A & M livestock specialist says of all the investments a cattle raiser can make, a good bull is top of the list. Paschal says bulls provide the genetics for the next generation of replacement females in most herds. If a top notch bull of known genetics costs the equivalent of five calves sold off the farm, that price is worth the money, according to Paschal. The old adage that the bull is half the herd is only partly true.

After that bull has been used for three years, and no outside females have been added, he has provided 87 percent of the genetics your cattle are carrying. Anyway, that’s all for this trip.

[email protected]

Similar Posts