This fruit, though not extensively used in the wild state, is usually included among those worthy of efforts toward improvement. Dr. Asa Gray regarded it as promising great capabilities, and believed that by cultivation and selection for several generations it might approach in character the custard apple of the West Indies. A. S. Fuller considers the pawpaw as ranking high among our promising wild fruits, and suggests that attempts be made to improve its quality by crossing with some of the tropical fruits of the same family.

No extended effort seems ever to have been made toward the improvement of the pawpaw, though the tree is occasionally planted, generally for ornamental purposes. Dr. Darlington in his remarks on this fruit in his " Flora Cestrica," seems to convey the idea that its quality is improved by cultivation. Dr. J. P. Kirtland, a well known fruit grower of East Rockport, Ohio, now deceased, is reported to have at one time attempted the improvement of the pawpaw, but nothing can now be learned of the result.

The pawpaw, being entirely distinct in character from any other fruit of temperate climate, would doubtless find a ready market if its quality were improved to meet the popular taste. The small quantities brought to the markets of some of the eastern cities, mainly by negroes, are usually sold to persons of their own race, or to others who buy it as a curiosity ; there are some who eagerly seek for it as a delicacy.

The tree is vigorous and healthy, of convenient size, bears young, is readily propagated by seeds and by sprouts from the running roots, and it is sufficiently variable to offer an opportunity for selection. The chief effort needed in the improvement of the pawpaw is in the direction of flavor.

In regard to its flavor there is a remarkable diversity of testimony which can hardly be accounted for wholly from difference in tastes, though, like many other fruits, the pawpaw is evidently much more palatable to some persons than to others. Many of the statements regarding its flavor, however, must be attributed to carelessness or imagination. The flavor has been compared by different persons to that of the pear, the banana, the pineapple, and even to stale dough! N. C. Meeker, a well known agricultural writer, regarded the fruit as worthless. Timothy Flint, in his work on the History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley, published in 1832, pronounces the pawpaw the prince of fruit-bearing shrubs. He says, "The pulp of the fruit resembles egg-custard in consistence and appearance. It has the same creamy feeling in the mouth, and unites the taste of eggs, cream, sugar and spice. It is a natural custard, too luscious for the relish of most people. The fruit is nutritious, and is a great resource to the savages.

So many whimsical and unexpected tastes are compounded in it, that it is said that a person of the most hypochondriac temperament relaxes into a smile when he tastes the pawpaw for the first time." This is quite a contrast to the other opinion !