THE DATE PALM

AND

ITS CULTIVATION IN THE PUNJAB

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THE DATE PALM

AND

BY

D. MILNE

h

Economic Botanist, Punjab,
Lyallpur

PUBLISHED FOR

THE PUNJAB GOVERNMENT
1918

Price, R$. 5,

UBRAKY AGRIC. DEPT.

CALCUTTA :
PRINTED BY THACKBR, SPINK AND CO

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION,

THIS note was originally written as a circular letter to meet
the large number of questions which were showered on me in
connection with the scheme of date improvement started some
years ago in the Punjab. It was therefore only intended for
my staff and a few people who were so kindly assisting the
Agricultural Department in carrying out the work in connection
with the date scheme. It has now been considerably extended
and the circulation has become much wider : I therefore wish
to say that in addition to drawing on my own knowledge gained
in Egypt and in India I have, when writing this pamphlet, made
free use of W. T. Swingle's Bulletin No. 53, Department of
Agriculture of the United States of America, Dr. Bonavia's book
' The Date Palm in India," and other works. I have also to
thank Mr. Gaskin, Assistant for Commerce and Trade, Baghdad,
and other friends, for their kindness in giving me information.
My most grateful thanks are due to Agha Yusaf Ali Khan, my
Teaching and Research Assistant, and to other members of my
staff, for assistance in the collection of materials from the date
plantations laid down by the Agricultural Department in the
Punjab, from the experiments which have been carried on,
and from the various pieces of information which have been picked
up during tours and at demonstrations on date culture.
Mr. W. H. H. Young, Lyallpur, of the North-Western Railway,
has very kindly made figs. A, B, C, and D of illustrations
Nos. 17 and 18, pages 12c and I2d for me.

March, 1913. D. MILNE,

Economic Botanist, Punjab, Lyallpur.

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

IN continuation of the object aimed at in the previous
editions, the present note is intended to provide readily available
information on date culture to those who have so kindly helped
the Agricultural Department in the improvement of date culture
since I began this work in 1909.

It also aims at interesting farmers in date cultivation in
suitable localities in the Punjab and, what seems equally necessary
since people have seen the comparatively fine date fruits grown
in the Punjab on imported trees, warning intending planters
against laying out large date plantations in unsuitable situations.
The questions dealt with in the note are those which have been
put to me by, or are likely to arise in the minds of, date-growers.
They have been dealt with briefly, and of necessity in language
as non-technical as possible.

The chief additions made in this issue are as follows :—

(a) Glossaries of scientific, English and vernacular terms
in common use in the Punjab in connection with date cultivation.

Practically the whole of the vernacular terms and their
definitions are the result of discussions with date-growers in the
districts concerned. The glossary of the Multani language by
E. O'Brien, i.c.s., and the Dictionary of the Economic Products
of India by Sir Geo. Watt have also been consulted.

(b) A few notes on the structure of the palm which may
help people to better understand the conditions in which the plant
is fitted to grow and give its best returns.

(c) Notes on some diseases of the date palm in the Punjab.

The whole note has been brought more abreast with our
work, and endeavours have been made to make it more suitable

PREFACE. V

for its purpose. Where other workers have helped me as regards
material for the note, acknowledgments have been made in the

text.

It will be seen there that I have been greatly indebted to
Dr. G. T. Walker, c.s.i., Director of the Indian Meteorological
Department, for meteorological information regarding the Punjab
and the principal date-growing countries of the world, to
Mr. H. E. Annett, Agricultural Chemist, Bengal, for certain notes
regarding date-toddy and sugar-making from the sap of PJicenix
Sylvestris, to Mr. Bainbrigge Fletcher, Imperial Entomologist, for
the use of illustrations Nos. 45 and 46, to Professor H. M. Lefroy,
late Imperial Entomologist, to Mr. C. C. Ghosh of the Entomological
Section, Pusa, to L. Madan Mohan Lai, Assistant Professor of Ento-
mology, Lyallpur, and others for most of the material for the notes
on the insect pests, and to Mr. Ley. late Director-General of
Commercial Intelligence, Calcutta, for information regarding
exports and imports of dates, etc.

Mr. J. H. Barnes, Agricultural Chemist, Punjab, kindly
allowed the departmental photographer working in his section
to develop for me all the photographs which have been used
as illustrations, and to take many of these photographs under my
directions.

Mr. T. Miller Brownlie, Agricultural Engineer, at considerable
inconvenience to himself, was kind enough to allow me the use of
his draftsman to make illustrations Nos. 22, 24, 26, 27, 32, and 35.

When the date work referred to in this note was started,
our greatest difficulty was to get our instructions regarding the
care of young plantations carried out, and the Agricultural
Department is specially indebted to Mr. F. W. Skemp, I.G.S.,
then Deputy Commissioner, Muzaffargarh, for having the planta-
tions there most carefully attended to and for the great personal
interest which he took in the work. The department is also much
indebted to his successors for so willingly continuing the work. It is
indebted to Lieut. -Col. Lowis and successive Deputy Commissioners
of Dera Ghazi Khan district for help in the work undertaken in that

Vi PREFACEs

district, to the Jail Department in connection with the plantation
in the garden of the Central Jail, Multan, and to the officers of the
Canal Department for the experimental plantations which they have
put down in their own lands, and for their ever readiness to assist
as regards water-supply, or by any other means in their power.
A number of other officers and private friends have also given
valuable assistance in one way or another less easy to specify
concisely. Among these I may mention Mr. A. E. Jeffries, Executive
Engineer, Canal Department, who has for years helped greatly with
special date experiments and in many other ways. Mr. Paul
B. Popenoe, Altadena, California, author of " Date Growing in the
Old and New Worlds " and of a large number of other interesting
writings on the date industry, has very kindly sent copies of his
writings to me from time to time. There are many others.

I wish again to acknowledge my great indebtedness to my
staff who have one and all, at various times, done much to clear
up points showing how far date cultivation might be made
profitable to the people of the Punjab.

It is pleasing to be able to say that all results of investiga-
tions made up to date tend to show most decidedly that the people
may derive great benefits from date cultivation if it is properly
conducted in suitable situations. Major Buck, LA., Deputy
Commissioner, Muzaffargarh, has just acquired a further 19 acres
of good land for the District Board to lay out in a date plantation,
and we have more orders from local farmers for young date
plants than we can hope to supply for several years.

A vernacular translation of this edition is practically ready
for publication, and it is hoped that it will be out soon.

D. MILNE,

Economic Botanist, Punjab, Lyallpur.

CONTENTS.

GLOSSARY.

PAGE.

A few common English and scientific terms used in date cultivation, with
their meanings : also vernacular equivalents where such are com-
monly used . . . . . . . . xi

A few vernacular terms connected with date cultivation in the Punjab,

with their English meanings . . . . . . xv

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE DATE PALM ; A FEW NOTES ON
ITS ADAPTATIONS TO ITS HABITAT, AND THE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN THE SEXES.

Para.

1. General requirements of the plant . . . . . . 1

2. The root .. .. .. .. ib.

3. Stem .. .. .. .. .. .. 6

4. Leaves . . . . . . . . . . 7

5. Buds .. .. .. .. ..-cv-ii .. 10

6. The inflorescence or flower-cluster . . . . . . 11

7. The male flower-cluster . . . . . . . . 12

8. The female flower-cluster . . . . . . ib.

9. A brief comparison of male and female flower-clusters, and flowers 13

10. Hermaphrodite flowers and polygamous trees . . . . ib.

11. Differences between male and female suckers .. .. 14

12. Differences between adult male and female trees, when not in

flower 16

CHAPTER II.

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

13. Soils .. .. .. .. lf» f". 19

14. Resistance to alkali . . . . ib.

15. Effects of winds . . > . , . . r . .; . . 25

16. General remarks on temperature . . ib.

17. Winter temperature . . 32

18. Summer temperature . . . . 33

19. Comparison of heat units at Punjab stations with those at

stations in Algeria, Tunis, Egypt, and Mesopotamia . . 40

20. Rainfall and humidity . . . . . . . . 44

Vill CONTENTS.

Para. PAGE.

21. The world's date flowering season . . . . . . 45

22. Humidities in the flowering season . . . . . . ib.

23. Kainfall in the flowering season . . . . . . 52

24. Humidity and rainfall in the fruit developing and ripening

season . . . . . . . . ib.

25. The limiting factor of date farming in the Punjab . . . . 54

26. Useful information that might be collected . . . . 65

CHAPTER III.

PROPAGATION OF DATE PLANTS FROM SEEDS AND SUCKERS
(OFF-SHOOTS), CARE OF YOUNG PLANTATIONS, MANURING,
INTERCULTURE. PRUNING AND WATER REQUIREMENTS OF
ESTABLISHED PLANTATIONS.

27. Propagation by seeds . . . . . . 66

28. Rearing of date seedlings . . . . . . 67

29. Advantages of planting by off-shoots . . . . . . ib.

30. Time of year to select off -shoots . . . . . . 68

31. Trimming of suckers and detaching them from parent trees . . ib.

32. Size of suckers to be planted . . . . . . 69

33. To induce off-shoots to form roots . . . . . . ib.

34. Care of off-shoots after removal from parent tree until planted . . 70

35. Time of year to plant off -shoots . . . . . . 71

36. Cost of off-shoots in Arabia . . . . . . 72

37. The advantages and disadvantages of having dates in plantations

as compared with having the trees around the borders of fields ib.

38. Choosing the site, and preparations for laying down a plantation . . 73

39. Distances between the trees in a plantation and relative positions

of the trees . . . . . . . . 77

40. The question of applying manure to the plants at planting time . . 79

41. Planting the off-shoots . . . . . . 80

42. To prevent water getting into the crown of the off-shoot when

the plant has sunk after planting . . . . . . 81

43. To prevent cracking of the soil round the plants and excessive

evaporation of water . . . . . . ib.

44. Newly planted trees must be shaded by thatch . . . . 82

45. Trees must not be shaken till firmly established . . . . ib.

46. Auxiliary crops . . . . . . . . 83

47. Method of keeping records of trees in a plantation . . . . ib.

48. Register of waterings . . . . . . 84

49. Water and other requirements of a young plantation on medium

soils in Multan . . ... . . . . ib.

50. Water requirements of young plantations in Basra .. .'. 85

51. The effects of allowing the soil in a young plantation to dry up . . ib.

52. Death-rate in a young plantation . . . . • • 86

CONTENTS. IX

Para. PAGE.

53. Manuring and interculfcure of established date palms . . 87

54. Leaf pruning and clearing of excess of off -shoots and rubbish

from the bases of the trees . . . . . . 88

55. Effect of seedling dates and weeds on a plantation . . . . 89

56. Ages between which trees produce off-shoots and number of

suckers borne . . . . . . . . ib.

57. Water requirements of adult trees . . . . . . 91

58. Treatment of the soil between the trees where no crops are grown ib.

CHAPTEK IV. ;

POLLINATION TO FRUIT PRESERVATION.

59. Date that the trees come into flower in the Punjab and number

of flower-clusters produced per annum by a date tree . . 92

60. Method of artificial pollination . . . . . . ib.

61. Fertilization and its effects .. .. .. ..94

62. Characters of the male trees are conveyed to the seeds, but not

to the edible part of the fruits formed as the immediate result

of pollination . . . . . . . . 95

63. Number of males required per 100 females . . . . ib.

64. Hand pollination demands regular attention at the flowering

season . . . . . . . . 96

65. Preservation of pollen . . . . . . ib.

66. Selection of male trees . . . . . . 97

67. Percentage of males required for natural pollination .. .. ib.

68. Advantages of " hand pollination " . . . . ib.

69. Falling of two of the three fruits from a female flower . . 98

70. Seedless dates and their relation to pollination . . . . ib.

71. Reducing the number of bunches of fruits to 8 or 12 per tree .. 99

72. Too many fruits on a date tree . . . . ib.

73. Protection of fruits from enemies . . . . . . ib.

74. Harvesting and ripening of the fruits . . . . . . 100

75. Wet atmosphere in the ripening time . . . . . . 101

76. Preservation and packing of date fruits . . . . . . ib.

CHAPTER V.

EXTENT OF DATE GROWING IN THE PRINCIPAL DATE GROWING
LOCALITIES OF THE PROVINCE, DATE FRUITS FROM LOCAL
AND IMPORTED TREES, AND PROFITS TO BE EXPECTED FROM
DATE FARMING.

77. Where dates are grown in the Punjab . . . . . . 107

78. Number of date trees and revenue from them in Multan,

Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Jhang districts . . ib.

79. Punjab varieties of dates .. .. .. ... 108

x CONTENTS.

Para. PAGE.

80. Why many of the dates growing in the western side of the Punjab

are so very inferior . . . . . . 108

81. The question whether Arabian trees imported into the Punjab

would bear fruits here of a better quality than those of the local
trees . . . . . . . . . . 109

82. How to discover early whether a variety of date palm is suited

to a particular locality .. .. .. ..110

83. Varieties of dates imported into the Punjab from Basra and

their distribution .. .. .. ..Ill

84. Number of trees planted in 1910 in the Taleri Bagh, Muzaffargarh

and Multan Central Jail plantations which have come into
flower up to the present time (end of 1915 season), and the
fruits yielded by them . . . . . . ib.

85. Comparison of fruits from imported trees growing at Muzaffar-

garh and from local trees growing in the same district . . 113

86. Prices of date fruits in the Punjab .. .. .. 115

87. Crop of dates per tree . . . . . . . . 116

88. Gross income from date plantations . . . . 117

89. Date palm by-products, their value and uses . . . . 119

90. Date toddy and sugar-making from the sap of the palm . . 120

91. Beverages of the nature of beer made from date fruits . . 122

CHAPTER VI.

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM.

92. Palm leaf pustule (Graphiola phoenicis) . . . . . . 123

ib. Bordeaux mixture . . . . . . . . 124

93. Red Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) . . . . 126

94. Rhinoceros Beetle, or Black Palm Beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) . . 135

95. Scale insects (Coccidese) . . . . . . . . 137

96 Insects found in stored fruits (a Tineid Moth and Cigar-boring

beetle) .. .. .. .. ..139

CHAPTER VII.

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF DATE FRUITS AND PROSPECTS OF DATE
FARMING IN THE PUNJAB PLAINS.

97. Quantities and value of date fruits imported into and exported

from British India by sea during the 5 years ending March

31st, 1915 . . . . . . . . . . 142

98. Prospects of date culture in the Punjab plains . . . . 150

99. Over production of dates . . . . . . . . 152

^ APPENDIX.

List of importers of date fruits into India

GLOSSARY.

A FEW COMMON ENGLISH AND SCIENTIFIC TEEMS USED IN DATE CULTIVATION
WITH THEIR MEANINGS ; ALSO VERNACULAR EQUIVALENTS WHERE SUCH
ARE COMMONLY USED.

CARPEL

DATE GROVE

(See para. 8 page 12 and f.h.k., Illustration No. 18,
Sketch C, page 12d.) The central part of the
female flower is formed of 3 carpels closely applied
together. The basal oval part of each carpel is
called the ovary ; the pointed apical portion is
called the stigma.

Ver. " Piri " <^JJ (see Frontispiece). Sometimes
called " Khori " (.j}}**. Khori is more properly
applied to a corner of the curing yard in which the
cured fruits are temporarily stored immediately
after removal from the curing mats. The floor of
the khori is usually a foot or so higher than the rest
of the curing yard in order to facilitate drainage in
case of rain.

Ver. " Khajion ka bagh :" ^ K etfiW " Nakhlistan"
uALJsJ. A small group of date plants arising from a
common stool is in vernacular called a " Thadda."

DATE PALM

FEMALE TREE
FERTILISATION

FIBRE AT THE BASE OF

LEAF STALK
FLO WEB

Ver. "Khajji." «.,»•«*'

Fruit bearing tree. Ver. " Madah."

The fusion of certain of the contents of the pollen
grain with certain of those of the ovule of the
female flower, and which results in the conversion
of the ovule into a seed ; in this case containing
an embryo or baby plant and a food store around
it. I have found no local vernacular equivalent.
In Arabic it is called " Talqih."

Ver. "Kabal." JUT
Ver. " Paul." J^«J
Sometimes a collection
*' Bur." j*

of the flowers is called

Xll

GLOSSARY.

FRUIT

HEKMAPHRODITE

FLOWERS

IMAGO
INFLORESCENCE

The ripened ovary (see ovary, page xiv).

Ver. " Mewa " %#« or " Phal." J«J

Ver. " Khajji " ^7^ usually applied to the date

palm, but sometimes applied to the fruit only.
Ver. " Find " 5Ju a ripe date fruit.

Ver. " Bhugrian " &\gfjv. Date fruits, especially
inferior ones, are sometimes plucked from the trees
before they begin to soften, are boiled in water to
which has been added some oil or " ghi " (boiled
butter) or milk and sometimes a little salt. They
can be kept for years in this state and are used at
festivals. Such fruits are called " Bhugri.an." In
other cases the fruits are boiled in water, dried and
smeared with oil or " ghi." Sometimes they are
not boiled but simply dried hard and smeared with
oil or " ghi." Rape or mustard oil is preferred.
The term is also applied to the dried fruits of the
" Ber " (Zizyphus Jujuba).

Ver. " Bogh." *«$>» Fruits from polygamous
trees : also sometimes applied to any date fruit
with little flesh on it.

Ver. " Chirvi " ^jj*. or " Shingastan " ^lw&£ Date
fruits which have been cut open and dried. The
seeds may or may not be removed in the process.

Ver. " Dang." ^»3 A fruit which in the process of

ripening has begun to soften.
Ver. " Doka." ^5 A date fruit after it has changed

from green to its distinctive colour (yellow or purple)

but is still quite hard.

Ver. " Gandora." \}j&$. Dates which are yet hard

and green.
Ver. " Khassi "<^*o^- seedless fruits.

Ver. " Kukk." «-& A fruit which has shrivelled up
prematurely on the tree ; usually fed to goats :
sometimes made into bread by poor people.

Both sexes in the same flower.

The form taken in the mature stage in the life history
of an insect.

In common language, the flower-cluster. It issues
from the spathe (see Illustrations Nos. 15 and 16,
pages 12a and 126). Ver. " Phulon ka khosha."

GLOSSARY.

Xlll

LARVA

LEAF

LEA*- BASE

LEAF STALK

MALE TREE
MAT, SMALL
MAT, LARGER
MONCECIOUS TREE

OFF-SHOOT

OVARY . .
OVULE

An individual branch of the
inflorescence is in vernacular called " Lam " p^
or " Mala." ^U When the flowers have gone
from it, ver. " Bohara." ]£*>#

The form taken in the worm-like stage in the life
history of an insect.

Ver. " Patta " lu or " Pattar." jh The entire leaf
is composed of a strong main axis (ver. " Chharri "
eyJ-s^ or " Lakra " J^V) which arises from the tree
trunk and bears a row of leaflets (ver. Bhutra l^*j)
along either side, which stand out from it more or
less like the pinnae of a feather. The vernacular
term " Chharri " is sometimes applied to the leaf
including both main axis and leaflets. The opening
leaves on the head of the tree. Ver. " Gacha." l*.(f
The term Gacha is sometimes applied to the whole
leaf system on the tree top. The whole collection of
leaves on the tree may also be referred to in verna-
cular as " Chharion ka majmua " **^*atuc !£eJ*!}<^
or " Patton ki chhatri." (jy*«* ^ o^J The
white edible unopened leaves in the centre of the
gacha. Ver. " Gari " <^JS (growing point).

The flattened part of the leaf stalk which attaches
the leaf to the stem of the tree. Ver. " Chhauda."
I5>«f. Fibre at the leaf base. Ver. " Kabal." jUr

Part of the leaf from where it joins the tree stem to
where the leaflets begin to be given off the main
axis. Ver. " Dhambra " l^ol*^ or " Dangra. "
\jfyl

Pollen bearing tree. Ver. " Nar." y

Ver. " Taddi " ^53) used for spreading fruits on

Ver. " Parchha " t«Ljj/ during curing operations.

Where the sexes are in separate flowers but on the
same tree. (Jack) ver. '• Bogh " a^jj

A young date plant arising from a bud. These buds
are usually given off from near the base of the
stem of a date tree (see page 10, para. 5). Ver.
"Bacha" *»;

A tree raised from off-shoot. Ver. " Lagwin." L*J«^^

Ver. " Bij Dan." i^li ^portion of the carpel con-
taining the ovule (see para. 8, page 12).

A body contained in the ovary and which after fertili-
sation becomes the seed (see also Fertilisation).

XIV

GLOSSARY.

PERIANTH

POLLEN ,

POLYGAMOUS TREES

POLLINATION
PUPA

ROOT

ROPE USED IN CLIMB-
ING A DATE TREE . .
SEED

SEEDLING
SPATHE

STEM

STIGMA

SUCKER
THORN . .

TBEE, MALE

„ FEMALE

,, RAISED FROM A

SEED

TREE, RAISED FROM A
SUCKER (OFF-
SHOOT)

In this case it is composed of the whorls of scales at the

base of the flower (see Illustrations Nos. 17 and 18,

pages 12c and I2d).
The fine yellowish powder-like material which is shed

from the ripe male flower and which must be con-

veyed to the female flower in order to fertilise it.
Ver. " Bur " » or " Phul ka ghubar." jU» K J^J
Sometimes called " Bur ka ata." W \6 )?.
With hermaphrodite and unisexual flowers on the

same, or on different individuals of the same species

(Jacks).
The conveying of the pollen from the male to the

receptive part of the female flower.
The form taken in the dormant stage in the life history

of an insect.
Ver. "Jar." ^ "Par." jb

Kamand. **+'

The hard structure inside the date fruit. Ver.
"Gakkar." j&

Plant grown from a seed. Ver. " Tukhmi "
" Gakkar ka bacha " *^u K j& or " Biji."

The leathery or hard case which encloses the flower-
cluster until ready for pollination. Usually three to
five inches across and a foot or more in length when
it bursts to expose the flowers. Ver. " Sippi " ^^
(see para. 6, also Illustrations Nos. 15 and 16,
pages 12a and 126).

Ver. "Tanah." *ii "Dud" 3,> or "Lara." \J

Stem-stump— Ver. " Mundh." <*A5J*°

Upper portion of stem— Ver. " Pand." «wlj

The part of the carpel which in pollination receives
the pollen grains (see also Carpel).

See off-shoot. Ver. " Bacha." *su

Ver. " Thua," 1#> " Kanta " &K or " Kanda." I ^

Ver. " Nar." y

Ver " Madah " »^Lo Or " Madi." i>^>

Ver. " Biji "

Ver. "Lagwin."

or " Tukhmi."

XV

A FEW VERNACULAR TERMS CONNECTED WITH DATE CULTIVATION IN THE
PUNJAB, WITH THEIR ENGLISH MEANINGS.

ANNA *Jf
BACHA *a?u
BAIKAR T*V

Bui
BHUGRIAN c

BHUTRA
BOGH *

BOKAR

BUHARA

BUHARI

BUR ;>J
CHHARI

CHHAUDA ljj

One penny approximately.
Off-shoot, sucker.

The lessee of the date trees. The lease is usually taken
before the time the fruits are fully formed. The
baikar protects the fruits from enemies, harvests,
and disposes of them making what profit he can
over the sum which he has agreed (in the lease)
to pay to the owner of the trees.

Seedling : a tree grown from a seed.

Date fruits — especially inferior ones — are plucked from
the tree before they begin to^soften ; are boiled in
water, to which has been added some oil or " ghi "
(boiled butter) or milk and sometimes a little salt.
They are then dried hard and stored. They can
be kept for years in this state and are used at
festivals. Such fruits are called " Bhugrian."

In other cases the fruits are boiled in water, dried and
smeared with oil or " ghi." Sometimes they are
not boiled but simply dried hard and smeared with
oil or "ghi." Rape or mustard oil is preferred for
this purpose. The term Bhugri is also applied to
the dried ripe fruit of the " beri " plant (Zizyphus
jujuba).

Leaflet : see also Leaf.

Fruits from polygamous trees. Also sometimes

applied to any date fruit with little flesh on it.
Polygamous trees are also called Bogh.

(A broom) Applied to the male or female inflorescence
of a date tree after the flowers or fruits have
gene from it. See Illustrations Nos. 15 and 16
pages 12a and 126.

Pollen ; sometimes flowers.

(A stick) the main axis of the date leaf (see page 7).
Sometimes applied to^the whole leaf.

Leaf base, i.e., the part of the leaf stalk left attached
to the tree stem when the leaf is pruned away.

XVI

GLOSSABYt

CHIRVI

CHI RAN

OR

CHHOHARA

DANG

From " chlrna " — to cut. Date fruits which have
been cut open and dried. The seeds may or may
not be removed in the process. Chirvi or Chiran
is also applied to beaten date leaves that are used
for making ropes.

In the Persian Gulf unripe date fruits are boiled and
dried. Large quantities of these are exported to
India and are known here as Chhoharas. As these
dates are generally of better quality than the ordinary
local Indian dates, the best local varieties are now
generally known as Chhoharas.

A date fruit which (in the process of ripening) has begun
to soften. This softening usually begins near the
distal end of the fruit and is accompanied by a
change of colour. Date fruits in the Punjab are
usually plucked from the trees at this stage.

OR

DANGRA a/J
DHAMBRA 'jp*il*5 . . Leaf stalk.

DOKA Kj3

DUD 3i . .
GACHA

(rAKAR j£

GANDORA
GARI .r^

HIK SALI

JAR j^ . .
JHUTT

KABAL

A date fruit after it has changed from green to its
distinctive colour (yellow or purple), but is still
quite hard.

Stem.

The opening leaves on the head of the tree. Some-
times applied to the whole leaf system on the top
of the palm.

Seed.

Dates which are yet hard and green.

(Kernel) the white edible unopened leaves in the
centre of the " Gacha." The same term is commonly
applied to the white edible internal part of a cocoa-
nut.

See " Vareli khajji."

Root.

The thicket of suckers, seedlings, etc., which grows up

at the base of badly attended trees.
The thin but conspicuous network of fibre which

appears at the base of each petiole (leaf .stalk) where

it joins the tree stem.

GLOSSARY.

XV11

KAMAND
KAMB
KANTA
KHAJJI

KHAR-KHARA
KHARAK

KHASSI FIND S»

KHORI &

KUKK

LAG WIN er
LAKRA \j
LARAH \j)
MADAH

MAUND OR MAN
MUNDH

NAKHLISTAN
NAR y . .
PAND *ta
PAR Jb
PARCHA

PATTA OR PATTAR

PATTON KI CHHATRI

J?HARA t>«J
M, DP

A rope used in ascending a date tree.

Leaf stalk.

Thorn.

Usually applied to the date palm, but sometimes to

the fruit only. " Khajion ka bagh." «lj K <*tj*x^

A date grove.

A cluster of fine roots.
See Bhugrian.

From khassi — -castrated. A date tree which habitually
bears seedless dates.

Seedless fruits. They are developed from unfertilised
carpels.

Portion of curing yard used for storing cured dates
temporarily. It is usually raised a few inches
higher than the rest of the curing yard.

Date fruits which have shrivelled up prematurely on
the tree. They are usually fed to goats, etc., and
sometimes made into bread by poor people.

A tree grown from an off-shoot.

The main axis of the leaf.

Stem.

A female tree.

82 Ibs.

Basal portion of the tree left in the ground when the
stem is cut away, i.e., the tree stump.

A date grove.

Male tree.

Upper portion of the stem.

Root.

Large mat used for spreading dates on during the
curing process.

Leaflet.

The whole collection of leaves on the tree top.
See Bhutra.

XV111

GLOSSARY.

PHUL

FIND

PlRI

RUPEE
SAKAR
SEER OR
SHINGASTAN
SOK «J-«

SIPP y-
SIPPI

Flower.

" Phul ka ghubar " ;Ui K J^«J— pollen.
khosha " 4«ji. ^ ^ — ^inflorescence.

TADI

TALQIH

TAN AH
THADDA

THUA

TUKHMI

VARELI KHAJJI

Phulon ka-

Ripe date fruit.

See Khori.

16 pence approximately.

See Gandora.

T^th maund or 2 oV^h Ibs.

See Chirvi.

Date fruits which dry well and the skin does not come

off in curing. Also applied to the plant which

bears such dates.

(Oyster shell.) Applied to the spathe from which the
date inflorescence issues (see Illustrations Nos. 15
and 16, pages 12a and 126).
. . A small mat on which date fruits are spread in the sun

during the process of curing (see Frontispiece).
(ARABIC) Fertilisation.

. . Stem.

.. Small group of date plants arising from a common
stool.

. . A thorn. Large thorns are found on the main axis
or petiole of the leaf (see Illustration No. 8,
page 6e).
Seedling. A tree grown from a seed.

From " Vari " — a turn, and " Wali " signifying
possession or relation. A palm believed to bear
fruit in alternate years.

XIX

ILLUSTRATION No. 1.

Arabian date tree planted 5 years previously at Lyallpur — earth dug away from
one side to expose root system.

(See para. 2, page I.)

ILLUSTRATION No. 2.

N

a

Part of Transverse Section of Secondary root of date palm (Phoenix dactylifora) X 116 diameters.
(«) Centre of the root.
(M Outer boundary of ceatral portion (stele).

(c) Bands of tough scle-ronehymatous tissue.

(d) Large air passages.

(e) Outer wall of root.

The extra -stelar tissues include all those between (b) and (e).

The stelar tissues are chiefly sclerenchymatous,

(See para. 2, page I.)

CHAPTER I.

THE DATE PALM. (Phoenix dactylifera.)

General requirements of the date palm ; a few notes on its adaptations
to its habitat, and the differences between the sexes.

1. The natural home of the date palm is close to a well
or spring or other water-supply, in a dry
parched desert with scorching summer heat.

E EE AT A .

Page 123, fifth line from top—

For fungoid pest read fnngal pest.

Page 124, twelfth line from bottom —

far fungoid diseases read fungal diseases.

--tf. .Like other plants of its class, the date palm possesses
no large tap root, but has what is known

The root.

as a fibrous root-system, i.e., it has a large
number of secondary roots more or less equal in thickness,
arising in a dense cluster from the base of the stem (see
illustration No. 1, page XIX). In this case the secondary roots
are usually about J to f inch in diameter. These roots give
off a number of smaller lateral roots, and, after decreasing to
a diameter of about J inch or rather less, end abruptly.

In transverse sections of the secondary roots (see illustration
No. 2, page XX) outside the relatively well-marked central
M, DP 1

CHAPTER I.

THE DATE PALM. (Phoenix dactylifera.)

General requirements of the date palm ; a few notes on its adaptations
to its habitat, and the differences between the sexes.

I. The natural home of the date palm is close to a well
or spring or other water-supply, in a dry
parched desert with scorching summer heat.
Such places are often quite cold in winter, but the
palms there seem well able to withstand the cold. The fruits
mature in summer or autumn, and will not ripen properly unless
under excessive heat. Without an unstinted water-supply readily
available to the roots, the fruits do not develop properly,
while a moist atmosphere adversely affects both pollination
(see page 45, para. 22), and the proper maturing of the fruit
(see page 52, para. 24). For the most successful cultivation of
dates, an extremely dry atmosphere, a very high temperature,
and a plentiful supply of water are, therefore, essential during
the flowering and fruiting period. The Arabic saying " the
date palm likes its feet in water and its head in fire " is
roughly expressive of the requirements of the plant.

2. Like other plants of its class, the date palm possesses
no large tap root, but has what is known

The root.

as a fibrous root-system, i.e., it has a large
number of secondary roots more or less equal in thickness,
arising in a dense cluster from the base of the stem (see
illustration No. 1, page XIX). In this case the secondary roots
are usually about J to f inch in diameter. These roots give
off a number of smaller lateral roots, and, after decreasing to
a diameter of about J inch or rather less, end abruptly.

In transverse sections of the secondary roots (see illustration
No. 2, page XX) outside the relatively well-marked central
M, DP i

THE DATE PALM.

portion (stele) which contains the main sap-conducting tissues,
we find a peripheral (extrastelar) region in which even to the
naked eye, or under a pocket lens, a great number of large air
passages are visible.

Such passages are common in the roots of plants adapted
for growth in soils which habitually contain excessive amounts
of water, and which are usually less well serated than ordinary
soils. They are not found in common plants which habitually
grow on well-drained soils. The older parts of the roots of the
rice plant (Oryza sativa), for example, show very large air passages
in that region, while none are found in that part of the root of
a wheat plant (see illustrations Nos. 3 and 4, page 2a).

The huge air passages in the date root structure indicate
that the plant should have a plentiful water-supply available
to it, and that the dangers of over-watering are not nearly as
great as in the case of other common fruit trees. In the light
of the above, we cease to be astonished that the date palm can
yield good crops of fruits when the soil is under water for some
months every year, as, for example, on the banks of the Nile in
Egypt and near other large rivers.

It is not, however, adapted for living permanently in stagnant
water-logged soils. We find that date palms growing on land
which has been submerged in more or less stagnant water for a
period of several years are not in good health ; their roots are
more or less decayed, and the crops of fruits are miserable (see
illustration No. 23, page 72a).

The best crops of dates are obtained where the soil water is
always fresh as well as plentiful.

On the roots of common flowering plants which habitually
grow on ordinary well-drained soils and from the leaves of which a
good deal of water is transpired, hair-like outgrowths known as
root-hairs are found. These root-hairs are only developed on a
limited region a short distance behind the root tip. Their special
function is to absorb the water and dissolved salts from the soil

2a

ILLUSTRATION No. 3

Extra, stc lar portion

Stele

Ex.tr-a stela f portion

Transverse section of old root of Rice (oryza sativa) X 116 diameters.,
(a) Centre of root.
(6) Outer boundary of central portion (stele).

(c) Large air passages.

(d) Outer wall of root.

The extra stelar tissues include all those between (6) and (d).

(See para. 2, paye 1 .)

ILLUSTRATION No. 4.

Extra stelar portion.

Stele'.

Transverse section of root of wheat (Triticum Vulgare) X 116 diameters.

(a) Centre of root.

(b) Outer boundary of central portion (stele).

(c) Outer wall of root.

(d) Root hairs.

Note the comparatively poor development of the extra stelar area and the absence" of
huge air passages in it.

(See para. 2, page 1.)

C4ENERAL REQUIREMENTS.

which are necessary to carry on the vital functions of the plant.
Plants which develop no root-hairs seem to absorb sufficient
water and salts for their needs through cells non-protuberant
from the main surface of the roots. Root-hairs greatly increase
the root's absorbing surface. Some writers (see Kerner and
Oliver " Natural History of Plants," Volume I, page 91 and
others) lead us to understand that root-hairs are absent in the
case of the date palm. I may, therefore, mention that root-hairs
have been found on the roots of date palms in the case of plants
growing in well drained soil at Lyallpur where the permanent
water-level is at about 80 feet depth ; at Mazuffargarh at a depth
of 8-| feet where the subsoil water-level during most of the year
is 7 feet or less from the soil surface but which at the time of
examination was. at 9 feet depth ; and elsewhere.

Root-hairs are also found on the rice plant.

In the peripheral (extrastelar) region of the root of the date
palm numerous bands of sclerenchyma (fibrous tissue strengthened
and toughened by the deposit of a substance called lignin) are
developed, which together with the sclerenchymatous tissue in
the central portion of the root give to that organ great tensile
strength— a character most important when the date tree has
to hold itself erect against the force of the fierce winds that
sometimes sweep through desert regions.

A date tree planted as a sucker at Lyallpur five years
previously was found to possess approximately 350 secondary
roots. The longest of these roots was about 18 feet in length
and was one of those which started from the stem most near the
surface of the soil. It left the stem at an angle of less than 20
degrees to the horizon, and bent sharply down into the soil when
about 9 feet away, so that its tip was only about 13 feet from
the tree.

Several other roots near the soil surface described a similar
course. The great mass of the roots, however, when they started
from the tree descended at a very sharp angle (see illustration
No. 1, page XIX) and ended within a radius of 6 feet from the

THE DATE PALM.

stem. The tips of the deepest of these penetrated to a depth of 7
to 9 J feet. The permanent water-level in the locality is at a depth
of about 80 feet. The tree was irrigated when necessary from a
small water channel which passes within 4 yards of it and flows
about once a week. One root followed up in another tree planted
as a sucker in the Taleri Bagh. Muzaffargarh, five years previously,
was 25 feet in length, and ended at a distance of 18 feet from the
parent tree.

With the exception of a comparatively few roots which spread
out more or less horizontally, the root-system of the five years old
date trees examined in the Taleri Bagh were contained within
a radius of 6 feet from the parent stems. The roots ended at
depths between 2 and 6j feet. The subsoil water-level at the
time of examination was 7 feet below the surface. In the case
of older trees in the same vicinity date roots were followed up to
Ij feet under the permanent water-level. In view of the special
internal structure of the root (see above, same paragraph) this
was to be expected.

The root-system of a date tree planted near Lyallpur
21 years previously was examined. The soil was a medium
loam. The permanent water-level was 80 feet deep, but there
is a large perennial canal 50 feet wide running at a distance
of 160 yards from it. About 26 feet from the tree a small
channel about 3 feet wide runs almost continually.

The following data were got : — •

Age of the

tree.

Total number
of secondary
roots on the
tree.

Percentage of the
total number of
secondary roots
which reached the REMARKS.
following radial
distances from

the tree.

1

21 years . .

7000

4 ft.

6| ft.

8J ft.

10£ ft.

34%

25%

23%

I

12% On the side of the tree facing
the small water channel.

29%

20%

14%

8% On the side of the tree facing
parallel to the small water
channel.

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GENERAL REQUIRE MENTS. 5

The diagrams on pages 4a and 46 show numbers and positions
of secondary roots of the above tree in 3 feet wide and 7 feet deep
sections of the soil at the undernoted distances away from the
tree.

About 75 to 80 per cent, of the roots of this tree descended from
the stem at an angle of 55 degrees or over from the horizontal,
and, as will be seen from the above table and diagrams, did not
extend beyond a radius of 6. feet from the tree trunk. They
ended at depths from 4 to 8j feet. The uppermost of the 20 to
25 per cent, approximately which extended to greater distances
from the tree started from the stem at angles less than 20 degrees
from the horizontal and usually bent sharply down near
their extremities. The spreading roots rapidly decreased in
number as the distance from the tree increased, and on the side
of the tree facing parallel to the water channel there were only
8 per cent, of the whole at a distance of 10 J feet away from
the parent stem.

On the side facing the water channel 12 per cent, were found
at 10J feet distance from the tree. Apparently the roots were
attracted by the soakage water from the channel. The deepest of
the roots descended to 7 feet, but the majority of them ended
at depths of 2 to 6 feet.

The same general arrangement of roots was found in other
date trees examined. Obviously the roots which spread more
or less horizontally are of very great use in preventing the
trees from being overturned by winds. Some of these were
traced to over 30 feet from the parent tree. The fact that
a very large proportion of the roots only spread to a distance
of a few feet from the stems explains why considerable crops
of fruits can be got even when the trees are grown very close
together, as they usually are in date-growing regions, and as
far as the root-system is concerned, it seems to indicate
that if only dates were grown a full return would not be got
from the land, if the trees were planted further apart than
20 feet.

THE DATE PALM.

3. The stem of the tree is cylindrical. Unlike the stems
of most trees which increase in thickness prac-
tically throughout their whole life, the stem of
the date palm does not increase in thickness after it has developed
a full crown of functional leaves. This is attained by the time
that a distinct stem covered with withered leaves or — where
these have been pruned away — their bases can be distinguished
above the level of the ground. The age of an adult date palm,
therefore, cannot be told from the thickness of its stem. Even
the length of the stem and the number of old leaf bases on it are
not very accurate indications of age, as a palm in good conditions
of soil and climate grows very much faster and matures more
leaves per year than those in adverse conditions.

The stem when opened and examined by the naked eye
(see illustration No. 7 opposite) is seen to be composed of a vast
number of tough string-like fibres commonly over | millimeter
in thickness lying apparently close together and mostly running
lengthwise in the stem. The string-like fibres are the vascular
bundles (sap-conducting tissues) of the plant (see illustration
No. la, page Qb) surrounded by a good deal of hard tissue
(sclerenchyma). The vascular bundles are connected with the
sap-conducting] tissues of the root. In the stem they give off
branch bundles occasionally which can be traced across the
-vertical ones in an upward slanting direction into the leaf
bases. This mass of tough strings is held together by a
matrix of cellular tissue which near the periphery of the stem
becomes so much lignified (thickened and toughened by a deposit
of lignin) that it is almost as tough and hard as the fibres
themselves, the whole making a stem far exceeding those of
ordinary trees in strength and resilience. When the palm is
cultivated, the leaves are pruned off near their bases after they
begin to lose their vigour, but in the wild state these leaves simply
bend downwards when they wither, and remain attached to the
tree for many years later. Whether the old leaves have been
left on the tree or pruned away, the stem proper remains closely
and permanently covered with the hard old leaf bases. This

6a

ILLUSTRATION No. 7.

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'* >'" - ; ^*%cj W F- ^ AiVf- JfclJ'f IL n I\'tl 9 ' 'i'f "' v

K

;^' Iw

rf&*?$ >M;:v f .-,.««

MU:v Sip

&k

Longitudinal section of date stem —
(a) Old leaf bases.

In the region of (b) and elsewhere in the photo, the cut ends of the branch, fibre-like bundles,
can be seen leading in an upward slanting direction towards the leaf bases.

(See page 6.)

ILLUSTRATION No. la.

8

Transverse section of one of the string-like bundles of sap conducting tissues of the stem

X 110 diameters.

A = Xylem vessels. There conduct salt sohitions absorbed from the soil by the roots to
tho leaves.

B = Phloem tissue. This tissue conducts the foods elaborated by the leaves back to the
various parts of the plant. There is only a small patch of phloem tissue. In tho
illustration it is about one centimetre in diameter. The arrow points to the centre
of it. Its comparatively thin walls give it a distinctive appearance here.
The remainder of the bundle consists of sclerenchymatous tissue which gives great
strength to it.

6c

ILLUSTRATION No. 8.

Leaf of date palm showing Pinnse (leaflets) radiating in 4 planes (a), (b), (c), and (d) from its

main axis (/), i.e., in 2 planes from either side.
Near the base of the main axis of the leaf the pinnae are poorly developed, hard, and form

thorns (e).

(See page 7.)

ILLUSTRATION No. 9.

Baso of leaf showing edges of the main axis extended into a thin wall of tissue (a) which
in the bud, forms a cylinder completely encircling all the younger leaves.

(See page 7.)

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. 7

covering of old leaf bases adds to the strength of the trunk, and
is a protection of the tissues within it from the excessive heat to
which the plant must be exposed in order to enable it to ripen
its fruits properly.

4. The stem is surmounted by a large terminal bud, from
which fresh young leaves are continually being
developed to replace the older leaves that are
withering up. Full-grown leaves are usually 9 to 17 feet long.
They may be described as feather-shaped ; each leaf having a
long tough main axis and a large number of narrow leaflets,
arranged along either side of it like the pinnae of a feather.
Collectively these pinnae give far less resistance to winds than
a single large undivided leaf blade would have done, and there
is, therefore, less risk of the tree being overthrown, or its stem
broken during a wind storm. Instead of the pinnae being
arranged in one plane on either side of the main axis as in the
case of the pinnae of a feather, they are usually arranged in two,
and sometimes three or more, more or less distinct planes on either
side of it (see illustration No. 8, page 6c). This arrangement
also facilitates the passage of the wind between the leaflets.
The edges of the base of the main axis of the leaf for about
| feet up its length are extended into a thin wall of soft tissue
which in the bud forms a cylinder completely encircling all the
younger leaves (see illustration No. 9, page 6d). TKej w^lT'-Jf
this cylinder or leaf -sheath is composed of a close- 'network- ©£, . ;^ ;-; •: .
long interwoven tough sclerenchymatous fibres and sap -conduct-'
ing tissues lying in a matrix of soft walled cells. As each leaf-
base is provided with this sort of sheath and the apical bud of
the palm is composed of a series of leaves, the sheaths of which
each envelope the younger ones, the undeveloped leaves are
protected in their youngest and most tender stage in a series of
cylinders fitted over each other like the sections of a nearly
closed telescope.

With the development of the younger leaves in the bud,
the sheaths at the bases of the older leaf-stalks become stretched
wider and wider to accommodate them, eventually being split

8 THE DATE PALM.

open ; also the matrix of soft tissue in the sheath wall soon
decays, and only the network of tough fibres is left. With the
further growth of the plant the sheath is still further stretched
so that even when the stem has attained its maximum thickness
the fibres pass a considerable distance round it.

The cylindrical young leaf-sheaths bind the very young
leaves firmly in a perpendicular position on the tree-top, but as
their age increases the stretching and splitting of the sheaths
allow the leaves to assume positions more and more near the
horizontal till withering up they become reflexed downwards
on the stem, or are pruned off (see illustration No. 29, page 86a).
Thus the youngest and most tender of the leaves are most crowded
together and protected by older ones, while the older they become
the wider apart they spread, the less they overshadow each other,
and the more they can make use of the energy of the sunlight
for their work of elaboration of food for the plant. When the
leaves have withered, the sheath fibres belonging to them are
still strong and are used by the people for various purposes (see
page 119, para. 89).

The central or main axis of the leaf, besides having an internal
structure of the same general principle as that of the stem, has
a shape admirably fitted to make the best use of its strength in
the , directions most required.

,.^.; On the main axis below the level of the leaflets are a number
of long, sharp thorns (see illustration No. 8, page 6c) which
would assist in protecting the tender young terminal bud from
damage by the larger animals. In the wild state of the palm
the flowers and developing fruits would also be protected by
these thorns from some animals.

The blades of the leaflets are rather thick, and sections of
one of them under a microscope show a large number of tough
sclerenchymatous bands of tissue running lengthwise in them
which make it impossible for winds to break these leaflets across
(see illustration No. 10, opposite). The margins of each leaflet
are specially strengthened with tough bands of tissue of this sort,

8a

ILLUSTRATION No. 10.

•ansverse section of a small part of the blade of a leaflet of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) X 116 diameters.

is the outer margin of the blade. The more or less round or oval patches of lighter coloured tissue are the
sclerenchymatous bands referred to in para. 4, page 8. Three strong bands of sclerenchyma(a) are seen on the
outer margin'of the blade. At regular intervals throughout the breadth of the leaflet there are very strong bands,
oval in transverse section (two marked b are seen in the photo) and between these much thinner bands.

is from the tough sclerenchymatous bands that ropos, etc., are made.

(See para. 4, page 8, and para. 89, page 119.)

ILLUSTRATION No. 11.

a

A small portion of tissue from the lower surface of the leaf of a date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)

magnified 600 diameters,
(a) Stomata (mouths) through which the plant takes in from the atmosphere various gases

necessary for the elaboration or digestion of its foods, and passes out its gaseous waste

products and excess of water in the form of vapour.
(6) Guard cells — cells which control the opening and closing of the stomata.

(See, jxira. 4, paye 9. )

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. 9

which eventually meet together and form a sharp, almost thorny
tip to the leaflet, thus making it also difficult for the wind to
start tearing the blade lengthwise (see illustration No. 12,
page 10&). As in the case of other trees there is a cuticle (skin)
on both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaflet, but inthe^case
of the date palm the cuticle is specially thick. The cuticle is
the outer layer of the outer wall of the external row of cells. It
is thickly impregnated with a substance known as " cutin "
which makes it tough and impervious to air and water. This
cuticle protects the more delicate cells lying under it to a greater
or less extent from abrasion from such bodies as wind-blown
sand grains, etc., and prevents these cells from being dried up by
dry air outside.

In the cuticle, there are rows of very tiny openings or mouths
known as " stomata " through which the plant transpires its
excess of water in the form of vapour into the atmosphere and
also passes various gases necessary for its existence (see illustra-
tion No. 11, page 8b). These stomata are so tiny that a magni-
fication of nearly 300 diameters is required to examine their
structure — a pin-prick is large in comparison. Like the stomata
in other plants, these open when their guard cells become turgid
with sap and close when they become flaccid. In this case,
however, they are sunken below the general level of the surface
of the leaf blade in small pits as is common only in xerophytic
(drought-resisting) plants. In plants the leaves of which lie
roughly horizontal, and therefore expose only their upper surfaces
to the sun's incident rays, the stomata are usually mostly confined
to the back (lower surface) of the leaf while the internal structure
shows the part near the face (upper surface) to be specially con-
structed to allow the chlorophyll granules (green colouring matter)
to collect the maximum energy from the sun's rays for the work
of food elaboration, tissue building, etc.

In the date palm the stomata are about as numerous on the
face as on the back of the leaflet ; also there is no marked
difference in the internal structure of the leaflet towards one

10 THE DATE PALM.

surface or the other. The last two characters are common in
many other plants, the leaves of which stand more or less
vertical and which present about as many of the backs as the
faces of the leaves towards the sun.

The leaflets of the date palm are folded once lengthwise,
the two edges being turned upwards (see illustration No. 12,
figure II, (a), opposite). At the base of the leaflet where it joins
the main axis the fold is fixed, and is nearly complete, i.e., the
two edges of the leaflet almost meet each other. When the
palm has a plentiful water-supply and other conditions are
favourable, each leaflet beyond its basal part is unfolded to
expose as large a surface area as possible to the sun, thus
allowing the chlorophyll to do its maximum work and to give
the stomata on both the face and back of the leaflet the freest
action (see illustration No. 12, figure II, opposite), but when
there is a scarcity of water the leaflet folds itself more or less
tightly along its whole length, and the two halves of the face
of the leaflet come together, thus protecting that surface of the
leaflet from the dry winds and reducing the amount of moisture
transpired from the plant (see illustration No. 12, figure I,
opposite). At the same time the leaflets tend to swing round
and crowd more together, thus sheltering each other from the
dry winds. These closing movements are caused by the contrac-
tion of a small pad of a yellowish tissue called a " pulvinus "
situated at the base of each leaflet.

With a fair water-supply and other normal conditions there
seems to be no marked diurnal change in the degree of folding
of the leaflets.

5. The stem is surmounted by a terminal bud which continues
to produce fresh young leaves throughout the life

Buds. '

of the palm. If these young leaves are taken
carefully apart from the stem, a very poorly developed bud,
which usually looks like a mere pustule, is generally to be found
in the axil of each leaf, i.e., directly at the base of the main
axis of the leaf, in the upper angle formed by that axis and the
stem. By far the most of these tiny axillary buds never develop

ILLUSTRATION No. 12.

Fig. I.

Fig. II.

Fig- I- Fig. II.

:ut from date tree and exposed to a hot sun for two hours approximately. Leaf just cut from the same date tree,

that the leaflets have closed along their longitudinal fold, owing to Note that both upper and lower surfaces of t

ss of water. The stomata on the normal upper surface of the leaflet leaflets are freely exposed to the air.
)ing now enclosed in the fold and sheltered from the dry air, trans-
iration is reduced,

ilvinus. P.— Pulvinus.

h "'fatie li

106

ILLUSTRATION No. 13.

Date tree at Multan showing suckers (a) growing out of the stems at various heights

from the ground.

(See para. 5, page 10.)

lOc

ILLUSTRATION No. 14.

Date tree growing on the border^of the Taleri Bagh, Muzaffargarh, which has 5 heads.

Continued wet weather in some year has apparently kept the kabal (fibre) and

debris near the apex of the stem damp for a sufficiently long time to stimulate the

parent buds into active growth.
Major Buek, Deputy Commissioner, Muzaffargarh District, has a photograph of a date tree

growing in the Karnal District which has 8 similar heads.

(<S'ee para. 5, page 10.)

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. 11

further, and when the la,rge terminal bud of the palm is destroyed
the tree usually dies. Those that do develop give rise to
" suckers "(off-shoots). They seem to require lengthened contact
with some moist surface to stimulate them to do so. " Suckers "
are, therefore, usually produced at the base of the stem where the
soil keeps the axillary buds moist. On rare occasions, however,
suckers are to be seen developing high above the level of the soil
surface (see illustrations Nos. 13 and 14, pages lOfr & ICc). The
axillary buds, protected as they are by the old leaf bases, often lie
dormant for many years before developing into suckers, but those
that are to develop have generally begun to do so within 20 years
(see page 89, para. 56).

6. The sexes of the date palm are usually on separate

trees. Perhaps for our purpose this statement

^'^flower-duster.0 ig sufficiently explained by saying that one tree

bears only flowers which cannot develop into

fruits but which produce a yellowish powder-like substance called

'' pollen " (see para. 7, page 12), while another tree produces

only flowers which produce no pollen and must be fertilised

(see para. 8, page 12) by pollen from flowers of the former

class, before they can develop fruits. The trees which produce

the pollen-bearing flowers are known as males, while those that

produce the fruit-bearing flowers are known as females.

In spring a number of structures, at first greenish, and later
brown, more or less lens-shaped in transverse section, and measur-
ing 3 to 5 inches across and a foot or more in length, make their
appearance between the bases of the leaves which crown the
palm. These structures are called " spathes," and each spathe
encloses a cluster of flowers. When the spathe has become brown
in colour and has attained something like the size mentioned
above, it splits open and exposes the cluster of flowers which : it
contains (see illustrations Nos. 15 and 16, pages I2a & 126). Each
flower-cluster consists of a central stem with usually some 50 to
150, or more, lateral branches radiating from near its end. and
each of these small branches carries on it a large number of tiny

12 THE DATE PALM.

flowers (see illustrations Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18, pages l2a, 126,
12c & I2d). The spathe has tough leathery walls, and, completely
enclosing the whole inflorescence, it protects the comparatively
delicate flowers from being shrivelled up with the intense heat
until they are quite ready to perform their functions.

7. When the spathe just described bursts, the male flower -
cluster is disclosed. Its small lateral branches
cluster. are about 6 inches long, and if the cluster is

shaken, about the time that the spathe splits
open, a dense cloud of yellowish pollen dust will fall from it.
On examination it will be seen that in every little flower there
are 6 stamens standing up like little pillars, each composed of
2 little yellowish pollen sacs and around the 6 little pillar-like
stamens are 6 little waxy-looking scale-like structures which
represent the sepals and petals in familiar flowers. These scales
close over and help to protect the stamens until the pollen sacs
have matured their pollen grains and are ready to burst and set
the pollen free (see illustrations Nos. 15 and 17, pages 12a & 12c).
Very soon after the large brown spathe splits open, the scales
(sepals and petals), which covered and protected the stamens,
open out and the pollen sacs burst. The opening of the scales
and the bursting of the pollen sacs are due to the cells of their
outer or epidermal tissues drying and contracting under the heat
of the sun. The pollen sacs usually open within an hour or two
of the bursting of the spathe.

8. The spathe which encloses the female flower-cluster is

very similar to that which encloses the male

)mc]uster°w< cluster, and it bursts in the same way when the

female cluster is ready for fertilisation. The

small branches of the female cluster are, however, less confined to

the end of its main axis and are very much longer than the small

branches in the male flower-cluster (see illustrations Nos. 15 and 16;

pages I2a & 126). The female flower also differs very much from

the male flower (see illustrations Nos. 17 and 18, pages 12c & 12d).

It is an oval looking body, and might at first be mistaken for a

12a

ILLUSTRATION No. 15.

A B C

(A) Inflorescence showing the dark brown spathe just splitting open and showing the male

flowers which it contains.

(B) Male inflorescence free from the brown spathe.

(C) A past year's male inflorescence showing the comparatively short lateral branches crowded

near the top of the main axis.

(See paras. 6 & 1, pages 11 efc 12.)

126

ILLUSTRATION No. 16.

(A) Dark brown spatho just splitting open and showing the female flowers which

it contains.

(B) Female inflorescence free from the spathe.

(C) A past year's female inflorescence showing the comparatively long lateral

branches less crowded on the top of the main axis than in the case of tho
male inflorescence, "j

(See paras. 6 & 8, pages 11 <fe 12.)

12c

ILLUSTRATION No. 17.

Sketch A.

Male Flower ( X 6£ diameters)

Scales (Sepals & Petals) a. b. & c.

Stamens d. e. f. etc.

Sketch B.

Part of Male Flower ( X7J diameters)

Scales a. & b.

Stamens . . . . c. <fc d.

(See paras. 6, 7 & 9, pages 11 to 13.)

ILLUSTRATION No. 18.

Sketch C.

Female Flower ( X 8 diameters)

Scales (Sepals & Petals) . . . . a. b. c. d. e.

Carpels f.h.k.

The sharp hooked portion at the tip of
the carpel is the stigma.

B

Sketch D.

Female Flower after two of the three car-pels
have been shed ( X 5£ diameters). The
single remaining carpel will form the date
fruit.

Sketch E.

Vertical Section of a Carpel ( X 8 diameters).

(A) Stigma. The part which receives the pollen grain.

(B) Ovule. After fertilisation it becomes the seed.

(C) Carpel wall. After the ovule is fertilised it becomes the edible part of the fruit.

(See paras. 6, 8, 9 & 69, pages 11 to 13, & page 98.)

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. 13

male flower in which the white scales (petals and sepals) had not
opened out. On dissecting it, however, it will be found that the
central and main part of the flower is formed of three solid bodies
closely applied to each other on their adjacent faces and forming
what appeared like one oval body. Each of these three solid
bodies is called a " carpel," and contains a structure called an
" ovule " which when fertilised by the pollen gives rise to a seed,
the carpel giving rise to the edible part of the fruit at the same
time. At the bases of the three carpels are six scale-like structures
similar to the protecting scaly sepals and petals found in the male
flower, but very much smaller and clinging very closely to the
carpels. A mass of female flowers therefore never has the very
waxy white appearance which amass of open male flowers has.

9. At a distance the flower -clusters may be distinguished
by the fact that the small branches in the male

Brief comparison , t » • i n i

of male and female cluster are about 6 inches long and densely
0 crowded at the end of the axis, while those of

the female are usually twice or more times that
length and less densely crowded at the end of the axis (see illustra-
tions Nos. 15 and 16, pages 12a & 126). When the flowers newly-
open they may also be distinguished at a distance by the waxy
white colour of the male flowers and the more yellowish hue and
less crowded appearance of the female flowers. If taken in the
hand at this stage a dense cloud of pollen dust will be produced
from the male cluster by a slight shake, while none will come
from the female cluster. Also six stamens with six comparatively
large waxy-looking scales will constitute each male flower, while
the female flower will be composed of three carpels closely applied
to each other forming what looks like a single solid oval body
and having six very tiny scales closely applied to its base (see
illustrations Nos. 17 and 18, pages 12c & 12d). The flower-clusters
can also be distinguished at that stage by their smell.

10. The above is the usual condition of affairs, but in my
Hermaphrodite tours in Multan, Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghazi

flowers and poly- m • • T i

trees. Knan in the date flowering seasons, 1 nave

14 THE DATE PALM.

found a considerable number of trees in which both male
flowers and female flowers were met with on the same
branch of an inflorescence. In the same inflorescence I have
usually found hermaphrodite flowers, i.e., containing both
carpels and stamens. Such flowers each contained three, more or
less functional carpels and two to six more or less functional
stamens (see illustration No. 19, opposite). In cases where the
number of functional stamens was near the maximum, the
number of functional carpels was usually nearly nil and vice
versa. Trees which contain both unisexual and hermaphrodite
flowers are described as " polygamous."

In polygamous trees the lengths of the small branches of
the flower-clusters are usually between the lengths of the small
branches of the ordinary male flower-cluster and those of corres-
ponding branches of the ordinary female flower -cluster. Other
characters which can be detected at a distance are also rather
mixed. These trees are very interesting, and I should be glad
if people seeing them would mark them and inform us of them.
If they are marked with white paint at a height of six or seven
feet from the ground so as to be out of reach of farm animals and
not accessible without effort to small boys, the marks usually
persist for several years.

Differences be- 11. In purchasing suckers (off-shoots) one

tween male and -, T -t • , i

female suckers. may DC Supplied With —

(i) male off-shoots ;

(ii) female off-shoots from inferior varieties of trees ; and
(in) seedling plants ;
in place of good female suckers.

Male trees have usually more thorny and stiffer leaflets
than females. Every variety of female date plant, however,
differs to a greater or less extent in these respects from every
other variety. Differences Of this sort between varieties of
females are fairly constant — the plants where varieties are bred
being propagated by off-shoots — but they are often very slight.
Male trees are usually propagated by seeds, therefore these

Ua

ILLUSTRATION No. 19.

Branches from an inflorescence of a polygamous tree,
(a) Purely female flowers.
(6) Flowers showing pronounced male characteristics.

(Natural size approx.) t^eQ

13

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. 15

characters differ considerably in males (see paras. 27 & 29,
pages 66 & 67). To distinguish date suckers by their leaves
and spines is consequently often a very difficult task. Only
people who are very intimately acquainted with the vegetative
characters of the date palms of a locality can hope to identify
the cultivated varieties by these means, and even they may
fail to do so. It can be done, however, as I have been con-
nected with cases in which hundreds of suckers, including a
number of varieties, have been accidentally mixed, and then
separated out with wonderful accuracy as was shown when they
bore fruits.

The lower end of an off-shoot has a mark showing where
it has been severed from its parent, while the lower end of a
seedling has no such mark normally. Fraudulent people,
however, sometimes cut a piece off the lower end of a seedling
to make it appear like an off-shoot, but a seedling plant usually
has a straight stem, while that of an off-shoot usually has a
slight bend at its base where it curved inwards to join the parent
stem (see illustration No. 26, page 80a). The direction of the
cut with regard to the main axis of the young plant and the
angle at which it cuts the sap-conducting vessels of the wood
also usually differ in the two cases. In the case of the off-shoot
the cub is made approximately in the plane of the main axis of
the parent plant and owing to the base of the off-shoot stem
bending towards its mother in order to join with her tissues, the
cut across the off-shoot at that point will be more or less at
right-angles to the direction of its sap-conducting vessels there.
In the seedling if the cut is made at right-angles to the direction
of the vessels, it will be at right -angles to the main axis of the
young plant, there being no bend at the base of its stem ; and if
it is cut in a plane anywhere approaching that of the main axis
of the young plant, it will not be in the proper direction with
regard to the vessels, and the cut end will probably show a more
or less distinctive outline. Male off-shoots, female off-shoots
from inferior trees, and seedling plants, if skilfully cut, are all
extremely difficult to distinguish, however, even by the most

16 THE DATE PALM.

experienced people, and as the trees will only be distinguished
with certainty when they begin to bear flowers and fruits five
to ten years afterwards, I strongly advise that where possible the
parent trees should be marked when in fruit (see para. 31, page 68)3
and that the suckers should be detached from their parents at
the planting season under personal or reliable supervision.

12. Adult male trees in addition to having more spiny leaves
and stiffen leaflets are said to have thicker stems
male and more leaves on their tops as a rule. As
t thickness of stem depends on the number and
degree of development of the functional leaves
which a tree bears, the stem, when grown on poor soil with scanty
water-supply or under other unfavourable conditions, may not
reach the same thickness as it does when conditions are more
favourable. A group of trees growing from the same thadda
(stool) and which had apparently originated as off-shoots from
the taller central one gave the following measurements :—
Stem (a) 2 feet and 5 inches in circumference.
„ (b) 4 feet and 10 inches in circumference.
,, (c) 3 feet and 6 inches in circumference.

The plantation was a rather dense one near that point.

The thickness of an individual stem may even differ
considerably at different heights if the conditions of growth at
different periods in the life of the tree have been markedly
unequal. The circumference of such a tree was less than 2 feet at
one height while it was 3 feet at another. (See also illustrations
Nos. 20 and 21, pages IQa & 166.) Minor differences in thickness
of a stem at different heights can frequently be seen in trees
growing where conditions of growth are not very constant. In fair
circumstances, however, the stem of a date tree is approximately
equal in thickness along its whole length, and different varieties
of dates have a tendency to produce a stem of a certain thickness
but the tendency to form thick stems is not confined to males.
Numbers of male trees have been seen with quite thin stems ;
others with very thick stems ; while both thick stemmed and

16a

ILLUSTRATION No 20.

Female tree at Muzaffargarh showing unequal thickness of stem.

(See page 16.)

166

ILLUSTRATION No. 21.

Vertical sections through centres of two date trees.

The stem of (a) is normal and rather thick.

The stem of (6) is thin and very unequal in thickness.

(See page 16.)

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.

17

thin stemmed female trees have also been seen. The Alipore
Chhohara, for example, which is the finest local date, has usually
a very thick stem — quite as thick as any male tree that I have
ever seen, and a great deal thicker than in the case of some males.
The following are a few measurements of the circumferences of
stems and the numbers of functional leaves borne by the tree : —

Statement showing circumferences of the stems and numbers of leaves on a few
trees, growing in Muzaffargarh District.

Number of

Circumference

properly opened

Sex of tree.

near top of

functional

REMARKS.

stem.

leaves on the

tree.

Ft. in.

Female

5 0

52

Female

4 6

62

Male

4 4

48

Female

4 2

46

4 leaves were drying up.

Female

3 10

43

5 leaves were drying up.

Female

3 9

42

Male

3 3f

32

Female

9 «

6 O

24

Statement shoiving circumferences of the stems and numbers of leaves on a few
trees m the Pucca Mari Railway garden, Lyallpur.

Number of

Sex of tree.

Circumference

functional

REMARKS.

of tree.

leaves on the

tree.

Ft. in.

Female

3 3

34

Very much overshadowed by

other trees, and leaves long

but central axis of leaf

markedly narrow near base.

Male

4 1

39

Very broad bases of leaves.

Midribs also thick ; not

shaded.

Female

4 8

65

Midribs and bases of leaves

narrow ; rather overshadowed

Female

5 1£

73

by other trees.
Not much overshadowed ; leaf

bases normal. Tips of some

of the leaves withering.

NOTE. — In measuring the circumferences of date stems for comparisons of the above nature, care has
to be taken that nearly the same amount of leaf bases, fibre, etc., is left on each tree at the places where the
circumference measurements are taken. These measurements must necessarily be taken near the base of
the lowest functional leaves. Care should be taken to count leaves [in each case up to the same degree
of senility.

M. DP 2

18 THE DATE PALM.

Differences in the thicknesses of the stems and in the number
of functional leaves borne by the plants can, therefore, only be
of use as identifying factors where the varieties of date trees to
be compared are known ; where their stems normally differ
materially in thickness, and where they are growing under similar
conditions. Very frequently parts of old flower-clusters remain
attached to the tree after the flowering and fruiting seasons are
over, and in such cases the sex of the tree can usually be identified
with certainty. (For structure of the inflorescences and flowers
see pages 11 — 13, paras. 6 — 10, and for date that the trees come
into flower (see page 92, para. 59).

CHAPTER II.

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

13. The date-palm appears to grow and produce fruit
Soils almost equally well on sandy, loamy, or clayey

soils. The soils of the Punjab plains are alluvial
varying from light sands to stiff clays, and often contain a large
percentage of lime. The soils of the famous date-growing oases
in the Libyan desert are alluvial, contain much lime, being derived
from the limestone cliffs around them, and vary in physical
character from free sands to stiff clays. Most date-growing
soils are of this general nature.

The physical character of the soil appears to have little
influence on the plant, except that the flowers and fruit may be
a little earlier on sandy lands. The soils of the Saharan oases
are mostly of a sandy nature ; those of the Mesopotamian tract
and in Egypt are mostly of very dense clays, while some of the
date groves on the coast of Egypt are growing on almost pure
sand. On the whole, sandy loams are best suited for date cultiva-
tion. A plantation of young off-shoots is much more easily
started on a sandy loam than on other soils (see page 81, para 43).
Practically any soil on which ordinary farm crops can be grown
is suitable for the date-palm.

14. After investigations by the Department of Agriculture,

United States of America, on the soils of the
RetfkaaT t0 Algerian date-palm tracts, W. T. Swingle states

that " although this plant can grow in soils
containing 3 to 4 per cent, of their weights of alkali, it does not
produce fruits unless its roots reach a stratum of soil where the
alkali content is below 1 per cent., and does not yield regular and
abundant crops unless there are layers in the soil with less than
0'6 per cent, of alkali." The alkali referred to is white alkali

20 THE DATE PALM.

consisting chiefly of sulphates of sodium and magnesium and a
little of the chlorides of these metals. These soils also contain
a great deal of sulphate of lime, which is believed to counteract
the poisonous effects of the magnesium salts, and to prevent the
formation of the very injurious black alkali. Swingle states :
" If a soil at all depths contains over 0'6 per cent, of alkali, the
growth is slower and the yield is less than on better lands, and
where the alkali content is everywhere over 1 per cent., date-
palms do not bear fruits regularly, and their growth is very slow."
These figures exclude salts accumulated on the immediate
surface of the soil. Unlike many other plants, the adult
date-palm can withstand very large accumulations of alkali on
the surface of the ground. In laying out a young date plantation,
however, the risks of the plants dying before becoming
established will be greater if there is a surface accumulation of
these salts. It may not be convenient to have all soils analysed
before starting a plantation, but as wheat, corn, and lucerne,
crops, peach, orange, prune trees, etc., are all believed to be
unable to flourish in 0'6 per cent, of alkali, young date trees
may be planted where one or other of the above can grow
well. Barley, sorghum, sugar-beets, grape-vines and possibly
pomegranates are believed to stand from 0'6 to 1 per cent,
of alkali, but unlike well-established date-palms these plants
are easily killed by an accumulation of the alkali on the soil
surface.

I recently took 9 samples of soil from the Arabian date
plantation in the garden of the Victoria Memorial Hall, Muzaf-
fargarh, where crops of barley have regularly been a failure.
The Agricultural Chemist, Punjab, kindly analysed the samples
for me and the chemical results which he gave have been in-
corporated by me in the table on next page.

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

21

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^

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^
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be £

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-

43 O O c«

.

Ji 42

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'S "cU*

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°

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BQ

22 THE DATE PALM.

The samples were all taken from one pit : the first three
samples from one side of it and the remaining six samples from
the other. The depths at which they were taken are shown in
the above diagrams of the two soil sections. The ground was
white with salt when the samples were taken. Twenty-one date
off-shoots were planted in this land in 1910 and 230 in 1912,
making 251 in all. There are now only 60 plants alive, i.e., the
death-rate was approximately 76 per cent, instead of the 20 — 30 per
cent, or less usually got with fair treatment on ordinary lands. On
our periodic inspections the plants in the Memorial Hall garden
always appeared to be well-watered, and as far as could be seen
the heavy mortality among these trees was due to the salts in the
soil. The plants which are still alive in this plantation are now
growing vigorously. Some of them bore fruits last season (1915)
and several more are in flower this year.

In arid districts, when dates are planted on lands containing
much alkali and the trees obtain their water from a high subsoil
water table and no irrigations are given to land between the
trees, either to crops or for other reasons, a white crust of salt
very soon forms on the surface of the soil. This is due to the fact
that water is constantly depositing its load of salt as it is being
evaporated from the surface of the land, and as the evaporating
current in such a case is always upwards, the salt deposit
at the soil surface continues to be added to. In this way a very
large crust of salt may accumulate on the surface of the soil of
a date plantation, even when the soil below the surface contains
very little salt. Where ordinary crops can be grown between
the trees and these are irrigated occasionally, the surface deposit
of salt is dissolved by the water, carried down into the subsoil
and redistributed to some extent at each irrigation. A thick
surface crust of salt, therefore, does not form in such cases unless
the land contains a large amount of alkali. A surface deposit of
salt similar to that described above collects on the bare land
between the date-palms in arid undrained places where the land
is not flooded, but the trees are planted in small channels or small
circular basins and receive their water directly from these. In

ILLUSTRATION No. 22.

22a

Glass containing water only.

Thistle Funnel containing
salt and water.

Permeable membrane.

Apparatus showing Osmotic action.

(See para. U, jtage 23.)

SOIL AND CLIMATE. 23

this case the water soaks into the earth in the channels or basins
only, but in soaking into the earth is distributed more or less evenly
throughout the subsoil of the plantation, and all that escapes being
taken up by the roots of plants rises again and evaporates over the
whole surface of the plantation, depositing any salts that it may
then contain on the surface of the soil as in the previous case. In
such conditions we often find date trees growing lustily in a soil the
surface of which is covered with a thick deposit of salt. This
has given the idea to some people that excess of salt does not
harm date trees of any age. The roots of the trees may, however,
be feeding in a stratum from which practically all the salt has
been removed and deposited on the surface of the soil where
it does not affect the plants. Very great damage may be
done to such a plantation by heavy rains or by flooding the land
artificially. The reason of this is that the salt deposit on the
soil surface is dissolved and a very strong solution of salt is
carried down to the roots of the palms. This solution may quite
easily be strong enough to be fatal even to vigorous well-grown
trees.

It is believed that the harmful action of the salt on the palm
is chiefly one of " plasmolysis." What takes place in such a
case, may be roughly illustrated as follows :—

Tie a piece of permeable vegetable or animal membrane — a
piece of animal bladder will do — over the top of a glass thistle
funnel ; invert it ; fill some solution of salt and water into it,
and place the funnel, broad end down, in a vessel of pure water,
immersing the funnel till the level of the liquid inside it and that
in the outer vessel are the same. Shortly afterwards it will be
found that the liquid in the outer vessel tastes saltish and that
the level of the liquid in the funnel has become higher than that
of the outer vessel ; in fact that there has been an interchange
of liquids going on, and that more liquid has flowed from the
outer vessel into the funnel than in the reverse way (see illustration
No. 22, page -22a). The rates of flow of solutions through such
membranes have been measured by scientists and found to be
are no visible holes in the membrane separating

*4t THE DATE PALM.

the two liquids and the mode of interchange of the liquids is
known as "osmosis."

Plants require a constant supply of water and salts for the
elaboration of their food and to enable them to carry on their
vital functions. The supplies of water and salts are obtained
in solution from the soil through the cell walls of the roots by
osmosis ; these cell-walls acting as the permeable membranes.

As soon, therefore, as a solution of salt in the soil becomes
more dense than that of the cell sap in the plant, the flow of water
aiad salts into the plant becomes inhibited or reversed, and if
the solution is strong enough, and its action continues suffi-
ciently long, the state of plasmolysis is produced and the plant
dies.

Great damage has frequently been done to date plantations
in the Sahara by heavy rains and floods where the surface soil
has T^een covered with a thick layer of salt. When such a layer
accumulates, one way of getting rid of it is to scrape it off and
cart it away. If only the layer of salt on the surface of the soil
is taken away, this costs little and may be done repeatedly if
necessary . In the attempt to get rid of these salts, people some-
times cart away the surface soil to a depth of 6 inches or more,
but as will be seen from Table I page 21 it will be as effective and
much less expensive to merely scrape the surface whenever a
crust of salt forms. If, before a crust of salt has formed on the
land, ordinary farm crops can be grown between the trees, and
the land is irrigated for these in the usual manner, or if the land
is simply flooded occasionally, the upward current of water due
to evaporation from the surface of the land is reversed, the salts
are carried down and to some extent redistributed in the soil and
a large accumulation of salts at the surface of the soil is retarded
or prevented.

Possibly one variety of date-palm may resist more alkali
than others, just as one variety ripens later than another, and it
may be possible, therefore, to obtain a variety specially suited
for growing on salty lands.

SOIL AND CLIMATE. 25

15. It is recorded that in some oases in northern latitudes
Effect of winds ^e date trees fail to produce a crop if hot winds
do not blow frequently. Certainly the body of
the plant does not appear to be harmed by winds, even if they are
of considerable violence. The roots have great tensile strength
(see page 1, para. 2). The tree has a very large number of
them. Most descend at sharp angles, but a suitable proportion
of them spread out all round the stem at small angles to the
horizon, finally descending well into the soil ; the stem, when
healthy, is exceptionally difficult to break across (see page 6,
para. 3), and the leaves are so built that it is hardly possible for
the wind to break or tear them, or for the wind-driven sand to
abrade them (see page 7, para. 4). Indeed, although I have
seen sand-storms in date-growing oases against which one could
hardly stand upright or see a yard in front of one, and during
which the wind-driven sand has stripped cereal crops into frag-
ments leaving nothing but their stumps in the ground, I have
rarely seen a healthy date tree overturned or broken by wind,
or the leaves of one abraded by the sand. Sometimes, however,
the stems of old trees get broken by high winds when heavily
laden with fruits.

Sandstorms may cause damage when they come at the
time that the fruit on the tree is in its final ripening stage and
the dust sticks to the fruits. Those fruits which are most sticky
at that period suffer most. The dust cannot be removed easily
from the fruits and may spoil a crop for first class market purposes.
In the Persian Gulf and other large date-growing locajities, damage
of this sort is occasionally met with. Some damage is occasionally
done to date fruits in the Punjab in the same way.

16. Well-established palms do not appear to suffer from
excessive heat or excessive dry ness of the air
^ *ne roots have a sufficient supply of water.
Date trees have been reported to stand as low
a temperature as 20 °F. in winter without harm, and to be able
to live even where it occasionally gets as low as 12°F., but when

26 THE DATE PALM.

the temperature is low in the fruiting season the fruits will not
ripen properly.

The development of the fruits appears to suffer no check from
cool nights, however, unless the temperature falls below a point
somewhere about 64P4°F. (De Candolle, vide Swingle, page 63).
Certain varieties of dates ripen at lower temperatures than others,
and those varieties that ripen only in the hotter climates generally
appear to be superior in quality to those that ripen in cooler
climates. In most parts of the world, the fruits begin to form
about the end of April. If the climate is hot and the variety of
date is one that requires comparatively little heat to ripen it,
the fruits may be ripe as early as June, while if the climate is
cooler, or the variety one that requires more heat to ripen it,
the fruits may ripen as late as October or even November. In
some oases where harvesting labour is scarce, and the season
dry, or where there is some other reason for not collecting the
fruit as soon as ripe, it may be left on the trees for several weeks
after that. The world's date fruiting season is generally
reckoned as between 1st May and 31st October.

Tables II, III, and IV on pages 27, 28, and 29 give as nearly
as the data to my hand will allow the monthly normal maximum
and minimum temperatures of date-growing localities in Tunis,
Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Table V, pages 30 and 31, gives
similar data for ten stations in the Punjab for comparison.

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

03
M

H
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Observations from
9 to 13 years.

Observations from
3 to 6 years.

2

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Observations ex-
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28

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE
Normal monthly maximum and minimum temperatures in degrees Fahr.

Stations.

Altitude
in feet.

North
latitude.

JAN.

FEB.

MAR.

APL.

MAY.

maximum.

minimum.

maximum.

minimum.

maximum.

minimum.

maximum.

minimum.

maximum.

minimum.

c
1

0>

i

1

c
2

•

S

3
5

S

a
I

S

c«
V

s

1

O>

%

1
S

1
a

g

03

S

Alexandria

104

31° 12'

64-4

50-6

66-8

52-4

69-8

55-9

74-5

58-4

79-0

63-5

Port Said

11

31° 16'

66-4

47-8

68-9

49-6

71-8

52-5

76-3

56-3

81-2

62-5

Abbassia ;..

98

30° 5'

64-8

4i-2

69-2

46-8

74-8

49-8

]3-3

55-0

90-3

60-8

Gizah ...

72

30° 2'

66-6

42-2

70-9

44-2

74-6

47-1

83-8

53-2

90-0

58-3

Helwan

379

29° 52'

63-8

44-6

67-4

45-0

72-5

49-8

83-0

57-2

89-2

62-4

Assiut

182

27° 11'

69-2

40-8

74-8

43-0

82-0

48-2

92-0

56-8

98-8

65-0

Dakhla oasis

426

25° 29'

71-2

43-4

74-8

45-3

82-4

49-4

92-3

58-8

99-5

64-4

Aswan

326

24° 2'

74-0

48-9

78-4

50-4

?8-0

57-6

95-2

65-6

103-8

71-2

The figures for the above table were obtained from data given in tho Meteor o-

TABLE

Normal monthly maximum and minimum temperatures in degrees Fahr,

Persian

JAN.

FEB.

MAR.

APL.

MAY.

Stations.

Altitude
in feet.

North
Latitude.

s

a

a

3

a

a

3

a

a

3

a

&

3

a

mum.

a

3

a

mum.

I

a

3

a

x

a

X

c

a

03

a

'a

a

'a

a

a

a

a

a

'a

a

c

a

e

a

a

a

a

a

a

cS

•

c3

c3

a

OS

03

a

G$

0>

a>

•

ID

E

S

g

%

-

S

S

£

g

Baghdad

131

33° 0'

60-1

38-3

64-7

41-8

72-3

48-2

81-6

56-9

91-8

67-9

Basra

25

30° 34'

59-2

43-8

64-8

4-J-7

73-4

56-1

83-5

65-1

941

74-6

Mohammerah ...

20

30° 27'

63-1

46-1

67-1

49-8

74-8

56-5

84-1

65-3

93-6

74-9

Koweit

15

29° 21'

59-9

19-3

63-8

50-8

71-3

58-3

83-5

66-6

947

75-8

Bahrein

18

26° 18'

661

56-4

66-7

57-2

72-8

62-9

81-3

70-0

90-2

78-0

The data for the above table were kindly supplied

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

29

III.

(over seven years' observations) at eight Date-growing Centres in Egypt.

JUNE.

JULY.

AUG.

SEPT.

OCT.

Nov.

DEC.

a

a

a

a

8

S

|

E

S

S

S

a

a

a

3
I

3

8

s
S

3

R

i

3
I

3

a

3

a

a

a

3
S

1

9

a

3

£

|

llKMARKS.

X

•

B

S

e

•

_g

'x

d

B

S

B

g

'a

'x
I

'a

S

'i

B

a

a

P

a

a

s

a

a

'a

a

a

a

a

e

a

c

C

a

a

a

c

c

a

a

a

•

•

o3

o3

ri

3

d

i

o3

03

d

d

c5

$

§

fl)

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e

e>

•

e

•

V

«

0>

g

S

H

S

S

S

S

5

S

S

g

g

g

s

82-4

68-9

86-7

73-0

86-7

741

84-8

72-0

81-5

68-7

74-8

61-9

68-0

54-3

85-6

67-1

91-0

70-7

91-0

72-3

88-5

70-5

85-6

67-6

77-6

59-9

70-0

51-8

94-6

6o-«"

97-0

69-6

94-8

69-4

90-0

66-0

86-0

62-8

75-8

54-5

68-4

47-0

„'

93-8

63-8

96-2

67-3

96-4

68-0

90-5

64-6

86-7

61-5

77-9

53-8

70-0

46-2

93-6

67-8

96-2

70-4

94-3

70-2

90-2

67-4

86-6

65-5

76-1

56-8

67-3

48-4

100-8

70-0

100-2

72-0

99-5

72-5

93-8

69-1

88-9

63-3

81-0

52-0

72-8

44-0

104-6

71-2

102-9

73-0

103-6

73-2

98-6

69-4

94-8

64-6

84-0

57-6

74-1

45-3

106-4

74-6

106-9

78-1

104-7

77-0

100-0

73-0

97-5

70-0

85-1

60-4

76-4

51-8

logical Report for 1907 of the Survey Department, Ministry of Finance, Egypt.

IV.

(averages of ten years) at the undermentioned stations in Mesopotamia und
Gulf.

JUNE.

JULY.

AUG.

SEPT.

OCT.

Nov.

DEC.

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

P

a

P

a

3

a

a

i

s

a

3

a

3

a

a

a

a

3

a

9

a

a

a

i

3

a

REMABKS.

X

eS

H

e«

a

X

•

c

K

a

a

x

a

X
•

B

X
•

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

B

a

a

a

B

c

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

o!

e«

i

B

rt

•

oS

a

c«

•

d

•

C8

<O

<D

0)

<c

0>

•

•

s

V

•

S

S

y>

S

g

i

^

S

g

g

S

g

s

g

g

g

%

101-8

75-4

107-3

79-4

108-4

78-8

101-9

71-8

92-8

62-3

74-7

49-5

63-4

42-9

100-4

81-0

103-6

81-7

104-7

81-0

100-3

75-1

90-0

673

75-3

57-2

63-3

48-9

99-7

79-7

101-0

81-9

102-7

31-9

99-8

76-8

92-8

70-7

79-7

59-0

65-4

49-2

96-6

81-3

JOM

84-6

102-4

85-4

99-9

80-4

S9-8

72-4

76-1

62-2

63-7

51-5

93-5

83-1

96-9

85-1

97-6

85-6

94-1

82-0

88-5

76-0

79-8

69-0

70-6

60-4

to me by the Meteorological Department, India.

30

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE
Normal monthly maximum and minimum temperatures in degrees Fahr.

Stations.

Altitude
in feet.

North

JAN.

FEB.

MAR.

APL.

MAY.

imura.

mum.

|

i

mum.

imum.

mum.

mum.

mum.

mum.

mum.

X

4
S

a
1

•

S

Mean mini

i

Q

S

Mean mini

Mean max

a

a

o

i
s

H

cB

a

I

s

B

'a

s
£

X

•

a

I
•

i

'a

1
§

Montgomery ...

558

30° 44'

68-5

42-2

72-8

46-4

85-7

55-9

100-1

68-1

108-3

78-4

Multan

420

30° 12'

70-2

43-3

73-7

47-5

86-5

58-4

99-0

68-6

106-6

77-6

Khushab

612

32° 18'

67-6

413

68-7

46-1

80-6

56-8

95-3

68-0

104-9

77-3

Sirsa

662

29° 30'

71-0

43-1

75-2

46-8

88-6

57-2

101-1

68-5

107-2

77-4

•Delhi

718

28° 36'

70-7

47-9

74-8

51-8

87-4

62-2

99-7

73-5

104-7

80-2

Lahore

702

31° 36'

69-0

40-7

72-7

44-1

85-1

54-2

98-2

64-3

105-7

72-6

Ludhiana

812

30° 50'

67-2

44-3

71-2

47-5

84-4

57-5

97-4

67-2

104-4

75-4

Sialkot

830

32° SO'

66-2

42-8

69-6

48-1

81-7

55-6

95-2

66-3

103-1

74-8

Amballa

892

30° 24'

67-8

43-3

71-5

47-8

83-9

57-1

97-7

66-2

105-2

76-9

Rawalpindi

1,674

33° 39'

63-1

37-9

64-8

41-4

76-5

50-7

88-4

59-9

98-1

68-6

Delhi City is not now in the Punjab, but the temperatures

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

V.

(average of ten years' observations] at ten stations in the Punjab.

JUNE.

JULY.

AUG.

SEPT.

OCT.

Nov.

DEC.

REMARKS.

Mean maximum-

Mean minimum.

Mean maximum.

Mean minimum.

Mean maximum.

Mean minimum.

Mean maximum.

Mean minimum-

Mean maximum.

Mean minimum.

Mean maximum.

Mean minimum.

Mean maximum-

Mean minimum-

110-0

84-1

101-7

83-9

102-0

81-6

101-7

76-1

96-6

62-2

84-2

50-9

72-9

43-0

107-8

83-7

103-8

83-7

100-7

82-1

100-3

77-6

95-5

64-4

84-4

52-4

73-9

44-4

1071

82-4

102-6

82-1

100-2

80-8

99-6

75-8

93-8

61-9

82-8

49-7

71-7

41-9

106-7

83-1

100-5

81-8

98-4

80-2

98-9

75-7

96-1

62-6

84-9

49-5

74-9

42-7

103-2

83-3

94-0

80-7

91-8

79-3

93-0

77-0

92-1

67-9

82-9

56-2

73-7

48-9

107-4

79-3

100-6

79-4

98-2

77-8

98-9

72-6

95-1

59-1

83-6

46-8

73-2

40-3

104-8

80-7

97-0

80-3

95-0

79-0

94-9

74-8

91-9

63-0

80-6

50-9

71-0

44-0

105-5

80-5

97-6

79-5

94-7

77-7

95-7

73-8

92-3

61-9

80-9

49-9

70-1

42-5

101-4

80-2

93-3

78-8

92-8

78-1

93-7

73-9

93-2

60-8

82-3

50-9

72-1

43-5

102-8

75-3

97-3

76-7

93-9

75-2

93-6

68-9

88-2

55-8

77-2

43-3

67-6

37-1

are representative of those of tht Punjab lands near it.

32 THE DATE PALM.

Regarding the places mentioned in Tables II, III, and IV,
the following points may be noted :—

(i) The very finest dates known in the world can be grown
at Tozer and Nefta in the Jerid oases, Tunis ; in
Dakhla oasis, Egypt ; and in Baghdad, Mesopo-
tamia. Nefta has the lowest temperatures of
any of those places, and until we have further
information we may take its temperatures as
the lowest under which the finest dates may
be 'grown, provided that humidity, rainfall, and
all other factors in date growing are entirely
satisfactory .

(ii) The fruits produced at' Alexandria would have to be
relegated to the lowest class as regards quality.
There is some reason to believe that certain
varieties of dates can be ripened under even lower
temperatures than those of Alexandria, but detailed
tables of these temperatures are not to hand,
therefore the Alexandria temperatures may be
taken here as the criterion for low grade fruits.
Where other conditions do not interfere, the places
above referred to which have temperatures
between those of Nefta and Alexandria produce,
as a rule, an intermediate grade of fruits.

17. The chief point to note about winter temperatures

is that they are not so low that the trees may be

winter tempera- killed or harmed by the cold. Where harm is

tures. *

done, it is the younger leaves, especially those
just issuing from the terminal buds that are affected ; therefore
most harm is done if heavy frosts occur after fresh tender young
leaves have begun to appear in spring. Small date plants are
more susceptible to harm than tall ones, as the terminal buds of
the former are nearer the ground than those of the latter, and
cold frosty air being heavier than warm air tends to lie lower
down.

SOIL AND CLIMATE. 33

The temperatures at all the ten Punjab stations in winter
seem very comparable to those of date-growing regions and are
apparently suitable for date culture. The minimum tempera-
tures at none of our stations get down to 20°F. (see also page 25,
para. 16) ; the lowest yet recorded are 23 '9°F. at Rawalpindi
and 24 °F. at Ludhiana.

18. Regarding summer temperatures it may be noted

that the hottest month of the season in the

summer ^tempera- punjab is June ; in Tunis and Lower Egypt it

is July ; and in Upper Egypt and Baghdad it

is August. Also that May — approximately the beginning of the

date fruiting season here as elsewhere — is hotter in the Punjab

than at any of the date-growing centres quoted. The Indian

Meteorological Department have kindly given me the following

explanation of this :—

" Northern Africa and Mesopotamia possess normal con-
tinental or marine climates, and the hottest part of the year is
accordingly the end of July or the beginning of August."

"In that month (May) the solar heat

is expended in heating up the dry land surface of the Punjab
and as the air above is prevented largely from moving away, by
the bordering mountains, it reaches very high temperatures.
On the other hand, strong and relatively cool northerly and
north-westerly winds prevail at that time over the north of
Africa and tend to keep down the temperature. There is a
change of wind in the autumn, the prevailing direction being
then south-west, and therefore a land wind with the result that
the months of September and October are as warm in Northern
Africa as those of June and May."

The rains and cloudy weather in the Punjab in July and
August reduce the daily maximum temperatures here in these
months, and also prevent the daily minimum temperatures
from falling as low as they otherwise would in that part of the
season.

M, DP 3

34 THE DATE PALM.

The following table is of interest in this connection.

TABLE VI

Showing the diurnal ranges of temperature in degrees Fahr. in May, August,
and October in the Punjab.

May.

August.

October.

Montgomery

29-9

20-4

34-4

Multan

29-0

18-6

81-1

Khushab

27-6

19-4

31-9

Sirsa

29-8

18-2

33-5

Delhi ;ftv

24-5

12-5

24-2

Lahore

33-1

20-4

36-0

Ludhiana

29-0

16-0

28-9

Sialkot

28-3

17-0

30-4

Amballa

28-3

14-7

32-4

Rawalpindi

29-5

18-7

22-4

August is our dampest month (see Table XVII, pages 50 and
51), and in it the diurnal range of temperature is least. Our climate
is drier towards both May and October ; therefore the diurnal range
is greater towards these months. Alexandria (see Table XV,
pages 48 and 49), is very humid and gets gradually more so from
May to October. There, as we expect, the diurnal range is small,
being only 15'5°F. in May and gradually falls to 12'5 in October
while Nefta, with its comparatively dry atmosphere all summer,
has a diurnal range of about 30'7°F. throughout the fruiting season.
A great diurnal range is apparently not necessary to the produc-
tion of good fruits, however, as Bahrein, which produces very
good fruits, has only a diurnal range of 9'5°F, in February to
12'5°F. in October. Most of the date varieties at present growing
in the Punjab mature between 20th July and the end of August,
therefore although intending growers should take notice of the
temperatures in the broader date-fruiting period — May to October
inclusive — in case varieties are introduced which will ripen later
than those now growing, it should be noted that May to August,

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

inclusive, is at present the important date-fruiting season in this
province. Whether we limit the Punjab fruiting season to
August or October, however, we find that the minimum tempera-
tures at all the Punjab stations quoted are more than satisfac-
tory. Even those at Kawalpindi — the coldest of these stations-
are higher than the minimum temperatures at Nefta, except in
September when they are about equal, and in October when they
are only 2'3°F. lower ; are rather higher — except in October—
than those of Dakhla oasis ; and little short of those for Baghdad.
To further compare the temperatures in the date-fruiting season
at the ten Punjab stations with those of the same period at the
other centres already referred to, we will consider the monthly
mean temperatures and the mean temperatures of the whole
fruiting period at all these stations (see Tables VII, VIII, IX and
X, pages 36, 37, 38 and 39). This comparison gives a better idea
of the amount of heat to which the palm is exposed than a con-
sideration of the maximum temperatures alone, but as equal mean
temperatures for any particular month at two separate stations
could obviously be made up of very different maxima and minima,
a comparison of mean temperatures is of use only where, as in the
cases quoted above, the minimum temperatures are satisfactory.
They are naturally of most use when the maximum and minimum
temperatures are also before us so that any marked difference
in the heights of these or in the diurnal range of temperature
may be noted.

36

THE DATE PALM.

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P P

40 THE DATE PALM.

From a comparison of the above tables, it appears that the
mean temperatures for the whole of the world's date-fruiting
season (1st May to 31st October) at all the Punjab stations are
higher than that at Nefta ; that the monthly mean temperatures
in the same season are higher at Montgomery, Multan, Khushab,
and Sirsa than those at Nefta ; that those at Lahore and Ludhiana
are all higher than at Nefta, except in August when they are only
0'8°F. and r8°F. lower, respectively ; that those at Delhi, Sialkote,
and Amballa are higher, except in July and August, when they
are lower by less than 3'5°F. ; that at Rawalpindi they are only
short of those at Nefta by 21 °F. in July, 4'2°F. in August, 2'5°F.
in September, 0'9°F. in October, and are far better than those
at Cairo where many date trees are successfully farmed.

So far as mean temperatures in the date-fruiting season are
concerned, therefore, it seems that the very best dates known
could be grown at Montgomery, Multan, Khushab, and Sirsa ;
probably also at Lahore and Ludhiana, while Delhi, Sialkote,
and Amballa fall little short of the standard required for first
class dates ; and even at Rawalpindi the temperatures are quite
suitable for date farming.

19. It has been stated that, with certain reservations,
. certain amounts of heat are required to produce

Comparison 01

Heat-Units at Pun- flowers and to mature the fruits of particular

jab stations with

those at stations in crops. People holding this view have made

Algeria, Tunis,

Egypt, and Meso- comparison of the sums of daily temperatures

potamia. . . ..

with a view to throwing light on whether a plant
wrould mature in a certain district, and if so, on what date it
would be likely to mature. The daily mean temperatures are
usually added for this purpose. Ihe value of comparisons of this
sort has been severely criticised. It has been contended that
these comparisons can only be made between regions of somewhat
similar climates, and some people deny the value of that, pointing
out that the amount and nature of the plant's food supply, the
supply of water, the amount of light, etc., are equally vital
factors in the development of the plant. Where the sunshine is
little interrupted by cloud, etc., and the plants are in moderately

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

41

rich soil, well supplied by irrigation water or water rising from
below as is often the case where date palms are grown, a
comparison of the heat factors is considered of importance.
This factor has therefore been considered. It should be noted,
however, that a weak point in comparisons made on those lines is
that no indication is given of the height of the temperature at
different stages of the plant's life cycle. In date culture, for
example, high temperatures are much more essential at the fruit
ripening period than early in the fruiting season, and where
such comparisons are being made it should also be seen that
there is no considerable discrepancy in this respect.

The amount of heat necessary to ripen the fruits of the
date palm has generally been calculated by adding together
the daily mean temperatures during the months when the dates
are developing, the developing period being considered as extend-
ing from 1st May to Slsfc October. Following W. T. Swingle of
the United States of America, Department of Agriculture, I have,
for convenience, added only the degrees of temperature above
64'4°F. The Deglet Noor date referred to below is supposed to
be the finest date known, and the most difficult date to ripen.

TABLE XI.

Sum of daily

mean tempera-

tures above

Stations.

64'4°F. between

REMARKS.

1st May and

31st October in

Degrees F.

Algeria.

*

1. Algiers

1,373*

No dates ripen here.

2. Orleansville

2,276*

Very early sorts mature.

3. Biskra

3,165*

Average of ten years' observations ;

many dates ripen regularly, Deglet

Noor dates ripen but are not of best

quality. Date culture, the leading

industry.

4. Ayata (1889)

3,764

Deglet Noor dates ripen well.

5. Ayata (1890)

3,269

Deglet Noor dates ripened very im-

perfectly.

6. Ayata (1891) . ...

3,431

Deglet Noor dates ripened very slowly

and imperfectly. At Ayata a

speciality is made of the culture of

choice Deglet Noor dates for the

export trade.

Data from Swingle, United States of America, Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 53,
except thot-c marked * which are from " Climate of the Continent of Africa," by A. Knox.

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE XI — contd.

Sum of daily

mean tempera-

tures above

Stations.

64'4°F. between

REMARKS.

1st May and

31st October in

'

Degrees F.

Tunis.

7 Tozer \

(3,555

Observations nine to thirteen years :

V Jerid oasis

all varieties of dates including
Deglet Noor ripen perfectly.

8. NeftaJ

3,277

Observations three to six years ; date

_

fruits as at Tozar.

9. Kebili. (Nef/aoua oasis)

3,183

Observations four to five years ;

several first class varieties ripen

perfectly. Deglet Noor not yet

grown.

10. Gabes oases

2,272

Observations fifteen years. Finest

varieties do not ripen well, even

second and third class dates do

not always ripen perfectly.

11. Gafsa oasis

2,738

Observations fifteen years. 50,000 to

65,000 date trees in the oasis. Fruits

mediocre quality, elevation 1,150

feet. Not suited for choice varieties

because of its high elevation.

Data from Kearney, United States of America, Department of Agriculture, Bulletin

No. 92.

Egypt (observations over seven years).

12.

Alexandria

2,035 \

13.

Port Said

2,266

Dates ripen regularly, but are not as

14.

Abbassia

2,702 -

good as the dates grown higher up

15.

Gizah

2,168

in Egypt.

16.

Helwan

2,480

17.

Assuit

2,982

Good dates ripen regularly.

18.

Dakhla oasis

3,772

First class dates ripen regularly.

19.

Asswan . . •--«

4,851

First class dates ripen regularly.

Meteorological data from Report 1907, Survey Department, Egypt,

Mesopotamia and Persian Gulf.

20.

Baghdad

4,088

Observations ten years ; first class

dates ripen regularly.

21.

Basrah

4,309

Observations fifteen years ; first class

dates ripen.

22.

Mohammerah

4,386

Observations five years ; first class

dates ripen.

23.

Koweit

4,447

Observations seven years ; first class

dates ripen.

24.

Bahrein Island

4,261

Observations thirteen years ; first class

dates ripen.

Meteorological data from Meteorological Department, India.

The above data are interesting. From Kearney we under-
stand that the fruits of the Deglet Noor ripen perfectly where
the heat units above 64°F. between 1st May and 31st October
amount to 3,277 °F. (vide Nefta), while Swingle states " From
three years' observations, it is considered that about 2,000°C.
(3,600 °F.) are required to ripen the Deglet Noor satisfactorily."

SOIL AND CLIMATE. 43

Assuming that the data from both investigators are correct, it
seems that the explanation of the case would most likely be found
from a comparison either of the heights of the temperatures at
the different stages of the fruiting season, or of the amounts of
rainfall at the ripening time. Unfortunately Swingle does not
give the monthly rainfalls and maximum and minimum tempera-
tures at Ayata for the particular years which he refers to, and
I have not yet got these to hand, so I am not able to say whether
they throw any light on the point.

He notes, however, that in 1889 when the dates are said to
have ripened well at Ayata, the rainfall for the whole year was
only 2*52 inches ; in 1890, when they ripened very imperfectly,
it was 9 '32 inches, and that again in 1891, when they ripened
imperfectly, it was 4*16 inches. It appears to me possible, there-
fore, that in 1890 and 1891 enough rain may have fallen, when
the fruits were ripening, to have spoiled them somewhat. This
suspicion is strengthened by the fact that the finest dates can
be grown at Nefta, where there is practically no rain under 3,277°F.
units, and that several first class varieties are grown at
Kebili which is practically rainless until October or November,
under 3,183°F. units. Our data indicate that 2,738°F. units is
too little heat to ripen first class dates properly, as at Gafsa, which
is practically rainless, the finest dates do not appear to do so.
From the Alexandria figures, it appears that lower qualities of
dates can be ripened where there are about 2,000 units of heat
properly distributed between 1st May and 31st October.* No
dates appear to ripen under 1,373 units distributed throughout
the season as at Algiers (For monthly mean temperatures at
Nefta, Kebili, Gafsa, Biskra, Orleansville, Algiers, etc., seepage 31,
Table VII, and for a comparison of the data to hand concerning
humidity and rainfall, see Tables XIII, XIV, XV, XVI and XVII,
pages 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51). The relative qualities of date
fruits grown at the places where the sums oi the heat units lie
between those of Alexandria and Nefta appear to correspond
roughly with these sums.

* Some dates in Alexandria ripen in early September.

THE DATE PALM.

We have seen (see para. 18, page 33), that the minimum
and mean temperatures in the fruiting season at all the Punjab
stations mentioned above are quite satisfactory, and if other
factors are equal and if first class dates ripen under 3,277 units
of heat, then the finest dates should ripen in the Punjab, at
the places and by the dates given in the following table :—

TABLE XII.

Stations.

Sum of daily
mean tempera-
tures above
64" F. from

Date on which the

Deglet Noor dates
might be expected

1st May to
31st October

to ripen if 3,277
heat units are

in degrees F.

necessary.

Montgomery

4,856

18th August.

Multan

4,770

21st August.

Khushab

4,534

26th August.

Sirsa

4,534

27th August,

Delhi ' i

4,216

8th September.*

Lahore

4,199

6th September.

Ludhiana

4,117

9th September.

Sialkote

4,052

12th September.

Amballa

3,919

18th September.

Rawalpindi

3,399

17th October.

* Lahore is hotter than Delhi before 6th September, see Table X, p-ige 39.

So far as temperature is concerned, then, the finest dates
ought to ripen at all the ten stations mentioned.

1 The amount of heat required to ripen date fruits has been
calculated by various other methods, but we need not deal at
greater length with the subject here. No amount of heat has
yet been found too much for date trees when properly established.

20. In order that the date palm may produce abundant
fruits of the best quality, it is essential that the
a^r be very ^ry fr°m the time the flowers open
to the time the fruits ripen. Eains or a damp
atmosphere at other times of the year may be beneficial. The
presence of water vapour in the air has been considered to cause
harm to the date palm in the fruiting season by absorbing heat
from the sun's rays and thereby preventing the temperature
from rising to the great height necessary to develop and ripen the
fruits properly. It would appear from the Tables V, X and XII,
however, that we need not fear insufficient heat in most parts of

Raihum!dit and

SOIL AND CLIMATE. 45

the Punjab. The dry atmosphere, which allows an excessive
heating during the day, allows an equally great fall of tempera-
ture at night by radiation of heat into a cloudless sky; therefore
the diurnal range of temperature in dry parts of the season is
much greater than it is in damp weather (see page 33, para. 18).
Damp or rainy weather is directly injurious to date palms
in preventing the fertilisation of the flowers in spring and
in causing decay or dropping of the fruit when it is developing
and ripening in summer. Tables XIII, XIV, XV, XVI and XVII,
on pages 46 — 51 show the mean relative humidities and normal
rainfalls at stations in Tunis, Algeria, Egypt, Mesopotamia,
Persian Gulf, and the Punjab.

21. The date flowering season in the Tunis oases appears

to be from about the middle of March to the
middle of April (see Kearney, page 53, Bulletin
No. 92, United States of America, Department
of Agriculture) ; that for the Algerian oases appears to begin in
April and extend to the end of May (see Swingle, page 27, Bulletin
No. 53, United States of America, Department of Agriculture) ;
April-May cover the chief flowering seasons in Lower Egypt, and
March-April that of Upper Egypt, Dakhla oasis, Baghdad, and
the Punjab. For our purpose, we may take the spring months,
March, April, and May, as the world's flowering season.

22. From the figures to hand an average humidity of 63

in the spring months apparently does not
HflUowiring8seaSom interfere with date culture, as Tozer, where large

quantities of some of the finest dates known are
cultivated, has that degree of humidity. A normal mean humidity
of 73-74, even at that season, does not appear to be a serious
objection, as at Port Said under that humidity, hand pollination
is successfully carried on. The point for intending date growers
to note when comparing climates as regards humidity and rainfall
in the flowering season is whether hand pollination ensures
fertilisation in a sufficiently high percentage of cases. Con-
trasted with the places just referred to, the mean relative humi-
dities at all the Punjab stations in that season seem satisfactory.

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE XIII.

Monthly mean rainfall in inches and mean relative humidities at Date-growing Centres in Tunis.
RAINFALL.

i

O 60

'-S .3

Si*

S-g c

i Several years.
14 years.
1 Several years.
14 years.

NOTE.— Data /or rainfalls from the Meteorological Department, India.
Data for Humidities from Kearney, Agricultural Department, United States of America, Bulletin No. 92.

HUMIDITIES.

Winter.

cp —• p
06-*

t- t- CD

NOTE. — Spring includes the months of March, April, and May.
Summer includes the months of June, July, and August.
Autumn includes the months of September, October, and November.
Winter includes the months of December, January, and February.

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SOIL AND CLIMATE.

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.°°

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE
Monthly mean rainfalls in inches and mean relative

Stations.

Altitude
in feet.

North
Latitude.

JAN.

FEB.

MAR.

APL.

MAY.

i

Humidity

Rainfall.

Humidity

Rainfall.

Humidity

Rainfall.

'a ! !=

50 OS

Humidity

Rainfall.

Alexandria ..

104

31° I'

69

2-3

68

1-2

68

0-68

69 0-12

72

0-04

Port Said ,..

11

31° 16'

76

0-88

75

0-36

74

0-4

73 02

73

0-04

Abbassia ...

93

30° 5'

68

0-36

61

0-2

58

0-16

50 0-08

46

0'04

Gizah

72

30° 2'

82

0-36

73

0'16

70

0-12

60 0-16

57

0-04

Helwan
Aasuit

379
182

29° 52'
27° 11'

63
72

0-56

54
66

0'08

53

57

0-16

44 0-04
43

43
35

0-08

Dakhla oasis

426

25° 29'

42

39

35

28 ; ...

27

Asswan

326

24° 2'

52

44

37

32

34

Data from Meteorological Report

TABLE

Monthly mean rainfalls in inches and mean relative Humidities

Stations.

Altitude
in feet.

North
Latitude.

JAN.

FEB.

MAR.

APL.

MAY.

.

>,

_

&

.

£

.

£

.

Humidi

Rainfal

Humidi

Rainfal

Humidi

Rainfal

Humidi

Rainfal

'O

'a

3

56

Rainfal

Baghdad ...

131

33°

80

1-04

70

1-37

70

1-41

62

0-81

0-23

Basrah

2£

30° 34'

go

1-22

77

0-97

71

1-G9

65

0-44

59

0-33

Bahrein

18

26° 18'

80

0-41

go

0-68

77

0-52

72

0-23

65

0-07

Koweit * ...

15

29° 21'

1-05

0-63

0-98

0-16

...

0-10

Mohamerah *

20

30° 27'

1-19

1-06

...

1-48

0-35

0-14

Data from Meteorologica
* Humidity figure

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

49

XV.

Humidities at Date-growing Centres in Egypt.

JUNE.

JULY.

AUG.

SEPT.

OCT.

Nov.

DEC.

n

|g

•"S ^

IMJS

•is

si

3 a

•So

U

'•* <n

»« JS

.Sco

5-s s

r-2 O

eS *

ca *^

|?

.

jj

• i -E?

_>>

&

.

jh

N

"* g 0

jS

£

0S

jg

CS T3

CS

S

3

TJ

C3

«

a

3

3

£ ~

cs a

a

C

S

.s a

c

a

c

S

C

a

s

a

."s

c 553

"3 **

3

a

1

a

a

a

a

'3

X

a

a

'3

X

9

a

1

3

a

'3

as

3
ffl

1

*

"o<-i
H

74

76

...

75

71

0-08

71

032

69

1-52

70

2-48

72

1-56

74

76

75

74

74

0-08

73

0-48

76

0-84

74

0-32

46

50 ...

55

61

65

0'04

68

0-16

70 0-24

55

0-16

n8

62 ...

67

71

75

0-04

78

0-04

81

0-12

66

0-24

44

48 i ..

51

58

58

004

62

0-04

64

0-04

51

0-16

35

40

...

45

57

62

68

67

48

26

...

28

30

35

34

39

43

...

31

...

31

29

30

...

35

39

48

52

i

for 1907, Survey Department, Egypt,

XVI.

at Date-growing Centres in Mesopotamia and Persian Gulf.

JUNE.

JULY.

AUG.

SEPT.

OCT.

Nov.

DEC.

*2 O

i inches
and 3 1st 1

*!

•~'Z

Ot

> w

Humidity.

Rainfall.

£

HI

£

£

k

•t

^ CO

3 c-o

b CD p
||

Total rainf
between ls<
October.

Humidi

Rainfal

Humidi

Rainfal

Huraidi

Rainfal

Humidi

Rainfal

a

Rainfal

Humidi

1

40

42

45

005

48

...

55

0-08

64

0-79

78

117

50

112

56

54

53

58

0-12

63

0-07

69

0-96

79

1-18

60

096

63

65

71

73

76

0-01
0-90

78

0-24
0-46
1-17

81

0-82
1-23
2-59

70

0-31
0-46
0-63

0-14

Department, India,
not to hand.
M, DP

50

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE
Monthly mean rainfalls and mean

Stations.

JAN.

FEB.

MAR.

APRIL.

MAY.

Humidity.

Rainfall.

Humidity.

Rainfall.

Humidity.

Rainfall.

Humidity.

Rainfall.

Humidity.

Rainfall.

Delhi

68

1-23

65

0-71

49

0-50

36

0-20

38

0-72

Sirsa

76

0-84

73

0-33

57

0-32

39

0-26

37

0-71

Amballa

87

1-62

81

2-41

63

0-37

53

0-31

49

0-73

Ludhiana

82

1-84

78

1-80

63

0-79

48

0-71

40

0-61

Lahore

82

1-12

78

1-10

65

0-65

47

0-42

41

0-82

Sialkote

82

2-51

79

1-80

67

M4

48

0-80

41

1-03

Rawalpindi

84

2-74

82

2-24

72

1-89

56

1-70

44

1-47

Khnshab

70

0-82

70

0-69

58

1-13

42

0-62

32

0-78

Montgomery ,

75

0-84

69

0-67

52

0-35

38

0-13

36

0-27

Multan , ...

71

0-45

68

0-43

59

0-39

48

0-10

44

0-30

NOTE. — Data from the

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

XVII.

relative Humidities in the Punjab.

51

JCNE.

JULY.

AUG.

SEPT.

OCT.

Nov.

DEC.

e humidity from
o 31st August.

I from 1st March
list.

>,

S?

>,

£

>,

|h

g Mean relativ
oo 1st March t

£ Total rainf al
, <* to31stAug

Humid

«M

Huraidi

00

ok Rainfal

oc

1

3

78

Rainfal

|

a

69

CO

Rain fa;

Humidi

Rainfal

1

3

52

02

0-11

S

3

a

Rainfal

56

3-41

75

8-52

50

0-06

61

0-53

51

1-79

67

4-14

71

3-37

64

1-74

50

0-11

59

0-01

69

0-31

53-6

11-09

67

6-29

86

7-65

88

8-03

82

4-24

70

0-03

75

0-46

82

0-82

67-6

23-38

56

3-02

76

9-29

79

6-35

75

3-61

61

0-33

64

0-06

76

0-78

59-8

20-75

52

2-09

71

5-96

75

5-30

67

1-99

57

0-20

67

0-07

78

0-38

58-3

15-24

52

3-08

74

8-01

79

9-69

70

2-83

59

0-25

65

0-09

74

0-52

60-1

23-75

50

2-01

72

8-53

80

8-70

72

3-23

62

0-44

65

0-29

74

0-74

62-3

24-30

43

1-72

65

4-52

69

2-73

60

0-55

45

0-01

48

0-02

60

0-54

51-5

11-50

43

1-14

60

2-48

63

2-99

59

0-87

46

0-03

58

0-06

65

0-42

48-6

7-36

48

0-62

62

2-41

68

2-02

65

0-32

56

62

0-07

70

0-19

54-8

5-84

Meteorological Department, India.

52 THE DATE PALM.

23. Actual rainfall is much more to be feared than high

humidity short of precipitation in the flowering

flowing seLon6 *™*™> as it may wash the pollen from the

flowers and may do damage in other ways ;

therefore the less rain in that season, the better for date farmers.

The total normal rainfall at the date-growing centres quoted
in the above tables in the spring months (March, April, and May)
is highest at Biskra. There it is 3'42 inches. This rain evidently
does not preclude date culture, for date culture is the leading
industry there (see Table No. XI, page 41). Kebili comes
second with 2*97 inches ; Baghdad comes next with 2'45 inches,
while rainfalls at the other stations are lower. In the Punjab
the totals for the same three months are less than 0'8 inches at
Montgomery and Multan ; less than 1 '5 inches at Lahore and
Ludhiana ; 2 '5 to 3 inches at Khushab and Sialkote, and over
5 inches at Rawalpindi. So far, then, as can be seen from the
above data, the climate in the flowering season in most parts
of the Punjab seems suitable for date culture. Where date
trees are already growing that are either pollinated by hand or
are in suitable positions with regard to male trees, or where other
conditions are suitable, people can set the point at rest for them-
selves by noting whether a fair number of fruits on such trees
develop seeds annually (see also page 98, para. 70). The test
is most severe where female trees are grown with few or no males
near them, and the plants are hand pollinated (see page 96,
para. 64), because if ram washes the pollen of! the female flower
after hand pollination, more pollen is not brought by the wind
to replace it as may be the case where the trees are habitually
wind pollinated. In the young Arabian date plantations at
Multan, and Lyallpur however, where trees have been hand
pollinated for the last three years and where very few male trees
are growing near, hand pollination has been quite successful.

24. Although the temperatures may be entirely satis-
factorv, excess of atmospheric moisture, including

Humidity and

rainfall in the fruit- actual rainfall in the fruit developing and

developing and

ripening season. ripening season, may damage the crop by causing

SOIL AND CLIMATE. 53

the fruits to decay and drop from the trees before they are ready
for harvesting ; also possibly in other ways. As already stated,
the world's fruit developing and ripening season may be taken
as extending between 1st May and 31st October, and the most
critical stage is the ripening period. Excluding special cases the
ripening periods may be taken roughly as September-October in
Mesopotamia, Algeria, Tunis, and Egypt ; and July-August in
the Punjab. The greater heat in early summer probably hastens
the ripening season here. From figures for Tozer and Basra
we may conclude that a humidity of 60 approximately in the fruit
ripening season will not hinder the culture of the finest dates,
while most excellent dates are ripened in the Island of Bahrein,
where the humidity is recorded as 73 in September and 76 in
October. The poorer quality of fruits got at some of the date-
growing places mentioned in the above tables, for example at
Gafsa, Port Said, and Alexandria, seems therefore to be due to
the lower temperatures at these places. I believe also that if
readings were taken in many plantations in Egypt in which trees,
which annually yield good crops of fruits, stand in a sea of water
while the Nile is in full flood in September-October, the humidity
figures would be much higher than those recorded above for the
stations there.

The same is probably true of Basra in the Persian
Gulf, which grows large quantities of excellent dates. Even
the very high figures given above for Bahrein apparently under-
state the case. Major Keys, Political Agent there, in reply
to a letter of mine enquiring regarding date culture in the island,
informs me that he believes the humidity in the date groves to
be considerably in excess of that reported from the observatory,
as the observatory is at Manama which is at a much higher
level than the date plantations. He also writes :— ' The people
begin to eat the dates when ' ratab ' (literallv moist) but ' ratab '

\j \ •/

dates are also gathered and allowed to ripen on the ground,
which they do in a few days. Those intended for' export or for
keeping are not gathered till they are ripe. In very damp years
when there is a danger of mildew, they are gathered when half

54 THE DATE PALM.

' ratab ', half ' tamar '* ". This stage of ripeness appears to be
approximately that at which date fruits are habitually harvested
in the Punjab.

The case of Bahrein is very interesting, as there is an
excessively high humidity in the date-ripening season there with
practically no rainfall to complicate our interpretations. In
the light of the fact that excellent qualities of date fruits are
grown at Bahrein, the mean relative humidities at most of our
Punjab stations do not appear to be above the limits for success-
ful date cultivation.

In the fruiting season actual rainfall in excess, coupled with
a normally damp air which does not allow the rain to dry up
rapidly, is what is to be most feared. The ripening period, from
the time the dates begin to soften till they are harvested, is the
part of the fruiting season in which these conditions do most
damage. Of the places referred to in Tables Noes. XIII to XVII,
those that produce the best dates, i.e., Tozer, Nefta, Dakhla
oasis, Baghdad, and Persian Gulf stations, have practically no
rainfall in the ripening season. Kebili has the highest normal
rainfall in autumn (September, October, and November). There
it is 5 '06 inches. Gabes comes next with 2 '47 inches : Biskra
has 1*97 inches, Gafsa T8 inches, and Ayata 0'6 inches.

25. A glance at Table No. XVII shows that rainfall is the
limiting factor for date farming in the Punjab .

The limiting factor

of date farming in None of the Punjab stations are rainless in our

the Punjab.

date ripening season (July and August). Multan
and Montgomery have the lightest rainfall in these months,
but even these are higher than those of the date ripening
seasons at the date-growing centres outside India quoted
above. We know, however, that at Multan, Muzaifargarh,
Dera Ghazi Khan and elsewhere, trees fertilised by wind and
left very much to care for themselves do produce crops of dates
annually. The explanation of this is that date fruits are much
more susceptible to damage by wet weather in the final ripening

* Tamar = ripe.

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

55

stage which begins after the fruits begin to soften, than before it ;
and that in the Punjab they are plucked from the trees as soon
as this stage commences, the final ripening and curing being
done by spreading the fruits on mats in the sun. The people
thus avoid the risk of the heavy damage that may be done in
wet weather to fruits which are left on the trees till they are fully
ripened. This custom has b.een in vogue as long back as we
can get authentic information for, and probably arose as early
as the introduction of dates into the province, lhat a market-
able quality of fruits can be got when dates are plucked at this
stage of ripeness is shown in paras. 85 and 86, pages 113 and 115,
and also can be seen by reference to literature dealing with the
curing and marketing of date fruits plucked at the same stage of
maturity in other parts of the world. The questions before us
then are— "What is the extent, if any, of the damage done to
the crop by rains in years of normal and excessive rainfall in the
western side of the Punjab ; and what are the extreme conditions
of rainfall under which dates can be cultivated when the fruits
are harvested and cured in the above way ?"

A consideration of the case shows that a record of the monthly
amounts of rainfall may be misleading in this connection, as a
heavy rainfall continuing for a very short time will do much
less damage than a lighter rainfall extending over a longer period ;
the effects will also be less if the rain falls before the fruits begin
to soften, etc. In the following records of rainfall at Multan,
Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Lahore, the dates on which
rain fell, as well as the amounts, have therefore been given.

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE

Rainfalls during the date-harvesting months

191

)2.

19

03.

191

)4.

19

05

19(

)6.

191

)7.

19

d8

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

Date.

09
•

43
0

B

•

|

X

9
1

B3

•

43

B
a

1

43

u

a

•

CD
1

m

•
43

o

a

B
jj

in

•

€

C

i

1

c

•

a>

43
o

EC

01

43

o

B

S"
|

I

u

B

c

C

C

c

a

C

c

c

C

c

C

B

B

B

|

|

3

3

3

3

3

rf

3

3

a

3

"3

c8

B

C

c

c

c

B

c

c

c

c

a

B

B

B

1

3
H

3

(4

i

i

3

«

I

1

3

ss

i

i

i

3

»

3

K

1

2

0-47

3

0-03

0-07

4

0-96

0-10

0-14

B

0-50

0-75

6

0-02

0-04

7

0-15

8

0-02

9

1-93

10

1-80

11

12

1-24

1-43

18

0-04

14

0-09

0-32

15

1-37

0-18

16

0-02

17

0-08

1-16

18

o-io

19

21

0-fO

21

1-98

0-16

22

23

0-08

24

25

0-01

0-52

26

0-41

0-02

0-04

27

0-03

0-03

28

29

0-21

31

31

Total

1-46

0-09

3-38

1-74

0-32

1-29

•••

0-07

0-54

0-04

3-27

2-29

2-51

Data from Director of

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

57

XVIII.

for the past 14 years in Multan.

19

39.

19

10.

19

11.

19

12.

19

13.

1

914.

19

L5.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

Aua.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY-

AUG.

X

&

f

SO
0

1

C

t

i

S3

ii

6

•g

•
•
,a

o

C

i

1

i

JS

o

C

8

J3
0

oc
9

o

c

i

i

a

»

•

1

c

1

0

a

|

1

a

•
•

|

_C

a

C

C

a

C

a

C

C

e

g

a

a

•M

_g

cS

3

es

"e3

3

|

(3

3

*cS

B

c

C

C

a

C

C

C

C

c

a

c

c

C

eS
»

5

tf

3

tf

B

g

I

1

I

3

tf

i

a

1

i

a!

tf

i

H

0-83

1-42

0-09

0-11

0-10

0-02

0-28

1-71

0-89

0-30

0-09

0-04

063

0-17

1-70

3-10

0-77

0-07

1-03

o-n

0-48

0-16

0-02

0-06

1-14

145

0-03

0-39

1-09

0-02

0-11

1-95

0-16

2-18

0-13

0-09

*

0-12

0-24

0-23

o-oi

392

0-10

0-24

0-36

...

0-23

1-25

1-66

3-06

4-25

5-98

2-45

0-11

Land Records, Punjab.

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE
Rainfalls during the date-harvesting months

19C

2.

19C

3.

19(

)4.

190

5.

19(

»6.

]9C

7.

19(

)8.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY

AUG.

Date-

X
01

o
|

I

A

B

2

c

c

•
•

o

B

•

V

1

•

a

E

£

A

o

1

1

£
1

£
|

<n
a>

i

S
|

a>

1

S
1

.5

c

a

S

c

B

E

E

E

B

B

B

E

B

si

3

g

3

1

d

«

cS

|

•

<8

g

<S

S

e

c

a

B

C

S

B

B

B

C

B

B

f <=

1

I

i

1

•

K

3

3
I

1

I

i

cS

B

c3

H

1

IB

B

1

2

0-05

3

4

0-12

0-22

0-20

5

(1-15

6

0-68

0-11

7

8

9

0-05

10

1-45

11

12

1-08

13

0-27

0-09

11

0'30

15

0-20

0-06

16

17

1-05

0-33

18

0-15

19

0-62

20

1-56

21

3-20

2*2

23

0-93

24

25

1-29

26

1-09

0-33

27

0-(>3

28

0-48

29

30

0-14

0-18

0-90

31

Total

0-80

0-30

6-23

1-62

0-47

1-43

0-51

2-38

KO

2-27

Data from Director of

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

59

XIX.

for the past 14 years in Muzaffargarh.

1909

1910.

1911.

1912.

1913.

1914.

1915.

JULY.

AUG. JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

o

a

Rainfall in inches.

Rainfall in inches.

ID « <U

"woo
sea

J

c

o

I

I

B
1

2

o

a

o

1

1

o

a

c c c

c

c

a

c

c

c

..*

c

a

S : 2 | 2

S

"3

1

1

"3

1

|

eg

1

'3

03

£ -
'3 '3

£ »

c
'5

a
'3

8

c
'3

i

a
1

a

'3

i

a

'3

£

a

i

0-51

0-87

0-03
0-86

0';65

...

...

0-03
0'05
2-10
006

0-04
O'll

0-40

0'19
0-04

0-04

0-95

0-(9

1-05

O'll

0-04

0-53
0-20

0-15

3-53

010

0-46

...

0V07
0-22
0-60
0-23
0-21

• ••

0V38

007

0-06

292

0-04

i

0-31

0-19
0-36

...

029

...

4-29

0-04

0-13

0-29

1-09

0-80

1-85

4-46 3-68

1-36

0-65

Land Records, Punjab.

60

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE
Rainfalls during the date-harvesting months

19

B2,

191

J3.

191

)4.

19

[)5.

191

)6.

19

[»7.

19(

)8.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

Date.

|

1

a

5
1

B

£

43

O
C

•

•

o

a

•
M

•

d
o
M
o

73

•

I

1

I

en
•
A
O

<c
•

*o

B

33
•

M
o

B

•
•

I

£
J

o

n
01

I

B

c

C

a

a

a

B

s

s

B

B

B

B

c

B

"3

"e«

"eS

"eS

1

^

(9

I

e8

1

I

c

a

a

a

B

B

B

s

B

B

S

B

jj

B

I

3

1

c3

1

01

sS
Ofl

I

1
OS

i

1

C3

I

!

1

B

M

1

2

8

4

0-21

5

6

on

1

•

8

0-25

9

0-55

10

OJ56

11

1-88

12

0-03

13

0-10

0-12

14

0-34

0-14

15

0-02

0-02

0-28

16

17

18

0-18

19

20

0-30

21

22

23

I 16

24

25

0-71

26

1-94

0-41

27

28

2-10

29

30

035

31

Total

0-11

2-28

0-30

0-41

021

0-29

...

1 06

0-55

1-86

0-53

4-16

Data from Director of

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

61

XX.

for the past 14 years in Deni Ghazi Khan.

19

09.

19

10.

19

11.

19

12.

19

13.

1

914.

19

15.

JULY.

Aro.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JLLY

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

00
V

1

£
1

an

•

1

•
a?

1

c

1

i

c

•
•
M
B

c

ao

B

I

£

J3

o

C

•
•

1

a

<D

m

JS

a
a

00

•
A
o

S

|

00

I

1

•

V

a

0

C

c

C

c

c

c

C

C

a

c

a

a

a

C

"3

la

**

"3

"3

"3

"3

A
1

"3

S

§

3

§

"3

B

c

c

c

B

c

a

c

c

a

a

c

1

1

•3

(£

1
•

1

1

1
i

1

1

1

i

i

s

S

0-63

0-03

0-03

0-85

0-42

0-55

003

0-56

0-33

0-01

0-51

o-oi

0-25

0-12

0-01

0-52

0-14

0-02

0-05

0-02

0-32

2-50

,

0-03

0-55

0-85

267

I -(JO

0-30

0-20

1-40

0-13

0-95

0-33

0-21

0-41

0-02

0-43

...

0-52

1-01

0-03

...

397

3-14

5-73

192

0-21

Land Records, Punjab,

62

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE
Rainfalls during the date-harvesting months

19C

B.

19

33.

191

)4.

19

05.

19

06.

19

)7.

19

08.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

f PLY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

Date.

03

•

1

a

0)

•
.c

O

A

5

•g

a

•

1

a

$

J3
O

C

i
1

a

1

O

c

•
I

i

I

i

-E

B

A
9

•§

B

1

O

B

s>

A

0

E

•

01

I

a

3

B

c

C

c

c

E

B

B

B

B

B

'3

"eS

"3

|

rt

3

8

I

C8

1

S

03

c

a

a

a

g

c

c

s

c

B

E

B

B

C

2

1

1
1

1
|

1

i

OS

I

i

1

§

•
«

Pi

3
PS

Pi

1

0'02

0'16

0-90

2

0-31

3

0-71

0'08

0'14

0-26

4-21

4

0'42

0-79

2-49

5

0'81

0'29

0-69

6

0'06

...

0-09

7

0'04

0-53

8

O-IM

004

2-24

9
10

0*08

0-26
0'08

0-71

0-30

0-03

0-75

1-62

11

0'54

0'23

(1-46

006

12

0-22

2'4?

II*

0'04

1 -32

0-07

13

0-18

0-04

R*

0-06

14

0'36

0'05

0'03

O'Ol

15

0-44

R*

069

16

0-84

0'48

17

0'39

0-02

18

0-34

1-27

19

0-57

0'51

0-04

0-14

20

0*08

0'12

0-04

21

0-08

22

0-27

0-46

0'69

23

0-91

0-10

0'02

24
25

2-21

1-48

0*25

0-37

1-59

0-36

1 12

0-41

3V04

26

0'55

0-31

0-05

27

0-65

0'21

1-73

0-28

28

0-90

0'02

29

0-25

30

0-71

095

1-54

31

1*09

1-25

Total

1-96

3-62

5-31

2'08

0-75

115

3-46

1-68

4-90

0-76

4-78

6-70

17-47

Data from Director of
NOTE. — R denotes a fe\y

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

63

XXI.

for the past 14 years in Lahore.

19

)9.

19

LO.

19

11.

19

12.

19

13.

IS

14.

19

15.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

Auo,

JULY.

Auo.

JULY.

Auo.

JULY.

AUG.

JULY.

AUG.

£

|

a

•
|

£
|

i

•g

a

<c

o

C

1
o
a

03

•

JO

u

c

43
U

a

1

u

00

a>

o

A

m

i

c

as
O
J3
U

00

B
1

00

9

1

c

c

c

c

C

c

s

c

c

C

c

C

C

c

"3

"3

"3

3

"3

"3

"3

'S

"3

"3

g

s

a

c

c

c

a

c

a

c

c

a

C

c

c

3

M

3

M

£

i

1

W

•
A

i

i

'3

£

I

^

3

as

c8
tf

•

£

i

0-11

3*50

0*35

3-24

0'80

0-io

0-35

0-18

0'06

0'38

0-68

0*63

0'06

0-85

0'02

0'49

0'3l

2*0^

0-94

3-36

0-26

0-02

0'18

0-35

0'22

2-05

0-91

0'09

0-15
0-50
2-27

0-02
0-07

0V28

0-48
0'08
0-02

0-45

0-35
1-06
2-50

0-20

0-07

0'16

0-13

0-22

0-30

...

0-20

o-oi

0-36

0'70

0-07

0 60

0'17

1-63

0-07

0*40

1'80

3'48

0'16

2'34

0'85

2-38

0'04

0-01

2-67

0'40

0'56

0-39

0-02

0-20

1-01

0-37

0'02

fl'12

I'll

0'98

0'13

0'31

2-29

0-08

0-37

2 '52

0-48

014

0V90

0-01

o-io

0-10

021

0-21

0'82

0-13

1-32

2-65

o-oi

0-57

8-75

2-99

4-14

511

0-58

3-26

1-57

7'96

9'99

9-01

11-06

2-20

0-74

0-87

Land Records, Pimjab,
drops of rainfall.

64 THE DATE PALM.

To enable us to interpret these figures properly, we require
very accurate and detailed information regarding any damage
done to the fruits by rains in these years. Authentic informa-
tion of this sort, or indeed concerning the crop in any wav, is very
difficult to collect from the smaller owners of date groves, as they
are apt to suspect that the Government revenue on the trees may
be raised if they show that they are obtaining large crops, while
larger owners having let their gardens to tenants do not know
exactly what amount of crops the tenants get. It is usually
just as difficult to get information from the tenant, as he is afraid
that the owner will raise his rent for the garden if he shows that
he is getting large crops. We must therefore look to the model
plantations which we planted in 1910 and later (see page 111,
para. 83) to give us the exact information required, or get it from
a qualified assistant who will actually stay in local plantations
throughout the fruit-developing and harvesting season. So
far we have not been able to spare a man to do this. Meantime,
I may say that date growers in Mult an, MuzafTargarh, and Dera
Ghazi Khan are unanimous in stating that in average years little
or no harm is done to the fruits there by rains. They also inform
me that more harm was done to the date crop in those districts
by rains in 1914 than in any year for a long time past. We would
expect the greatest damage to be done by rains falling between
the 20th July and 20th August, that being the chief harvesting
period (see para. 74, page 100), and referring to the above rainfall
records we find that in 1914 in Multan and Muzaffargarh there
were apparently five consecutive rainy days at the beginning of
this period, and in Dera Ghazi Khan rain fell every day, except
one, for a week then, while in no other of the past 14 years were
there as many consecutive rainy days within the main harvesting
period. At Lahore the conditions for date culture are evidently
very much worse than in the previously mentioned districts.
There also 1914 was apparently a very bad year, rain having
fallen almost every day from the 21st July to the end of the month,
but 1908, which had few consecutive dry days throughout the
whole harvesting time, was probably worse. The rainfalls in
several others of the years referred to in this table are also most

SOIL AND CLIMATE. 65

interesting, but we must have more information regarding the
damage done to the crop before we can say much more on the
subject. Date-growers in Lahore, however, maintain that they
got a considerable proportion of their crop even in 1914, and that
they do not remember a year in which their crop was totally
destroyed by rains.

In reply to enquiries made through the Deputy Commissioner,
Lahore, the Extra Assistant Settlement Officer, Lahore, in Decem-
ber 1915, writes :— ' The trees at Lahore fruit regularly ; the
crop of one year is heavier than that of the second, but the differ-
ence is not very marked. The fruit does not fall off in the rains,
but a year of excessive rainfall is a bad year for fruiting generally."

We may therefore expect to improve date culture in Multan,
Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghazi Khan districts at least, and there
are other districts which are promising. All da+a to hand indicate
that date trees will grow lustily over a large portion of the Punjab,
but that the successful cultivation of the crop may be limited
to a comparatively small area owing only to the fruits being
damaged by rain in the ripening season. It may, however,
be possible to extend the area of successful date cultivation
somewhat by selecting and propagating off-shoots from those
varieties which ripen before the rainy season commences, or even
which ripen after the rains are over.

26. There are already date trees to be seen growing in many
parts of the province, and observations on these

Useful informa-
tion that might be would give very valuable evidence as to whether

collected. .

date cultivation could be profitably taken up in
those districts. Information regarding such cases would be of
great value to the Agricultural Department.

M, DP

CHAPTER III.

Propagation of date-plants from seeds and suckers (off-shoots) ;
care of young plantations ; manuring, interculture, pruning
and water requirements of established plantations.

27. If 100 seeds are sown, 50 or more of the seedling
Propagation by plants will probably be male trees and will of
course bear no fruits. If 50 females are got,
perhaps ten trees or fewer will yield passable fruits, five or six
of these will probably yield fruits of a quality equal to that
of the mother tree, and one or more, usually not even one,
may yield fruits superior to her. The characters of the male
and female palms used to produce the seeds will of course
materially affect the number of useful seedlings got. (See
page 95, para. 62.) The sexes cannot be known with certainty
till the trees bear flowers (see also page 14, para. 11), and as
this will occur five to ten years after the seeds are sown, land,
labour, and water will have to be provided for 100 trees for
from five to ten years before the 90 more or less useless trees
can be weeded out and the ten or fewer passable ones can be
selected.

The reason that so few good female trees are got from
ordinary seeds is that the female trees are generally pollinated
by male trees of inferior quality, and they of course influence
the offspring. As the female date trees are almost always pro-
pagated by off-shoots in date-growing countries and the edible
part of the fruit formed as the immediate result of pollination
is not affected by the character of the male used (see page 95,
para. 62), date-growers have ordinarily no incentive to breed
good male trees. If good males were bred, much better results
from female seedlings would be got.

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 67

28. The land on which the seedlings are to be reared

should not contain alkali to an extent that
Reaseediinas date w^ narm ordinary farm crops. The seed bed

should be prepared in March or April as for an
ordinary crop. The seeds should be planted in it to a depth of
1 to 2 inches and 3 to 4 feet apart, in rows 3 to 4 feet between the
rows, and then irrigated. The bed should be watered once per
week till the seedlings show above ground and should then be
watered as frequently as to keep the ground moist enough to grow
any ordinary garden crop. The seedlings are extremely hardy
and I have seen them germinate and come to a foot or more in
height in deserts where nothing else was growing. If they are
well treated, they will grow faster and come into flower sooner-
They repay good treatment well, as only when they come into
flower and fruit can the fruitless males and worthless females
be weeded out. The weeding out should be done with all possible
speed to prevent the worthless trees choking the others up and so
retarding their growth. Transplanting may be done as in the case
of off-shoots (see pages 10, 68 and 73, paras. 5, 31, 38 et seq.).

29. The rearing of date trees from seeds is not advisable

for ordinary date cultivators when good off-
Advantages of shoots can be obtained. No useless trees have to

planting by ott-

shoots. be cultivated if the off-shoot method is adopted,

as all off-shoots from female trees will become
female trees and will yield fruits of the same quality as the
mother tree would in the same conditions. Consequently by
planting off-shoots of the same variety, it is possible to obtain
a plantation of trees, all yielding fruits of the same sort. Where
the date trees are reared from seeds, no individual tree bears
fruits, the inherent qualities of which are like those borne by any
other tree, and therefore the cultivator cannot supply a large
quantity of fruits of the same grade to buyers. This is a very
important disadvantage for trading purposes. Although new
and improved varieties of dates may be produced by careful
breeding and propagation from seeds, it will usually take many
years to evolve an improved variety, and many more years to

THE DATE PALM.

multiply it to a number of trees fit to produce a considerable
consignment of fruits for the market, as that variety will then
have to be propagated from suckers got from the original
improved seedling tree.

30. Off-shoots should be selected when fruits are ripe

and hanging on the mother trees, as at that

BdSt oftysehaoots. time there can be no doubt about the quality

of the fruits that the off-shoot will bear. The

trees from which off-shoots are required, should then be marked

with paint or in any other convenient way, and their positions

recorded in a note-book, a rough plan of the positions being made

if necessary. To help identification the approximate height

of the parent tree, the number of off-shoots at its base, the

approximate size of the off-shoots, their age, etc., should all be

noted.

31. It is essential that a sucker before being removed

from a tree, should have its leaves trimmed
suckeS^nl detach- back as in illustration No. 26, page 80a. Practi-
trj». cally nothing but the tender young unopened

leaves in the central bud and parts of the bare
stalks of the old leaves necessary to protect the bud should be
kept on the plant. Water is transpired from plants through the
medium of the leaves (see page 7, para. 4), and the object
in this severe pruning is to prevent as far as possible the drying
up of the off-shoots through loss of water between the time
when it is severed from the parent plant and that when, after
being replanted, it has developed a root system of its own able
to supply sufficient water to replace the amount transpired by
a more full leaf system.

If a large number of leaves are left on the off-shoot after it
has been severed from the parent plant, drying up before
replanting will obviously be accelerated. Even after replanting
the off-shoot, a large leaf system on it is fatal, as such off-shoots
usually have few or no roots ; it takes the plant some time to
develop a vigorous root system, and if the amount of water

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 69

given off by the leaves is greater than that taken up from the
soil, the plant must dry up and die.

The pruning of the off-shoot before detaching it from the
parent tree both facilitates the detaching operations and decreases
the weight of the off-shoot for transport. Off-shoots are usually
severed from the tree by means of an ordinary axe or large chisel,
the cutting being done in a plane parallel to the stem of the
parent tree. The cut should be made as near to the parent tree
as is possible without unduly harming it. The detaching imple-
ment should be sharp and the blows light. Every care should
be taken not to shatter the off-shoot in removing it from the
mother. The wound on the mother should be earthed up at once,
and it is strongly advisable to first coat the wound with coal tar or
other material generally used to cover plant wounds (see para. 93,
page 126).

32. After the adult leaves have been trimmed back,

the off-shoot should not weigh less than six
SiSpianUtCed!rSt° pounds. Off-shoots less than this usually die

when transplanted, because if- by any chance
the amount of moisture in the soil around the off-shoots becomes
less than what is required, the plant has not a sufficient store
of food and vitality in it to replace those rootlets that may
have been dried up. From the weighment of a large number
of plants I find that the average weight of an off-shoot when
trimmed and ready for planting is 12 to 15 Ibs. Off-shoots may be
fit for transplanting when they are 3 to 4 years old, but the larger
the shoot is the better, as there will be less danger in shattering
it when removing it from the parent tree, more strength in its
substance, and more chance of it doing well when transplanted.

33. Six months to a year before the off-shoots are removed,

earth is sometimes piled up round the bases

To induce off- r .

shoots to form of the mother trees and kept moist. This
induces the off-shoots to send out rootlets and
increases their chances of taking root when planted out (see also
page 10, para, 5).

70 THE DATE PALM.

34. When suckers are transported long distances and a
Care of off-shoots considerable time elapses before they can be
parenfcremtrvcae un°tu Panted, it is imperative that their leaf systems
planted- should be severely cut back. It is also advisable

to coat the bases of the plants with mud and cover them
with palm fibre, grass and straw, or matting, leaving the crown
of the off-shoot exposed. The palm fibre, etc., should be kept
damp by occasional sprinkling with water. The water must
be applied lightly, otherwise the mud tends to be washed off
the palms. The mud used should have rather more sand than
clay in it, and should be about as thick as cream when applied.
The coating is done in a box or in a hole in the ground which
should be at least 6 inches wider than the diameter of the
largest sucker and 6 inches deeper than the largest base to be
coated. The box or hole is filled with mud and a sucker is placed
into it and withdrawn. It is then immediately bound in wet
fibre, straw, etc. If many trees are to be treated a larger hole
is much better, as it has to be re-filled with mud less frequently.
Care is taken not to admit the mud into the crown of the plant.
This process is called '' puddling " by gardeners. Suckers
have been known to keep healthy for about thre'e months when
treated in this manner. (Gaskin.) The bases of the off-shoots
may be simply bound up with a covering of palm fibre to protect
them during transport to where they are to be transplanted.
More frequently no packing of any sort is done. Whether the
plants are to be specially packed or not, it is very important
that their lower ends not higher than the base of the central bud
should be placed in water on the same day as they are removed
from the parent tree. They should be left there until the moment
for packing or transport has arrived. Also as soon as they
arrive at their destination they should again be similarly placed
in wrater. If the off-shoots are strong and they are kept in water
in this way, or are kept damp, little harm seems to happen to
them if they are not planted for a month. We have repeatedly
had off-shoots sent here from Basra which on being cut from their
parents were stood in water till ready for transport ; were sent
without any packing— the journey occupying about 10 days ;

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 7l

were placed in water at once on arrival, and were planted in
good condition 4 to 6 weeks after they were cut from the trees.
During transport the plants should not be placed on the deck
of a ship without shade, and so be exposed to the withering
effect of the hot sun, nor be stored in a space so badly ventilated
that fermentation will set in.

Swingle (see page 47 of United States of Ameiica Bulletin
No. 53, The Date Palm) states that 75 per cent, of 384 off-shoots
lived which were obtained in Algeria, packed simply in boxes in
charcoal or straw with damp moss about their bases, no more
moisture being added, and planted 2 months' later in Arizona,
United States of America.

It is well, however, to plant date off-shoots as soon after
detaching them from the parent tree as possible.

35. Many Egyptian people believe that the best results are got
by planting date off-shoots in March. Our late
plant ofi-shoota. Arab date overseer (Hassan-el- Atman) informed
me that the best results are got in Arabia if the
off-sets are planted when the wheat is beginning to ripen, i.e.,
in the end of March. In Baluchistan the time of planting
is recorded as between the end of February and beginning
of April. Of 24 off-shoots from foreign trees which arrived
at the end of January in 1913, 12 were planted at Lyallpur and
12 at Muzaffargarh. All died. About 50 off-shoots were planted
in the end of March one year at Muzaffargarh and a similar lot
were planted at the same time in Multan. Both lots failed.
These were got from local trees and planted immediately after
removal from their parents. Where fair attention has been
given to the plants, very good results have been got by planting
Basra off-shoots in the first week of September in Lyallpur,
Muzaffargarh, and elsewhere, and I should advise planting being
done in Multan, Muzaffargarh, and neighbouring districts in the
first week of September until we have reason to do otherwise.

The heat of summer is very trying to the plants before they
have established themselves, and the excessive heat in May

72 THE DATE PALM.

and June in the Punjab (see para. 18, page 33) may make early
September a better planting season than March here.

i 36. In Basra in 1910 the cost per 100 date suckers fit for

transplanting ranged from Us.* 50 to Us. 75.

°8in°Arabia.00 In September 1910, 1,000 off-shoots of assorted

varieties were obtained from Basra and cost at

Multan, after all expenses were paid, Rs. 1,020, or practically Re. 1

per tree. The consignments got from Basra in 1911 and 1912 cost

approximately the same. Prices like Rs. 5 per tree have been

charged by people in the Punjab for off-shoots from trees on

their land. These local off-shoots are from trees bearing fruits of

lower quality than those that can be had at Rs. 50 per 100 in

Basra and elsewhere. For varieties of date palms being imported

(see para. 83, page 111).

! 37. If date trees are grown on the edges of water-courses
or fields where the permanent water-level is

The advantages . .

and disadvantages well within 20 feet oi the soil surface, a large

of having dates in , ,. , . ,

plantations as com- number ot palms may be grown without

pared with having ....... , j>ii i ,1

the trees around the diminishing the area ot land under other crops.
Once established they can also be grown with
little special water-supply. When palm trees are grown in a
plantation, a large number of plants can be more easily watered
and attended to when young than if scattered around the edges
of fields, and when the trees are bearing fruits they can be more
easily guarded from birds and other enemies. The death-rate
among young date-suckers in the first two years after being planted
out is so alarming where water has not been regularly given in
suitable quantities and where the trees have not been properly
attended to that, in cases in which these attentions cannot be
insured, it would probably be better to plant the trees in a nursery
and grow them there till they have developed a good root system
and then transplant them into their permanent places with a
ball of the nursery earth undetached from their bases. A year's
growth or more may be lost in this way owing to the planting

1 • * Re. 1 (one rupee) = 16 pence.

ILLUSTRATION No. 23.

The two date trees in the foreground have had their bases continuously covered with water
for the past 6 years. The photograph was taken in the fruit-bearing season and shows
that they are bearing practically no fruits. The leaf systems also look miserable' and
their roots were found to be considerably decayed.

(See page 73).

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. ?3

of the trees a second time, and they will have to be well attended
to till they establish themselves in their new positions, but the
death-rate among the plants will be very much decreased. Much
less water will be required for a number of trees in a nursery
than if they are widely scattered over a large area. Even where
old trees have to be replaced in a date plantation, it may be
advisable to grow the suckers in a nursery for a time before
planting them in their permanent positions, as these young plants
require much more water and attention than the older trees,
and they are very apt to be neglected if scattered about in odd
places. In suitable localities dates are probably a more paying
crop than most others, and if vegetables, lucerne, and other crops
are grown between the trees, a piece of land laid out in a first
class quality of date trees ought to be a very paying investment
(see para. 88, page 117). Where the difficulty of the enemies
can be got over easily, however, and where the subsoil water
conditions are suitable, I think it would be well to have a
considerable number of trees planted round the edges of the
fields and along water channels as well as in plantations. As the
many factors involved differ not only in the different districts,
but with each individual cultivator, each intending date-grower
will have to decide what is best to be done in his own case.

38. In choosing the site for a plantation the question
of the water-supply must be carefully considered,
and preparations8^ Although date palms love an abundant supply
a*t[onS ( of water and can stand water-logging to a far

greater extent than many other plants (see
para. 2, page 1), they yield their best crops only when a
plentiful supply of water is accompanied by proper aeration
of the soil. Adult trees which stand in a water-logged soil, or in
a sea of stagnant water all the year round, may not die but they
do not bear as good crops of fruits as those growing in better
selected soils.

In the foreground of illustration No. 23, page 72«, are two date
trees photographed in the fruit-bearing season and which have
been standing in a pond of water for several years, their roots

74 THE DATE PALM.

being nearly always submerged and the water standing to a depth
of several feet up their stems in summer. They bear most
miserable crops of fruits, while the date trees seen in the back-
ground of the photo., growing on land, the level of which is about
5 feet higher, bear passable crops. Adult palms appear to stand
the bases of their stems being flooded for considerable periods
however without much apparent harm. In parts of Egypt, for
example, water often to a depth of several feet stands round
the trees during September and October every year. Colonel
Scott-Moncrieff, E.E., Under -Secretary of State, Public Works
Department, Egypt, in a resume of. notes on Date Culture in Egypt,
writes : "Water may remain over the roots for 70 days, a longer
period will damage the produce " (vide letter dated 4th July
1 887, from Dr. Bonavia to the Secretary to Government, North-
West Provinces and Oudh).

We usually find the roots of date trees descending into ordinary
loamy soils to a depth of 7 to 10 feet (see page 1, para. 2),
and if the land is not well drained naturally to about that depth,
this should be done artificially if practicable by means of open
ditches or by other means. Adult trees may be seen growing
luxuriantly without any irrigation where the subsoil water-
level is about 14 feet from the soil surface. Where the water-
level is at 20 feet depth and no artificial waterings are given,
the trees generally look more or less stunted and, although they
may exist, they do not bear their maximum crops of fruits. Where,
however, irrigations are given to trees in such situations, or where
the water-level is rather higher, there is the advantage that if the
irrigations are unavoidably or carelessly delayed, the trees will
suffer less than they would if the subsoil water was beyond the
reach of the roots altogether.

Water in soaking into a soil which is not water -logged fills
up the interspaces between the earth's particles, displacing the
air from these, and as the liquid descends leaving these inter-
spaces again, fresh air from the atmosphere is drawn into them.
Fresh water also contains a certain amount of oxygen dissolved
in it. Water is therefore a powerful aerating agent, and

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 75

judicious applications of it may be beneficial even where the roots
can reach a good underground supply. On lands where the
subsoil water is far below the reach of the palm roots, excellent
crops of date fruits can be got if a regular and plentiful supply
of irrigation water is given. The disadvantages of the situation
are the expenses incurred before the water can be applied, and the
very serious damage that may be done if regular irrigations are
not given. In parts of the Persian Gulf the lands are both
aerated and irrigated by the rise and fall of the tide in the river,
but unfortunately we have no such efficient, cheap, automatic
method in the Punjab. When a young plantation is to be laid
down, even where the subsoil water is at such a height as to be
well within reach of the roots of adult palms, it is absolutely
vital to its success that an abundant and regular supply of irri-
gation water should be provided for the young plants throughout
the year during the first 2 to 3 years after they are planted out
(see pages 84 and 85, paras. 49, 50, and 51). Should this not be
done the death-rate will be appalling. If the plants have been
properly treated, they should be growing vigorously by the end
of that time and more hardy. They should still receive artificial
waterings in accordance with their requirements however. A
plentiful water-supply will be well repaid by the trees coming
several years earlier into bearing than they otherwise would.
By the time well-kept trees have been planted out 5 to 6
years, they ought to have developed a strong root system
penetrating into the soil to a depth of 7 to 9 feet (see para. 2,
page 1 ; and illustration No. 1, page XIX), and if there is a good
supply of subsoil water well within reach of these, the plants
may yield good crops without further artificial waterings. If
the natural water-supply is below the reach of the roots of
adult trees, permanent arrangements for the necessary waterings
(see page 84, para. 49) must be made.

Perhaps the best sites as far as water-supply is concerned,
are where the permanent water-level is at a depth somewhere
between 9 and 16 feet. Even with a water table at these depths
irrigations might improve the crop. With a water table at

76 tHE DAfE PALM.

greater depths it is essential that the requisite amount of irrigation
water should be available. According to the data yet at hand a
rise of water-level above 9 feet, or even flooding of adult trees
for a short time in the fruiting season, does no great harm. Proper
aeration of the roots and a plentiful supply of fresh water in the
fruit developing season are the ideal conditions. Floods will,
of course, kill newly planted off-shoots by destroying their
terminal buds if the water covers these for any length of time.

As regards texture of the soil, a sandy loam is perhaps
best (see page 19, para. 13). Such a soil is open enough to allow
good drainage and close enough not to allow manurial ingredients
to wash out unduly rapidly.

If the land is virgin and is suspected of containing excess
of alkali, it should be tested for this. The land may be divided
by small banks into suitable sized beds, and the whole surface
well flooded. The water will soak into the subsoil, dissolve the
salts and that quantity of it which returns to, and is evaporated
from, the soil surface will leave its deposit of salts there. If
there are water channels across the soil at suitable distances
apart ; if these are then filled with water, and the water is simply
allowed to soak from these into the subsoil, it will diffuse laterally
as it descends, and that part of it which rises to the surface between
the channels will evaporate and add its load of salts to those
of the first irrigation. Repeated soakage of the land by way of
these channels only will soon show an accumulation of salt at
the soil surface if excess exists in the land and no rain occurs to
wash it in again. Even where a chemical analysis of a virgin
soil is to be made for alkali in a rainless tract, more representative
samples will be got after a few irrigations, as the irrigations
will disseminate any pockets or layers of salts. In many cases
the simplest way of testing the soil for excess of alkali, however,
is to grow some of the crops mentioned on page 83, para. 46, on it.

The irrigations given to the crop disseminate pockets or layers
of salts, and the condition of the crop is an excellent indication

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 77

of whether there are sufficient salts present to interfere with date
culture.

It may be mentioned here that in my experience on the
Egyptian oases where salty lands were being reclaimed, rice
was the only common crop that would grow on these in the
first year ; next year barley and often leguminous crops could
be grown. In bad cases rice had to be grown several years in
succession before other crops would grow.

The efficacy of this treatment seems to depend on the large
quantities of water supplied to the rice crop preventing a
concentrated solution coming in contact with the rice plant& ;
in the water dissolving and disseminating the salts from the
pockets and layers in which they were usually deposited ; and in
carrying a considerable part of the salt out of reach of the crop
by natural drainage. When date suckers are planted in salty lands,
a high death-rate must be allowed for (see page 19, para. 14).

Before a new plantation is laid down pits should be dug
in the soil to see that no hard pans (hard strata more or less
impenetrable to roots) are present to a depth of 9 or 10 feet.
If the land is not level it should be levelled or contoured. The
positions of the trees should then be carefully marked, holes
about 2j feet in diameter and a convenient depth (see page 80,
para. 41) should be dug, small water channels should be made
connecting the holes in each row, and main channels should be
made where necessary.

39. Considerable differences of opinion exist as to the
most economic distance to plant the trees apart

Distance between -. " i • •••

the trees in a plant- irom each other m plantations. All distances

ation, and relative .. . _ p ..

positions of the between 12 teet and 30 teet nave been

trees. -, • ,

advised.

F. E. Crow, British Consul at Basra, in an article on the
date palm in Mesopotamia dated March 1808 (see Kew Bulletin
No. 7, 1908) says that the trees are planted 10 to 15 feet apart
there. In date-growing countries I have seen many plantations

78 THE DATE PALM.

the trees in which had about that interval, but in the best planta-
tions that I have seen, the trees have been 17 to 20 feet apart.

Paul B. Popenoe in his book " Date Growing in the Old
and New Worlds " gives opposite page 297 a photograph of a
plantation of " Fardh Palms in the Samail Valley, Arabia " under
which he writes : " The natives of this region are the most skilful
Arab cultivators of the Date " and " the trees are planted
20 feet apart and a subsidiary crop is grown."

The observations referred to on page 1, para. 2 of this note,
show that a very large proportion of the roots of the date palm
descend at a sharp angle and never spread beyond a radius of
a few feet from the tree trunk. As far as the root system is
concerned, therefore, the data from these observations would
explain why considerable crops of fruits are got even when the
trees are planted very close together. They show, however,
that there would be a good deal of overlapping of the roots when
the plants are planted 10 to 15 feet apart and indicate that the
trees would probably bear more heavily if planted at distances
apart up to about 20 feet. When the trees are growing 19 or 20
feet apart, the relative positions of the trees are as advised
below, and the leaves are fairly developed, there is also neither
overcrowding, nor much vacant space left between the tree
tops (see para. 4, page 7).

If each tree is allowed a circular space having a diameter
of about 19 feet, good results should therefore be got. To get
most trees into a given area of ground the trees should be set
out in lines, and the trees in adjacent lines should not be opposite,
but should alternate with each other as in illustration No. 24
opposite. Also the proportional distances apart of the rows
and the'trees in the rows should be

( ia )2 + b2 = a2

When a = the distance apart of the trees in the rows, and
b = the distance between the rows. —

With a = 19 feet, b will be about 16'4 feet, and 139 trees
approximately will be planted per acre.

78a

6

z

s

03

ILLUSTRATION No. 25.

786

Average sized Arabian date tree in the garden of the Multan Central Jail, growing on a
piece of land trenched and highly manured a year or more before the tree was planted
as a sucker in September 1910. There is a crop of vegetables 15 inches high growing
around this tree.

78c

ILLUSTRATION No. 25A.

Average sized Arabian date tree growing on ordinary untrenched land in the same garden.
The tree was obtained as a sucker from Arabia in the same consignment as that
of Illustration No. 25 on page TSb and was also planted in September 1910.

Both photos were taken on 23rd July 1916.

PEOPAGATION BY SEEDS. 79

Where there is a distance of 25 feet or more between the
palms in a plantation, other fruit trees are usually grown between
them.

40. Many writers advise manure being given to the trees

The question of when they are planted, but the Arabs I met

to P the8 piant8nUat m Egypt and our late Arab date-overseer from

planting time. Basra are alj e^^ically against manure

being used at planting time. When the off-shoot has just
been planted, it has lost connection with the roots of the
parent tree and has usually no root system of its own by
means of which water and dissolved salts from the soil necessary
to carry on the vital function of the plant, and to enable it to
grow a root system, etc., for itself, can be properly supplied to it.
A large quantity of manure closely applied round the off-shoot
at planting time would, when wetted, produce a concentrated
solution which would retard the passage of water into the plant
to an extent depending on the degree of concentration just as
strong solutions of the Alkaline salts do (see page 19 ,para. 14)
and so might cause the death of the off-shoot. Apparently
this is not a hyper-sensitive point, for in the case of 59 suckers
to each of which about 22 Ibs. of well-rotted cow-dung were given
at planting time well mixed with the earth replaced in the planting
pit, the death-rate was no higher than among the plants which
got no manure.

Until we have further data, however, I should advise planters
to be very careful of the use of manure at planting time. In
lands of ordinary quality it would be safer to use none then,
as anything which will interfere with the passage of water and
dissolved salts into the plants at this critical period of their
existence is to be avoided. When growth once starts, however,
a little well-rotted manure spread round the plant and dug into
the soil an inch or two, soon gives a robust appearance to the
plants and accelerates their growth greatly. The differences in
rates of growth of date plants growing on rich trenched land and
on ordinary poor land is shown in illustrations Nos. 25 & 25a,
pages 786 and 78c. The trees growing on both plots were got

80 THE DATE PALM.

from Basra in one consignment in 1910 ; were of similar appearance
and size and have received the same water and other treatment
throughout, the only difference being that the land on which
the plant in illustration No. 25 is growing was trenched and
heavily manured about a year or more before the trees in that
plot were planted, while the land on which the plant shown
in illustration No. 25a is growing was not. The trees on the
trenched land have grown much faster and are now practi-
cally all in bearing — many having borne two or three crops
of fruits of considerable weight — while many of the trees on the
un trenched lands are just coming into bearing or are not yet
bearing. About T9oths of the crop got so far from the garden
have been got from the trees on the trenched area.

41. Usually the off-shoot is not quite straight, but has a slight
curve on it. Date-growers usually plant the
Plantshootshe °ff" off-shoots so that their tops lean very slightly
towards the south and the inner side of the curve
on the stem is in that direction. The off-shoot is placed in the
centre of the hole in the position above described, and the earth
is filled in and pressed fairly firmly around it. A basin is usually
made round the plant and a watering is given immediately.
The basin should be about 2| feet in diameter and the level
of its bottom should be 1 to Ij inches lower than the bottom
of the irrigation channel which runs into it so as to trap a small
pool of water round the tree and irrigate the soil properly there
(see illustration No. 26 opposite). The water in the pool should
disappear within 6 to 8 hours after the irrigation. In planting,
a very important point to notice is that the crown of the off-shoot
(i.e., the position from which the bud of very young leaves start)
is at least 1 or 2 inches above the level of the irrigation water.
If the crown is below this level the irrigation water will get into
and kill the plant by rotting out the young terminal bud.
Frequently the off -shoots and the soil around it sink considerably
after the first few irrigations owing to the earth settling more
compactly in the hole dug at planting time, and the crown of
the plant may then become covered with water at each irrigation.

80a

FIG. I.

So//

FIG. II.

ILLUSTRATION No. 26.

BASIN SYSTEM. ,
VERTICAL" SECTION.

PLAN.
(On much more reduced scale than Fig. I.)

806

FIG. I.

ILLUSTRATION No. 27.

RING SYSTEM.

VERTICAL SECTION.

PLAN.
(On much more reduced scale than Fig. I.

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 81

This happens especially where the holes in which the off-shoots
were planted have been dug very deep. The hole is perhaps
the best depth for planting purposes when on the plant being
placed with its lower end resting on the bottom of the hole, the
crown of the plant is just at its proper height. As the off-shoots
are not all of one size, I find that it is most convenient to have
all the holes dug just the correct depth for the smaller plants
and then dig out a little more earth where necessary when planting
the larger plants. This method of digging holes of course applies
only to good loamy well aerated soils. Where there are bands of im-
pervious clays or hard pans, etc., in the soil, the hole should be dug
to a depth of 3 feet or more and left for some weeks or months :
then some days at least before planting is begun the earth should
be replaced and thoroughly packed to the height required in
planting the off-shoot, so as to prevent the plant sinking later.

42. If in spite cf every thing the plant sinks too low,

the irrigating water may be prevented from
^nto WJthe entering the crown of the plant by filling up the
°whene the basin round the plant with earth and making
sunk after instead a circular trench round the off-shoot

and about 12 inches away from it (see illustration
No. 27, page 806). The soil around the off-shoot receives water
from this trench just as it did from the basin. Care should be
taken that earth and dirt does not collect in the crown of the
tree, as that is also bad for the plant. Another method of
preventing irrigating water entering the crowns of the trees when
they have sunk after being planted, is to lower the levels of the
water channels and basins around the trees, and then only partly
fill the channels with water when irrigating. The previous
method is usually the better one, however. Where the crowns
have not sunk too low, I prefer the plain basins without the rings
(see illustration No. 26, page 80a).

43. If the soil is of a stiff nature, a mulch of some sort
TO prevent crack- should be spread on the surface of the soil in

ing of the soil round

th© plants and ex- the basins around the plants as soon as possible

cessive evaporation „ , . ,™ , - ,

of water. aiter planting. The mulch may be composed

M, DP 6

82 THE DATE PALM.

of clean fiver sand that will not run together forming a com-
pact hard cake when it dries, cr it may be composed of
decaying leaves, refuse litter, straw or any material which
will form a loose layer an inch or two in depth on the surface of
the soil.

In the Punjab coal ashes perhaps form one of the best
materials for spreading round the plant, as they not only form
a nice mulch, but retard the attacks of white-ants. The object
of a mulch is attained by keeping the upper inch or two of soil
loose by very frequent hoeing, etc. The idea is to form a layer of
matter which will retain a considerable volume of air in the spaces
between its component particles and so retard the swift exchange
of dry air of the atmosphere for the more or less moist air that is
in contact with the soil surface. If this is done either by
frequent hoeing or by an artificial mulch the number of irrigations
required to keep the land in a satisfactorily moist state for the
plants, will be reduced to an astonishing extent even on medium
loams. When the soil is stiff and no mulching is done, the earth
around the plants contracts and cracks very readily, and the
young tender roots of the off-shoots are apt to be torn during the
contraction, or dried up by exposure at the cracks.

44. Immediately the off-shoots are planted each plant

should be loosely thatched with sufficient grass

Newly planted . J . °.

trees must be shaded to provide a gentle shade for its young terminal
bud as the older leaves which naturally formed
this shade have been trimmed off (.seepage 68, para. 31).

45. The trees must on no account be shaken or pushed

about after being planted, as this breaks the

Trees must not be

shaken till firmly young roots being sent out, or disturbs the

established.

proper packing of the soil around the stem so
that air spaces are left there into which dry air passes and
shrivels up the roots. Ordinary bullock labour, therefore, should
not be allowed in the plantation between the time the plants
are planted and the time the plants become firmly established.

82a

oo

6

2

fc
O

03
&
03

2 I

r- •**

S O
C^ fi

'I

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 83

46. Sometimes in date-growing localities a variety of

crops are grown between the trees. While

Auxiliary crops.

tne trees are small only such crops are grown
as will not injure the palms by overshading them too much.
Common crops grown then are wheat, barley, lucerne, clover,
vegetables (see illustration No. 28, page 82a). Later, such fruits
as grapes, pomegranates, figs, peaches, apricots, almonds and
similar fruits are often grown under the shade of the palms
if there is sufficient space for these. In the Sahara many of
these fruits can only be grown successfully under the shade of
other trees and do best where grown under the date palm. It
is quite common there to see three crops occupying the land at
the same time. First the date trees towering above everything,
then a mixture of other fruit trees, and under them the more
shade loving garden vegetables. Gardens of this sort are of
course excellent where the other fruit trees can be grown well,
and the fruits from these and the crops of vegetables can be succes-
fully dealt with. Rice crops should not be grown between ne\v!y
planted date trees, as until they have become well established
the stagnant water of the rice plots harms the young plants.

47. The great necessity for keeping a minute and accurate

record of the trees in a plantation is shown

Method of keeping

records of trees in in paragraph 81. page 109. My method of

a plantation. . ' r &

keeping a record is by making a plan of the
plantation as in illustration No. 24, page 18a, and filing with
ifc all letters and notes of anything of interest connected with
the case. Every tree in the plantation is represented on
the plan by a small circle with a number inside it and a reference
on the margin of the plan shows the name of the variety under
that number. The date of planting and a reference are given to
the connected correspondence. This plan makes it a simple
matter in following years to record when a tree comes in
bearing ; what its annual yields of fruits are, and any thing
of interest about it. The work is greatly facilitated if each
tree bears a zinc label with a number on it corresponding with
that of the plan.

84 THE DATE PALM.

48. A register should also be kept of the number and

, dates of waterings and, if possible, the amount

liegister 01 «J

waterings. of water given, as different soils and positions

require different amounts of water. If a record is kept of the
condition of the plantations and compared with different
supplies of water given, the best results can be got eventually
with the most economical water-supply.

49. An irrigation must be given to the date plants as

soon as they are planted. A very great stream

Water and other

requirements of a of water should not be turned on to the

young plantation ... . , .

on medium soils in plantation when irrigations are given, as this
is apt to submerge too much of the plant, carry
dirt into its crown, rot the central bud and kill the plant. The
land must be kept continuously almost wet for the first month
after planting and continuously moist until the plants become
established. Sandy soils will require much more water than
clayey soils will, to keep them in the proper condition, and the
waterings may have to be applied more or less frequently in
different classes of soil, so that the only reliable way to discover
when a young plantation requires watering is to see the dampness
of the soil in the basin round the plants. When plants have been
planted in the first week of September on well drained medium
loams in Multan and nejghbourmg districts, however, the plants
will stand one watering per day for the first 40 days, one watering
every 2 days for the next 40 days, and one watering every 6 days
till growth starts and the heat commences in spring. After the
frosts in spring are well over and before the weather is very hot
the thatching may be removed from the plants for a week or two
and then fresh thatching put on. Care should be taken, however,
not to shake the plant much while removing the old thatch or
replacing the new. This thatch may finally be removed when
the plants have formed a few strong leaves. From spring the
plants may require a watering every 4 or 5 days till the rains
begin and one watering per week or less after that. One watering
every 6 to 7 days will probably have to be given during the next
hot weather. By the end of that time most of the plants will be

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS.

85

firmly established and will require water less often, the number
of waterings depending on the character of soil, the amount
of surface hoeing or mulching done, the climate, the height
of the permanent water table or the amount of percolation
of water if near a river, canal or other body of water (see also
page 73, para. 38).

50. In Basra the Arabs like to plant date off-shoots in
Water require- spring when the wheat ripens and thev consider

ments of young plan-
tations in Basra. the following waterings necessary : —

(a) First 40 days after planting one watering daily.
(6) Next 40 days one watering every alternate day. -.

(c) Then one watering every 4 days till end of November.

(d) One watering per week in December, January and

February .

(e) One watering every 4 days during the hot weather.
(/) Then once in 10 to 14 days.

(cj) After two hot seasons and one winter the trees are

\«y /

established and require a watering once in 15 to 30
days.

51. If off-shoots are planted in spring in Multan or
The effects of neighbouring districts, the above waterings as far

younjg ^ntatlon as (e) would probably be fairly suitable for them
to dry up. ajgo y an(j g wou\^ depend on the depth of the

subsoil water table (see page 73, para. 38). Up to the time the
off-shoots have developed the first few well grown leaves they
require the most careful and constant attention. If the soil in the
basins around the plants has been allowed to dry up once during
that time, the death-rate among the plants may be many times
multiplied. A remarkably long time elapses before a palm shows
very obvious signs of the damage done to it by \vant of water and
it frequently happens that -the soil has been, kept in excellent
condition as regards water for months after the time it was
allowed to dry up, before the plant actually withers up completely.
The very small proportion of parenchymatous (soft thin walled)
tissue in the leaf- blade ; its excessively strong framework of scle-
renchyma (hard fibrous tissue) and the thick strong cuticle (skin)

86 THE DATE PALM.

(vide page 7, para. 4) prevent it wilting and drooping at once as a
turnip or cabbage leaf does when water is scarce. We have seen
cases where the short supply of water took place in July and the
plants only began to show very obvicus signs of dying off in
October and later in the year. If the off-shoots are planted in
the first week of September and the plantation receives careful
attention, nearly all the weakly plants will have died out and
many of the others will have produced several well grown leaves

bv that time next vear. If careful attention is not given some

./ •>

of the plants will not have established themselves till three or
four years after planting. Pioper attention as regards water, etc.,
is well repaid by a young date plantation as strong vigorous trees
•come several years sooner into bearing than weakly ones.

52. In most parts of the world the death-rate in a young
Death-rate in a plantation is usually between 20 and 30 per
young plantation. cent> Tke results of the past five years' experi-
ments in the Punjab show us that the death-rate could be
kept well within these figures by planting fair sized plants on
average quality of soil in early September and by giving them
the attention prescribed. Forty-three trees out of fifty planted
at Lyallpur in September 1910 are now (1916) flourishing
vigorously and some have borne three crops of fruits. Ihe
Executive Engineer, Lower Sutlej Canals Division, informs me
that 42 out of 50 suckers sent to him in 1911 are alive and
that some are giving fruits. In other places also where proper
attention has been given very low death-rates have been got. In
many cases, however, the death-rate has been far higher than
it should have been, and in some cases it has practically amounted
to total extinction. Shortage of irrigation water, for reasons
beyond control, and a want of knowledge of the value of
mulching were in some cases the causes of the high death-rate,
but failure to realise the absolute necessity of preventing the soil
in the plantation from drying up further than prescribed above,
even once until the plants become established, was the great
stumbling-block. This is not surprising, as most people here
have never reared date palms from suckers but have seen from

ILLUSTRATION No. 29.

Date tree growing in Multan. It stands beside a dunghill (a) and annually bears several times the
amount of fruit borne by date trees of the same age in the same enclosure. It is giving off
a sucker (6) although its age is about 40 years. The leaves (c) are past their useful stage and
should be pruned away.

(See paye 87. )

fKOPAGAflON BY SEEDS. 87

their birth date trees grow from seeds simply thrown away after
the fruits were eaten and receiving no special watering or
attention whatsoever. All the above instructions are therefore
looked upon as so much empty talk and the carrying out of
these instructions but an unnecessary expense. The planter will
find, however, that if these are not strictly complied with, he
must face a correspondingly high death-rate. On the other
hand, all our experience indicates that if vigorous plants are
planted in good soil at the proper season, and are given fair
attention, there is no reason why the death-rate should not be
as low in the Punjab as in any date-growing region in the world.
These points cannot be too strongly impressed on intending
planters. There is a large number of people, who having seen
how very much better the fruits grown in the Punjab on the
imported trees are, than those on local trees, are asking us for
suckers, but a great number of the plants planted by these
people will certainly die off and be a loss to the growers if they
are not properly treated when planted.

53. In many cases no manure is given to date palms.
In some cases, however, it is given once every

Manuring and in- »

tercuiture of estab- 2 to 4 years ; in other cases annually, and in a

lished date palms.

few cases twice a year. Where manure is not
given at any other time it is customary to apply it to
off-shoots when they have established themselves in the soil
after being planted out. Manure seems to very much increase
the vigour and rate of growth of young plants and the fruit-
bearing capacity of adult trees (see illustrations Nos. 25 & 25a,
pages 78& & 78c and No. 29, page SQa}. The tree in illustration
No. 29 stands beside a dung heap and the owner informed me that
the tree annually yields several maunds of fresh fruits while
several other trees of the same age growing a few yards distant
only yield 20 seers each.

The manure applied to date trees may be any ordinary farm-
yard manure. Cow, horse, donkey, camel, fowl, etc., dungs
have been used. It should be well rotted, especially here, where
it may attract white-ants if it is not properly decayed. The

88 THE DATE PALM.

amount to be used will vary with the age of the tree, quality of
the soil and the time which will elapse between the applications.
It is better practice to give a small quantity annually than to
give a larger amount only after a lapse of several years. About 50
Ibs. of well-rotted manure per tree annually would be a beneficial
dressing. When applying the manure the earth may be removed
around the tree to a radius of 3 or 4 feet and to a depth of 2 or
3 inches. In this excavation the dung may be spread and covered
up by replacing the soil again. The operation is done before
spring growth commences. The growing and ploughing in of a
crop of green manure between the trees may be resorted to.

San (Crotolaria juncea) may be grown for this purpose
when the date plants are big enough not to be too much
overshadowed by it. In Egypt and elsewhere leguminous fodder
crops are grown between the trees. These crops may be fed,
where they grow, to cattle, or may be carried off the land and
fed to cattle elsewhere, but even in the latter case their residue of
roots, etc., left in the land enriches it in nitrogen. In the Punjab,
Lentils (Ervum lens) gram (Cicer arietinum) peas (Pisum sativum)
vetches (Lathyrus sp.) senji (Melilotus parviflora) etc., may be
grown in winter and moth (Phaseolus aconitifolius] mash (Ph.
radiatus) mung (Ph. mungo) and such crops may be grown in
summer for this purpose. Where vegetables, etc., are grown
between the trees and manure is applied to these crops, the
fertility of the soil is kept up in that way (see para. 46, page 83,
for further auxiliary crops, and para. 58, page 91, for cultivation
of the soil where no auxiliary crop is grown).

54. Adult trees require very little attention and care.
Where harm from winter frosts is feared, they

Leaf pruning and

clearing of excess of should not be severclv pruned in autumn, as

off-shoots and rub-
bish from the bases a large number of leaves on the top of the plant

of the trees. ,

protect its inner and more tender young leaves
from the colds in winter. It is especially necessary to remember
this in the case of young plants in such situations, as small plants
are more liable to injury than taller ones (see page 32, para. 17).
Special conditions as regards disease, etc., may arise, however,

ILLUSTRATION No. 30.

Date tree growing at Paooa Mari, Lyallpur, 21 years old, and showing a sucker (a) at its base ;
a large number of leaves on the tree are withered and drooping, and, should be
pruned away.

(See page 89.)

PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. 89

which would make it advantageous to prune the plants fairly
severely and then protect them artificially.

Mr. Gaskin, Assistant for Commerce and Trade, Baghdad,
informs me that the Arabs there prune the old leaves from the
palms three times a year, viz. : (a] at the time of pollination,

(b) when the fruit is well formed but has not turned yellow, and

(c) when the bunches of fruits are finally cut down. At the time of
(a) the growers have 'to climb the trees to " hand-pollinate " the
flowers ; at (b) they are probably thinning out the fruit bunches
and unfertilised fruits ; at (c) they are harvesting. Having
climbed the trees at these times the people naturally cut away
any leaves which have passed their most useful stage of life 'or
are in the way of the worker (see illustration No. 29, page 86a.)

Usually where the date is cultivated, however, the main
pruning is done in spring. When growth commences, the leaves
which are withering and hanging limply are cut away and the
bases of the trees are cleared of all rubbish and superfluous
off-shoots. Four to six off-shoots are usually left on each young
tree to provide young plants for planting elsewhere. Young
off-shoots while attached to the parent tree obtain water and food
materials from the parent, and later when they have developed
roots for themselves, these roots take up water and food materials
from the soil which would otherwise have been available for the
parent tree ; therefore the crop of fruits is diminished if too large
a number of off-shoots are allowed to remain attached to a tree.

55. Young date palms grown from seeds which have

dropped around the trees, and all other useless

Effect of seedling

dates and weeds on plants growing around the bases of the trees

a plantation. -I-ITI -i i T i

should be removed, as they also take up wrater
and food materials from the soil, which would otherwise have
been available to the date trees.

56. Date trees usually produce off-shoots fit for planting
Ages between between the ages of 5 and 20 years (see illus-

which trees produce . 7 i •

off-shoots (suckers) tration No. 38, page 1126, and illustration No. 30,

and number of suck- . p f ,

era borne. page 88$). Alter 20 years ot age lew or no

90 THE DATE PALM.

off-shoots are produced as a rule. Sometimes, however, much older
trees give off one or more suckers (see illustration No. 29, page 86«).

If a tree bears good fruits and off-shoots from it are much
wanted, a larger number of off-shoots may be allowed to grow at
its base than is quoted in paragraph 54 above. The total number
of suckers which a date tree bears during its lifetime varies greatly
with the variety of the date, the vigor of the plant, the degree of
moisture usual in the surface soil, etc. Imported Arabian trees
planted as suckers at Lyallpur 5 years previously are now bearing
1 to 16 suckers each and have an average of about 7 suckers
per tree ; trees of the same consignment planted at Muzaffargarh
are bearing 1 to 15 suckers each, with an average of about 6
suckers per tree ; and trees of the same lot in the Multan Central
Jail Garden now bear 1 to 14 suckers per tree. About 60 per
cent, of these suckers are ready for removal from the parent trees.

Twenty is an approximate estimate of the average total number
of suckers that a date tree will produce during its normal sucker-
producing years, but, as will be seen from the above, the number
even on individual five-year old trees varies very widely.

When it is desired to extend the period during which a tree
will give off off-shoots, or to increase the number of off-shoots
which it is giving off at a younger period, a platform of earth is
sometimes raised round its stem and kept moist. Continued
contact of the stem with the moisture induces it to give off suckers
and roots at that point (see page 10, para. 5). In the case of old
trees a mass of matting, ropes, etc., is sometimes wound round
their steins higher up and kept moist for similar purposes.

Several cases have been met with where old trees have
fallen over and suckers have developed from the upper portions
of their stems where they remained in contact with damp earth.
In the case of one such date tree when found the original base
of the tree had disappeared and the lower part of the old stem
was quite clear of the ground while much further along it a sucker
and a new root system had developed from its side where it lay
in contact with the soil.

PROPAGATION BY SfcfcDS. 9l

How far this tendency of the younger parts of date stems
to form suckers and roots when in continued damp conditions,
after the older more basal parts have ceased to do so, can be made
real practical use of to get suckers from old trees, to save trees
which have been uprooted by river floods, etc., is being further
investigated.

57. As has already been explained in paragraph 38

(page 73) the number of waterings required by

Water require- . .

ments of adult adult date trees varies with the height of the
permanent water table, the amount of percolation,
the character of the soil, climatic conditions, etc., so that no
general rule can be given with regard to the amount of water -to
be applied artificially. It is, however, agreed that the palm
requires more water in the fruit-developing period than it does
at other times of the year. When the plants are artificially
watered here, they should receive liberal supplies between the
1st May and the time when the fruits stop developing in July
or August. At the flowering time no water, as a rule, is recom-
mended, as it is believed that an excess of water at that time
prevents the proper setting of the fruit. The main aim in watering
adult date palms should be to give abundant water in the fruit-
developing season and to keep the soil well aerated. Where the
plants are not growing in these conditions the crop of fruits will
be reduced, the size of the fruits will be smaller and their quality
inferior. (See also page 111, para. 84, and page 99, para. 72.)

58. If no crops are grown between the trees, it would
Treatment of the stiM be an advantage to irrigate the whole of the

trees wherTno crops land ancl Plougn> harrow, or otherwise stir its
are grown. surf ace up occasionally. If alkali is present, the

occasional irrigations would prevent it collecting in great strength
on the surface of the land by washing it down and re-distributing
it in the soil, and the ploughings or hairowings would eradicate
weeds and retard evaporation. For crops grown between the trees
(see paragraph 46, page 83, and paragraph 53, page 87). When
salts accumulate at the soil surface in a plantation, these
should be scraped off and carted away (see page 19, para. 14)

CHAPTER IV.

Pollination to Fruit Preservation.

59. In some other parts of the world writers have found

that date palms usually come into flower while the
into Vo^Mn mean temperatures are between 68° F. and 77° F.
the Punjab and if this were so here, date trees would usually

number of flower- •/

clusters produced be in flower in Multan from about the beginning

per annum by a

date tree. to the end of March. What we actually find is

that, although a very few date trees may
sometimes be seen as early as the first week of January,
most date trees come into flower and are pollinated between
the 15th March and the end of April in Dera Gliazi Khan,
Muzaflargarh and Multan districts, which at present form our
principal date-growing area. Date palms in Dera Ghazi Khan
generally come into flower a week or so earlier than those in
Muzaffargarh, and 10 days approximately earlier than those in
Multan. The warmer the winter, the earlier the trees come into
flower. The time of flowering of a date tree appears to vary with
the variety as well as with the climate, however, and is probably
also influenced more or less by its water-supply, etc. One date tree
of either sex will produce from 5 to 30 flower -clusters in one
season, and a month may elapse between the times that its first
and its last flower -cluster are ready for fertilisation.

60. Pollination is the conveying of pollen grains from the

pollen sac of the stamen to the stigma, or

Artificial pollination. T

receptive point, on the carpel. In the case of the
date palm, the receptive part of the carpel is its sharp -hooked
tip (see illustration No. 18, page 12d). In good date-growing
countries pollination is facilitated by the cultivator. It is
usually done in the following way : —

The male flower -cluster with its enclosing spathe (see illustra-
tions Nos. 15 and 17, pages I2a and 12c), is cut from the tree,

ILLUSTRATION No. 31.

Arabian Date Palm planted at Multan Central Jail, September 1910, being hand-pollinated

io March 1912.

(See jxiye 92, para. 60.)

POLLINATION TO FRUIT PRESERVATION. 93

generally immediately before the spathe splits open. The stage at
which the spathe is ready to split open may be known by com-
paring the spathes that are just splitting with those that have not
yet reached that stage. It will be seen that when ready to split the
spathe will have assumed a brown colour, a soft texture and other
characters by which the splitting stage is fairly easily known.
By removing the spathe then it will be seen that the waxy scales
of the flowers are closed over and protecting the stamens and if
these scales are lifted, it will be seen that the pollen sacs have not
yet burst. If on removing the spathe the flower-cluster is exposed
to the sun, the wraxy scales will open out within a few hours and
the pollen sacs will burst and shed their pollen. Sometimes the
male flower -cluster is cut from the tree just after the spathe
opens, but in this case there is a chance that many of the pollen
sacs may have opened, and that much of the pollen dust may be
shaken out and lost while removing the flower-cluster from the
tree and carrying it to the female trees. If the flower-cluster is
removed just before the spathe opens, the pollen will not be lost
in carrying it about. The spathe must be very near the bursting
stage before the male flower-cluster is cut from the tree however,
as otherwise the pollen grains will not be mature enough to
fertilise the ovules of the female. Having obtained a male flower-
cluster in the proper stage of development, a female flower-cluster
is next found which is just appearing between ohe parts of its
bursting spathe (see illustration No. 16, page 126), and one or two
small branches are broken from the male flower-cluster and are
inserted among the small branches of the female cluster (see
illustration No. 31, page 92a). In due time the male flowers
open, the pollen sacs burst and the pollen is carried by wind or
insects to the stigmas of the carpels of the flowers in the female
cluster. In most cases the Arabs place one or more branches of
the male flower-cluster among the branches of the female cluster
and then loosely bind the branches of the female cluster around
the inserted male branch ; the binding being done by a strip of
palm leaf or string, and in such a way that it will become undone
by the time the fruits begin to develop. In Sind two small
branches of the male flower -cluster are said to be usually inserted

94 THE DATE PALM.

in the female flower-cluster and no tie is used. It may be noted
here that the placing of the male flower branches in the female
flower-cluster is not strictly speaking pollination, as insects or
winds have still to convey the pollen from these male flowers to
the stigmas of the female flowers. Date cultivators, however,
usually apply the term " pollination "or " hand-pollination "
to this act.

61 . Fertilisation may be defined here as the fusion of certain

of the contents of the pollen grain of the male

its effects. flower with certain of those of the ovule of

the female flower necessary to enable the ovule

to develop into a seed.

So far as I know, this process has not yet been followed in
the case of the date palm, but the generally accepted idea of how
fertilisation is effected in plants of this sort may be roughly
indicated as follows :—

When the tiny pollen grain reaches the stigma (receptive
portion of the carpel, see illustration No. 18, page I2d), it germi-
nates ; and absorbing food from the carpel, forms a long tube
which makes its way through the carpel tissues into the ovule
which the carpel contains. Two bodies termed gametes,
from the pollen grain, pass down this tube and enter the ovule.
One of these gametes fuses with a certain body (the ovum) in the
ovule, and the fused mass so formed now known as the oospore,
eventually gives rise to the tiny embryo (baby plant). The
other gamete from the pollen grain fuses with another body
(the definite nucleus) in the ovule, and this fused mass gives rise
to the hard tissue (endosperm) which forms the bulk of the seed.

The baby plant while in the seed is a small whitish structure
little bigger than a pin-head. Its position is indicated by a small
circular depression about half way up the seed, on the surface
opposite the large longitudinal groove. Its size, shape, etc., can
be seen if the seed is split along that groove with a chisel or strong
knife (see illustration No. 32, opposite). As a result of fertilisa-
tion of the ovule, the carpel enclosing it becomes stimulated

ILLUSTRATION No. 32.

COMPLETE SEED
SHOWJCNG

GROOVED SIDE

PLAIN SIDE

Groove

Mycropyle

(Embryonal
opening)

X 3 Diameters

Embryo

(See page 94.)

POLLINATION TO FRUTT PRESERVATION. 95

to renewed growth. The carpel increases in size ; its cells become
stored with sugar, etc., and it forms the fleshy edible part of the
fruit by the time that the hard seed has matured. These sweet
walls induce animals to eat the fruits and assist in the dispersal
of the seeds, thus helping the palms to multiply in the wild state.
When, the seeds are sown in suitable conditions, the hard endo-
sperm which forms the bulk of the seed gradually softens and
becomes a supply of soluble food which nourishes the baby
plant until it can develop a sufficient root and leaf system
to collect food materials from the soil and air, and manufacture
food for itself.

62. If after pollination the parts of the male plant which

characters of the Pass to tne female (i.e., the gametes and accom-

^eVtcTthT seeds Panyin§ protoplasmic matter) fuse only with

bar\n°oft0thee fJSs bodies which give rise to parts of the seed as

formed as the imme- ^gy <jo in other plants, the characters of the

diate result of pom- *

nation. male plant used in pollination are not embodied

in the edible part of the fruit which encloses the seed ; that
part being simply the ripened carpel of the female. I have not
yet found any reliable evidence against this view, although it
is not uncommon to find date-growers who believe that the
characters of the male are conveyed to the edible part of the
fruit formed. When seeds of these fruits are sown, the plants
produced show characters of the male used, as one would
expect.

63. As the number of flower-clusters on both male and
female trees are about equal, and there are one

Number of males . \ • n

required per ioo hundred or more branches in a male inflorescence,
one male tree will suffice to fertilise 100 female
trees approximately where one male branch is used to a female
flower-cluster, and will suffice for 50 trees approximately where
two male branches are used. It is evident, therefore, that if the
male trees produce a fair number of flower -clusters, two male date
trees ought to suffice to pollinate 100 female trees. It is safer,
however, to have three male trees to every 100 females (see also
page 97, para. 66).

96 THE DATE PALM.

64. It is essential that pollination is done as soon as possible
Hand pollination after the female spathe bursts, as within a few
SnSt ateguthe days time the stigmas of the carpels become
flowering season. withered and unreceptive. When the flowers
open the stigmas are most fresh and receptive. At that time
they are whitish coloured. They become dark as they wither.
In very hot dry weather the beginning of the darkening process
is apparent after two days ; in cloudy dull weather it may
only be apparent after four or five days. For this reason the
plantations of good date cultivators are carefully and frequently
inspected during the flowering season and every flower-cluster
is pollinated as it becomes ready. As hand-pollination is being
introduced into the Punjab, I may here emphasise that unless
careful and regular attention can be given to the pollination
of the female flower-clusters in the flowering season, good
results will not be got, where only 3 per cent, of the trees
are males, and no wild males are growing near. Pollination
is a very simple process, however, consisting merely of thrusting
a branch of a male flower -cluster into a female cluster, and two
to three visits per week during the flowering season would be
sufficient to ensure getting the flowers in the proper stage of
development for pollination. With a little practice it is a simple
matter to detect spathes which are just about to open, and in
order to reduce the number of visits necessary to pollinate all
the flower bunches satisfactorily, Arab date-growers cut these
open and pollinate them when they are pollinating those which
have already opened.

65. Pollen may be kept for at least one year with safety

Preservation of ^ & is stored in a &J P^ce. For storage

pollen. purposes the flower-cluster is frequently not

removed from its spathe, and if it is removed from its spathe,

it is usually stored in a paper bag. Where male trees are late

in coming into flower and females are early, it is advisable to

store a few male flower-clusters, which contain ripe pollen, so

that pollen may be at hand when the early females come into

flower in the following season.

POLLINATION TO FRUIT PRESERVATION. 97

66. Some male trees produce more pollen and some come
Selection of male earlier into flower than others. In propagating

male trees, to be used to pollinate female trees
whose fruits are to be sold for consumption, off-shoots should be
taken from trees which produce much pollen, and which come
into flower at or a little before the time that the females are in
flower. It is most convenient if males can be propagated, which
come into flower in succession throughout the female flowering
season. If the trees produce a plentiful supply of pollen in the
proper season, other qualities of the male tree selected are mostly
unimportant if rearing of date trees from seedlings is not
undertaken, as the characters of the male are not transmitted
to the edible part of the fruit formed as the immediate result
of pollination. If new varieties of dates are to be bred, however,
male trees should be used which have been reared from seeds got
from good varieties of trees, and which have had good male and
female ancestors as the seeds of those fruits when sown will give
rise to plants most of which will show some of the characters of
the male used (see also pages 94 and 95, paras. 61 and 62).

67. Where pollination is done by natural agencies, i.e.,

where the pollen is carried from the pollen sacs

Percentage of

males required for of the male tree to the carpels oi the female

natural pollination. _ _ ,

by wind, insects and other agencies not con-
trolled by the farmer, about 50 per cent, of the date plantation
should be male trees and these should be well mixed with the
female trees to obtain the best results. Cases are on record in
which date pollen is believed to have been carried many miles
by natural agencies and female trees fertilised by it, but where
the distances between the male and female trees are great, good
results could only be expected when the winds are in a direction
which will carry the pollen from the male to the female trees,
the air is not too humid, etc., at flowering time.

68. By what date-growers term " hand pollinating " date
Advantages of trees, instead of allowing them to be wind-polli-
tion." nated, the following advantages will be had : —

(1) Fertilisation will be more certain.

M, DP 7

THE DATE PALM.

(2) 47 per cent, of the trees which in a wind-pollinated
plantation would be males and bear no fiuit can
be replaced by good fruit-bearing females, and
therefore practically double the crop of fruits can
be got from a given area of land with the same water-
supply ; the only difference in annual costs to the
growers being those of the labour of hand pollina-
tion of the trees and the collection and disposal of
the extra fruits.

69. When date-flowers are pollinated, all three carpels in

the female flower are usually fertilised and begin

Falling of two of ^ °

the three fruits from to develop (see illustration No. 18, page 12a).

a female flower.

When the fruits get to about the size ot
peas, two of the three fruits fall off and one date fruit only
is left to develop and ripen in each flower (see illustration
No. 18D, page I2d and illustration No. 33 opposite). This
usually happens in April or early May in the western side of the
Punjab.

70. If these carpels begin to develop without being

fertilised, all three dates may remain on the

Seedless dates and ,,

their relation to flower, but they will be seedless and generally

pollination. _T

ot poor quality (see illustration No. 33 opposite).
When a large number of seedless dates are found, it may usually
be concluded that fertilisation has been defective, as the absence
of the seed in a date is in most cases due to the ovule not being
fertilised. In cases in which seedless dates are got, if hand
pollination has been employed, the method of performing it,
the stages of development of both the male and female flowers,
the rainfall, etc., at the time of pollination, should all be
carefully looked into. If the trees were pollinated by natural
agencies, the number of male trees around, their distances from
the female plants, the direction of the wind and the rainfall at the
flowering period, etc., should all be carefully considered. Notes
on such cases would be very acceptable to the Agricultural
Department

98a

ILLUSTRATION No. 33.

a

The paper behind the fruits is ruled into squares, each side of which is half a
centimetre in length.

(a) Almost full grown normal seed- bearing fruits ; the two other carpels of the

flower in each case have been shed long previously.

(6) Cases where all three carpels of the flower are still developing. They are
Khassi (unfertilised and seedless) fruits. Where the carpels are fertilised,
two of the three carpels are shed from each flower when they are
the size of peas or less.

(See page 98.)

POLLINATION TO FRUIT PRESERVATION.

71. After the fruits have become sufficiently developed
Reducing the to show what sort of bunches may be expected,

onmL^to^ofil about 8 to 12 of the best bunches should be
per tree. selected to remain on each adult tree and the

remainder should be all cut down. If the bunches are poor,
and the tree is vigorous, a greater number are left on the tree.

72. If more fruits are left than the tree can develop pro-

perly, the size of the fruits may be considerably
T° *8 diminished, and in excessive cases a large number

n tree

shrivel and do not come to proper maturity. In

Multan and Muzaflargarh districts I have seen a good many
trees on which more fruits had been allowed to remain than
they were able to mature properly. With those people who
do not understand date culture properly, there is always a tendency
to avoid reducing the number of date bunches where the trees
are overladen, but there is no more advantage in leaving too
many bunches of fruits on a date tree than there is of leaving too
many maize plants in a maize field. Also when a tree has been
allowed to carry an over-load of fruits in one year, it usually
bears a very poor crop in the next.

73. The chief enemies complained of to me are human
thieves, parrots, and other birds, wasps, and
frSfrom° enemfes. monkeys in some parts of the Province. A
chaukidar (watchman) usually looks after the
trees from the time the fruits have developed sufficiently to attract
enemies, until they are harvested. The following is recorded
in the Multan Gazetteer, 1901-2, regarding the watch-
man :— " He receives about Rs. 4 per month and a small number
of dates, and he attends, taking one month and one locality with
another, some 300 trees." He sees that no human thieves
steal the fruits, and he keeps off birds by shouting, slinging
stones, etc. To help to scare away birds he frequently hangs bells
and other contrivances for making a noise on the trees, and shakes
these occasionally by means of strings. In date-growing countries
the bunches of fruits are often encased in rough mats made of
palm leaves, to stop birds from destroying the fruits. The mat

100 THE DATE PALM.

is usually wrapped round the bunch, is sewn together at the top
and left open at the bottom, making a protecting case of the
appearance of a huge cow bell (see illustration No. 34 opposite).
The matting should be made as open as is consistent with its
purpose, as it prevents a good deal of sunlight from getting at
the cluster of fruits, and probably retards ripening. Another
method is to hang a number of small branches of seme very
thorny plant round each cluster of fruits. This is very effective in
preventing birds getting at them and is more ope^ than the basket
usually is but is difficult for the fruit picker to manipulate. A
good thick layer of thorns round a fruit cluster would probably
also give monkeys some trouble in getting at the fruit bunches.
Rings of thorns round the stems of the trees, where the trees
are not too close together, might also hinder monkeys from getting
at the fruits. Fortunately, however, there are no complaints of
depredations by monkeys in the areas of the Punjab which grow
most dates. If the fruit bunches are encased in coarse muslin
bags, birds and some insects will be kept off, but wasps, which
are among the most insistent depredators, cut their way through
these and suck the sugary juice from the dates. Net-wire or
other special net bags such as are sometimes used to protect
grape and other fruit bunches, may be used to protect the date
fruits against attacks by these insects.

74. In the date-growing places in the Punjab, most of
the fruits are usually harvested between the

Harvesting and

ripening of the 20 tli ot July and the 20th of August. A lew
both earlier and later fruits have been seen.
July and August may, however, be taken as the harvesting
season. All the dates on a cluster do not ripen simultaneously.
If a variety is a fairly good one, the people in these districts
usually pick the dates off the cluster as soon as their ends show
a small soft translucent spot. The ripening is then completed
by spreading the fruits on mats in the sun (see frontispiece).
Dates are rarely completely ripened on the trees in the Punjab.
Those fruits, which have their skins broken or which are in a bad
condition, should be carefully removed from the cluster when

ILLUSTRATION No. 34.

lOOa

Date trees at Leiah, Muzaffargarh District, showing fruit bunches protected by cowbell-
shaped mats.

(See para. 73, page 99.)

POLLINATION TO FRUIT PRESERVATION. 101

ripening. If these are not removed, the whole cluster becomes
tainted. If the variety is not very good, the cluster is cut from
the tree when about 50 per cent, of the fruits on it are ready
and the fruits are then spread in the sun. Any dates which do
not ripen while spread in the sun are fed to goats, etc.

75. As has been stated already (see page 44, para. 20),

fruits are apt to ferment and fall off the tree

emnn0gsit!mee before they are riPe if the atmosphere in the
ripening period is wet. Great damage may be
done in this way to the crop by wet weather at the ripening time.
The fear that the crop might be spoiled by rain or damaged by
enemies, accounts for the Punjab custom of harvesting the fruits
as soon as a small spot on the end becomes soft ; and of finishing
the ripening process on mats in the sun, rather than attempt
ripening the fruits completely on the tree as is usually done in
countries where the date-harvesting season is practically rainless.

76. Different varieties of dates differ very much in the
Preservation and length of time they keep fresh without being

f^tsTnthfpunj-ab preserved. The large purple date known as
and elsewhere. the « Q^atti " found growing at Muzaffargarh,

has usually begun to ferment in about 24 hours after it has been
plucked, if it has been taken from the tree at the stage of ripeness
at which other dates are harvested. When harvested at this
stage of ripeness, most varieties of dates only keep fresh for a
few days after being plucked from the trees unless they are
further ripened and partly dried or otherwise preserved. Pre-
servation of dates by drying depends upon the fact that the
organisms concerned in fermentation cannot live and perform
their work in a sugary solution above a certain concentration.
Therefore the juice of those dates that keep longest fresh is usually
less watery than those that go rancid sooner. The further ripening
and preservation by drying is, as already mentioned, usually
done by spreading the fruits thinly on a mat in the sun. The
object to aim at is to dry off just as much of the water from the
fruit as will leave the juice as concentrated as will preserve the
fruit for the length of time required. More water than this should

102 THE DATE PALM.

not be dried off as weight is lost, the fruits have a less plump
and attractive appearance, and the flavour is impaired. Different
varieties of date fruits will require to be exposed to the sun for
different lengths of time to bring them to the necessary stage of
dry ness ; and if the sky is cloudy or the atmosphere is more or
less humid, the length of time of exposure required to dry a
particular variety sufficiently will also vary. In Muzaffargarh,
in good weather some varieties require to be spread in the sun
about one week in order to reduce them to the proper stage of
dry ness ; others require only three or four days. Plucked at the
stage at which they are here, one-third, or over, of the weight of the
fruit is generally lost during the drying process. Much, however,
also depends on the quality of the date. Date cultivators very
soon get to know approximately how long a particular variety
of date fruit will require to be exposed to dry it to the proper
stage, and they become very accurate in their estimations of how
dry the fruits must be in order to preserve them sufficiently for
their particular purposes. All decaying fruits must be carefully
removed from the others during drying, as they taint the whole
lot if not removed. The fruits require the closest attention while
being preserved if the best results are to be got. After this treat-
ment they are usually placed on the market or stored for private
use. The local date fruits which find their wav into the market

*/

are practically all sold in bulk without any packing. Those
that are retained by the growers for their own use later are
usually packed in unglazed earthen jars (chatties) which when
filled are closed at the top to prevent the entrance of a moth,
the eggs of which give rise to wormlike larvae in the fruits later
(see page 139, para. 96). The closing is sometimes done by a
piece of cloth tied over the top of the jar or by its lid being
cemented on to it, with a paste of flour or mud, etc. These
unglazed earthen jars absorb a good deal of sap from the fruits
during storage. This should be allowed for when the fruits
are being prepared for these vessels. Dates keep very well for
six months to a year or more, when packed in this way, provided
that insects have not laid eggs in the fruits before they were
Backed. If that has happened, insect larvae may appear among

POLLINATION TO FRUIT PRESERVATION. 103

the fruits in autumn or winter. The purple date known as
" Ghatti " cannot be preserved by drying to the above stage and
is usually either sold and consumed fresh, or preserved by being
split open and dried in the sun till hard. The seeds may or may
not be removed in the process. In the Pun jab inferior fruits of
other varieties are sometimes treated similarly. Date fruits
treated in this way are known as '' Chirvi " or '' Shingistan. "
Sometimes also date fruits — especially inferior ones — are plucked
from the tree before they begin to soften, are boiled in water to
which has been added a little oil or ghee (boiled butter) or
milk, and sometimes a little salt. They are then dried hard
and stored. Such fruits are called *' Bhugrian." They can ,be
kept for years in this state and are used at festivals.

Most of the world's date fruits that find their way into large
markets, are either plucked from the trees when they show a
tanslucent soft spot, or when they are more fully ripened ; get
what drying they require to make them keep properly by being
spread in the sun and are then packed for market without further
treatment. The world's finest fruits are used for confectionery
purposes. Such fruits are usually packed in very thin wooden
or cardboard boxes holding Jib. or less each. The boxes always
have some attractive shape and wrapper. They usually hold
one layer of fruits in depth and two rows in width ; the dates
in these two rows being ranged on either side of a date flower
branch to look as if they were growing from it. Those found
packed in this way generally keep in good condition through the
winter following their harvest, if free of insects' eggs when
packed. Where they are desired to keep for several years, each
small box is sometimes encased in a hermetically sealed tin
case.

A large quantity of fruits of superior quality from date-
growing countries are used for dessert purposes. These are usually
found packed in layers in cardboard boxes containing 1 — 3 Ibs.
of fruits. In all cardboard boxes a lining of butter paper should
be placed between the fruits and the cardboard, otherwise the
dates may taste of the cardboard after a certain time. Such

104 THE DATE PALM.

small packets are usually further packed in large wooden cases
for shipment.

The world's dates of lower quality are usually sold retail
unpacked. They are transported to the markets in bulk in large
boxes ; in mats of date leaves, in skins, etc. (see page 142, para. 97).
A large number of other methods of preserving and packing dates
are practised by date-growers and traders in various parts of the
world, but the preparations are chiefly for home consumption,
and are met with in the markets on a comparatively small scale.
Perhaps some of the Baluchistan methods are the most famous
of these. I give below a few notes about some of them.* These
dates are preserved in date syrup in unglazed red clay vessels
called " Humbs." Three sizes of humbs are used ; the largest
resembles a large pitcher in shape. It is difficult to transport
with safety and is only kept for home use. The middle sized
and the smallest " Humbs " are more vase-shaped (see illustration
No. 35 opposite). As a rule dates to be preserved in this way
are harvested when fully ripe, but in some cases the immature
fruit is gathered and put in the sun for four to eight days and then
preserved. In Kech the process of extracting the juice to be
used as the syrup is as follows : — A space of ground is cleared
about four by two feet, hollowed towards the centre, and carefully
plastered. In the centre an earthen basin is fixed. Baskets
of dates are laid over this space and the juice is pressed out of
the fruits by placing one or more heavy date tree trunks over the
baskets. The juice collects in the basin. The " humbs " are
then filled with unpressed fruits and a sufficient amount oi
the syrup is added to cover them. The syrup is so thick that
its upper layer soon crystallises and forms a sugary plug to
the humb. They are stored or come into the market in this
state.

In Panjgur the famous Muzati date is preserved in this way
in the syrup made from a variety of date known as the Kahsuba.

* Note — Practically all the subject-matter for the descriptions of these Baluchistan
methods of curing dates has been taken from the Baluchistan Gazetteer, Volumes VII
and VIII, published by Times Press, Bombay, 1907.

104rr

ILLUSTRATION No. 35.

Small huiub " in which date fruits are preserved in Baluchistan.

(See page 104.)

POLLINATION TO FRUIT PRESERVATION. 105

Major T. H. Keys, Assistant Political Agent, Baluchistan, very
kindly sent me several humbs of fruits in June 1913, and they
were delicious to taste.

A special preparation made in Baluchistan is a date paste
known as "Dastlaghash." The fruit is skinned and the perianth*
and seed are removed. A mass of the preparation is then kneaded
into a paste and stored in dried sheep-skins or bags made of date
palm leaflets. In Keen " Dastlaghash " is prepared from the
date varieties known as " Haleni " and " Dandari " ; in Panjgur
from " Muzati."

In Kech another special preparation known as " Tallo "
is made from the varieties ' Haleni " and ' Begam-jangi."
The dates are cut lengthwise in two pieces and then preserved
in jars.

In Panjgur the Muzati date is cut in two halves at right
angles to the long axis and then threaded on a string. Each string
when full weighs about 1 Ib. Such dates are known as " Lar."

Another preparation made in Panjgur is known as "chup
tagen kulont." It is made from the " Sabzo " variety by cutting
the fruits into small pieces and preserving them in juice in a jar.
It is not made for sale.

The immature fruits of Haleni and Muzati are boiled

and dried in the sun. They are then known as "Harag." In

Kech, harag prepared from Muzati dates is pounded very fine

and mixed with fried sesame (Sesamum orientale) and called

' Kunchitoharag."

Mr. Gaskin, Assistant for Commerce and Trade, Baghdad,
in a note kindly forwarded to me on 22nd October, 1912, states :
" A considerable quantity of boiled dates are annually shipped
from the British Coast, Katif, and Basra to India where they
are considered a luxury, and are used by the Hindus at their
festivals. The Indian date-growers could perhaps with much
advantage treat their surplus in the same manner, and cut out
the imports from Arabia. The dates are boiled when thev

* The perianth is composed of the scales shown in illustration No. 18, page I2d.

106 THE DATE PALM.

are yellow before they become ripe, and fetch a higher price than
the ripe dates. One advantage is that the grower can get rid
of his inferior dates and recoup himself early in the season."

In the past season, the date fruits from the Arabian planta
tions in the Punjab were plucked when a spot on the end of the
fruit turned soft and were dried in the sun sufficiently to preserve
them. Some of them were packed in cardboard boxes holding
about one lb.; others in coarse earthenware jars, glazed inside and
out, and holding about 2| Ibs. (see illustration No. 36 opposite).
The empty cardboard boxes with their butter paper lining,
printing charges, etc., cost Rs. 38 per 1,000 and were 7| x 3j x 1 \
inches in size. The jars were made in Mult an and cost Rs. 8
per 100 at the pottery. If large quantities of the boxes and jars
are ordered they would probably be got much cheaper. The
dates were of a quality well suited for dessert purposes and the
demand for them was many times the supply available. Those
of them that I see being used for dessert purposes now (May 1916)
are in excellent condition (For quality of these fruits as compared
with local fruits, see page 113, para. 85, and for prices obtained
for them, see page 115, para. 86). Shopkeepers sometimes
complain that insect larvae appear in Persian Gulf date fruits
in winter or spring and ruin the fruits for table purposes. Insect
larvse have also been found in Punjab date fruits in winter. A
number of the insects have been sent to the Entomological section.
They will be identified there and their life history will be worked
out. Experiments are being conducted to discover when the
eggs are laid in the fruits , and steps will be taken either to guard
against the eggs being laid, or to sterilise them when they are
there (see also page 139, para. 96).

At present the date-growers in the Punjab cannot hope to
carry on a large and successful trade in dates nicely packed for
the higher prices in the market, as even if samples of the fruits
were accepted in the market as suitable, date-growers could not
collect any considerable quantity of exactly the same quality
of fruits, owing to the pernicious habit that the people have of
rearing most of their trees from seeds (see page 108, para. 80 ).

106a

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CHAPTER V.

Extent of date-growing in the principal date-growing localities
of the province., date fruits from local and imported trees and
profits to be expected from date farming.

77. In the Punjab dates are grown most extensively in
the riverain tracts and along canal banks in the
Multan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, and
Jhang districts. In Lahore and Shahpur districts
dates are also grown, and indeed the date tree is found growing
in the riverain tracts, on canal banks, or around wells in
almost every district in the plains of the Punjab as far up as
Rawalpindi.

78. The following information is to hand

Number of date

trees and revenue regarding the number of trees and the Govern-

from them in

Multan, Muzaffar- ment revenue derived irom them, in Multan,
Khan, and Jhang MuzafEargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Jhang

districts. -.•,-,

districts.

TABLE XIX.

Number

Revenue

Reference.

of female

Revenue.

per tree

trees.

per annum.

Rs.

Rs. A. P.

Multan Gazetteer (1901-02)

315,055

24,521

0 1 0

Muzaffargarh Assessment Report, by P. Hari

838,999

38,999

009

Kishen Kaul.

,,, .

Dera Ghazi Khan (from information received

126,384

7,899*

0 1 0*

from Tahsildar, Dera Ghazi Khan) 1911.

..

Jhang (information received from D. C. Jhang) . .

127,394

5,624

009

(Jhang Tahsil)

Rs. 0-1-11

(Shorkot Tahsil).

TOTAL

1,407,832

77,053

* Note.— A fixed revenue per tree is levied on many of the date trees in Dera Ghazi
Khan district, but the revenue from a number of trees is collected on the system of part
profits of the fruit crop and may vary annually. The figures given to me are therefore
evidently an estimate for the whole.

108 THE DATE PALM.

79. In our researches in date culture in the Punjab we

have, as one would expect from previous remarks,
^nX dltae"et1' come across a very large number of varieties of

fruits. These are sometimes known by distinct
names and sometimes several varieties, which nearly resemble
each other, are grouped under one name. By far the greater num-
ber of date trees, grown by the people of the Punjab, bear dates of
very poor quality. The groves which contain the best dates
are at Alipur North in Muzaffargarh district ; at Shershah,
Mailsi, and Multan, in the Multan district ; and near the old
city of Dera Ghazi Khan in Dera Ghazi Khan district. A few
isolated trees bearing dates above the average quality are to be
found at various other places in the province. Even in the
best plantations it is very difficult, however, to collect any
considerable quantity of date fruits of exactly the same quality
owing to most of the trees having been reared from seeds. A
very large percentage of the trees bearing the best fruits are
unfortunately past the age when they give off suckers, and
therefore no suckers are available now to reproduce these trees.

80. That by far the. greater number of date trees growing

even on the western side of the Punjab bear

Why many of the

dates growing in the dates ot an extremely poor quality does not
Punjab are so very appear to be the fault of the soil or the climate,
as there are numbers of trees in the province
which bear dates of comparatively good quality growing side by
side with trees bearing inferior dates : also where off-shoots from
female trees bearing good fruits have been removed and planted in
districts suitable for date-growing, they have produced good fruits
there. The reason that so many inferior trees are growing in the
Punjab, therefore, appears to be that the majority of them have
been grown from seeds (see also paras. 61 and 62, pages 94 and 95).

As it is very easy to scatter a large number of seeds where
a date plant is required, and as seedlings are extremely hardy
and a few plants usually struggle up and establish themselves
without receiving any attention, this habit of replacing date
trees by seedlings instead of by off -shoots is probably partly due

DATE-GROWING. 109

to its being a very much easier method of propagation than by
giving to off-shoots the large amount of water and attention
required to pull them through the precarious period of the first
two years after planting. It is probably also due in part to the
cultivator being ignorant of the facts that off-shoots give fruits
of the same quality as the parent, while seedlings may form either
male or female trees, and that nearly all the female seedlings
give inferior fruits (see para. 27, page 66 ). I believe that in
most cases trees simply arise from seeds dropped from neighbouring
trees ; by people passing along, etc., and that as a rule the
propagation of date trees gets no attention whatever.

81. When I began my enquiries into the possibility of
The question improvement of date culture in the Punjab

whether Arabian , nr.n i i -i ,

trees imported into m 1909 and suggested to date-growers that
bear Sphere a?a suckers of good varieties should be imported

those1 oTthJ £3 from Basra, they expressed serious doubts as to
whether the trees to be imported would bear
the same character of fruits here that they do in Basra. It
was pointed out to them that some fairly good dates are
already grown in the Punjab and that no evidence to hand
either from the Punjab or from other parts of the world
indicated that the quality of the fruits produced here from
Arabian trees would be as inferior as from the trees at present
grown. Dr. Bonavia's work was also appealed to. At page 29
of his book " The Date Palm in India," he says : " In the
Horticultural Gardens at Lucknow there are 252 seedlings
from imported seeds from 13 to 16 years old and one hundred
and twelve palms from imported off -sets from 12 to 13 years
old. Both the lots are fruiting. There are many varieties,
and the fruit of the best of them has been differently styled
good, very good, and delicious." At page 41 of the same book the
following statement is recorded as being an excerpt from a report
on these dates by Mr. Reid, the Superintendent of the Lucknow
Garden : — " One peculiarity of the date trees in the garden is
that no two trees give precisely the same kind of fruit. Some are
apparently worthless varieties, others indifferent, some good and

110 THE DATE PALM.

a few excellent." Personally I should have been surprised if the
plantation had not been in a state very like this, and there is
no doubt in my mind that all the trees with worthless fruits
were seedlings, and that most of those that gave good and excellent
results were from off-shoots. I think that if the author of the
statement referred to had had a proper record of the history
of each tree, he would have found this to be so, and that if he had
looked carefully into the matter, all trees from off-shoots of the
same variety were producing fruits of the same quality. A good
clear record of this sort would have settled the doubts raised by the
people as to whether imported trees from Basra would bear a
good quality of fruits here. No such record seemed to exist,
however, and we were left with a lesson on the importance of
keeping accurate and minute records of such experiments. All
information to my hand seemed to indicate that excellent fruits
could be got in the Punjab from trees grown from off-shoots
of trees that gave excellent fruits in Basra, but I recognised
that people would only be absolutely convinced on this point
when they could actually pluck fruits from known Arabian
trees grown in the Punjab.

A number of Arabian trees were therefore imported in 1910
and planted in Multan and Muzaffargarh. These have already
borne fruits and this question has now been very satisfactorily
settled (see para. 85, page 113).

82. If any cultivator wishes early satisfaction regarding the
quality of the fruits that a particular variety of

How to discover .

early whether a date palm will produce in his particular condi-

variety of date palm

is suited to a parti- tions oi soil and climate, what months it will

cular locality. . '* r -i • i i i i i

ripen its iruits in, etc., he shouJd procure and
plant on his land a few young date trees of that variety which
have just become old enough to bear fruits. If he will treat
them well as regards water, etc., they will probably yield fruits in
their second year after planting. As will be seen from para. 84,
page 111, we got fruits from a few strong Arabian suckers in the
second year after planting, but this result is much more likely to
be got if young trees which have just begun to bear fruits are

DATE-GROWING. Ill

used instead of younger ones. In either case it is very important
that the plants shall be planted in good soil, and be well treated.

83. In the summer of 1910 suckers of the (a) Halawee,
(6) Khadrawee, (c) Sayer, (d) Zaydi, and

Varieties of dates .

imported into the (e) Deree varieties, were asked tor irom Basra

Punjab from Basra __._.. ,r . i r\ i j_i

and thoir distribu- through His Britannic Majesty s Consul there,
and in early September of the same year 972
plants were received in reply. A Basra Arab working-overseer
sanctioned by Government for three years' service in the
Punjab to assist with the planting and looking after the trees
accompanied the consignment. Consignments were also received
from Basra through the same agency in 1911 and 1912.

Plantations, of considerable size, of these trees are now to be
seen in the garden of the Central Jail, Multan ; in the Taleri Bagh,
Muzaffargarh ; and at Leiah, Muzaffargarh district ; while smaller
ones are to be seen in the compound of the Memorial Hall,
Muzaffargarh ; at Kakh Chhabri, Dera Ghazi Khan district ; and
at Lyallpur. In addition to this some 1,764 plants were given
or sold to various canal officers ; to Bahawalpur State ; to
the North-West Frontier Province ; and to private growers in
and out&ide the Punjab. The trees in Multan, Muzaffargarh,
and Dera Ghazi Khan plantations, with certain reservations,
were given respectively to the Multan Jail authorities and to the
different district boards concerned. The Agricultural Department
planted the trees and gave instructions as to the requirements
and general care of the plants. From planting time up to date
officers and staff of the Botanical Section of the Agricultural
Department have inspected the plantations as often as other
duties would permit and have on such occasions demonstrated
what the plantations required.

Number of trees
planted in 1910 in
the Taleri Bagh,

Muzaffargarh and 84. The number of trees planted in 1910

Multan Central Jail

which have come which have come into flower up to date, are as

into flower up to the

present time (end of lOllOWS '. —

1915 season) and the

fruits yielded by

them.

112

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE XX.

Situation of the plantation.

Number of trees

Number of trees which

planted 1910
and now grow-
ing (1915).

produced flowers in

1912.

1913.

1914.

1915.

Taleri

Bagh,

Muzaffargarh

249 3

20

115

104

Central Jail,

Multan
TOTAL

188 5

42

90

92

437 8

62

205

196

Taking the average of these figures, we find that less than
2 per cent, of the trees referred to flowered in 1912 ; 14 per
cent, approximately in 1913 ; 47 per cent, approximately in
1914; and 45 per cent, approximately in 1915. Only two or
three bunches carrying a few fruits were borne by the
trees in 1912 (see illustration No. 37 opposite). In the
following years as the trees became stronger, they gradually
bore heavier crops. A number of very small trees oame into
flower in 1914 but bore practically no fruits. They did not
re-flower in 1915. Last year (1915) the Central Jail plantation
yielded 201 Ibs. of fresh fruits, from which 120 Ibs. of cured
fruits were obtained. The Taleri Bagh plantation yielded 720 Ibs.
of fresh fruits from which about 430 Ibs. of cured fruits were got.
This works out at an average of T30 Ibs. of cured fruits per tree
which actually bore fruits for the Multan plantation and 4'13 Ibs.
of cured fruits per tree which bore fruits in the Taleri Bagh.
The strongest of the trees bore up to nearly 30 Ibs. of cured dates,
the weakest of them only a few fruits.* (For prices got for these
fruits, see para. 86, page 115.) The Central Jail fruits were not
of as good quality as those from the Taleri Bagh, and had to be
dried further in order to preserve them, although the trees in
both gardens were of the same varieties, and from the same
consignment from Basra. The permanent water-leveJ is about
7 feet or less below the soil surface in the Taleri Bagh and at
a depth of over 20 feet in the Central Jail garden. The greater

* Unfortunately sufficient responsible staff to guard the crop of date fruits properly
have not been available, and although all concerned have done (heir very best to prevent
pilfering of the fruits from the trees, there can be no doubt that this has occurred. The
amounts of fruits weighed out therefore understate the actual crop borne.

112a

ILLUSTRATION No. 37.

Young Arabian date tree bearing its first crop of fruits at Lyallpur in
July 1912. The plant was planted as an offshoot in September 1910.

(See para. 84, page 111.)

1126

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55
O

g

* s

^ o

112o

11!

Ghatti Purple
(Muzaffargarh).

DATE-GROWING.

113

amount of water available to the Taleri Bagh trees seems to
be responsible for the differences in both quality and quantity
of the fruits. In the Multan Jail garden, it was also noticed
that the fruits were larger and of better quality on trees near
water channels, but in situations where there is a plentiful water-
supply, these young trees are of course bigger and more robust
than those of the same age in less fortunate situations. The
case is, however, one which shows the very great importance of
a plentiful water-supply to young plantations.

85. The comparative sizes and shapes of the fruits and
seeds produced at Muzaffargarh in 1915 by

Comparison of

fruits from imported three different varieties of date trees imported

trees growing at . ...

Muzaffargarh and from Basra in 1910 and from four varieties of

from local trees .

growing in the dis- local trees in the same district can be seen
from illustration No. 39, pages 112c and H2d
respectively. The Khadrawi, Hellawi, and Zaydi are the Basra
varieties and the Alipur Cbhohara, Khaji Nalian, Ghatti, and
Gadri are local. The fruits were average samples of those
produced by these trees in the gardens last year.

A further comparison of these fruits can be made from
Table No. XXI below.

TABLE XXI.

Showing the number of date fruits per Ib. approximately ; the weight of seeds
got from these and the percentage of cellulose (fibre] in the pulp in the case
of 7 varieties of dates grown in Muzaffargarh District.

Variety of date

No. of date
fruits in 1 Ib.
approxi-
mately.

Exact
weight
of the
fruits.

Total
weight
of seeds
from the
fruits.

Percentage of
cellulose (fibre)
in the fruits
after removal of
the seeds.

• ' : • I

Ibs.

oz.

From off -shoots im- ( Khadrawi

35

1.022

1-42

1-93

ported from Basras Hellawi

41

1-015

1-71

1-76

in September 1910. ( Zaydi
( Alipur Chhohara
Khaji Nalian ...

47
61
51

10008
1016
1-01

1-65
2-4
304

1-75
2-13
2-73

trees. ") Ghatti

62

1-004

3-258

3-02

(. Gadri

118

1-006

4-96

3-72

NOTE.— The figures in the column " percentage of cellulose in the fruits " were got for me
by the Agricultural Chemist, Punjab, from fruits which I supplied to him from the samples
out of which I got the data for the other columns in the above statement.

M, DP 8

114 THE DATE PALM.

All the date fruits were collected from the trees on 8th
August 1915. When plucked from the trees, the dates were just
at that point of ripeness when they were ready to start softening
but had not yet any soft spots. They were weighed and examined
on 9th August for all the data in Table XXI except for the
percentage of cellulose. The Agricultural Chemist who kindly
provided the figures for this column informs me that " all the
dates were analysed when they were soft — that is, when the
fermentation process of ripening was apparently complete."

The number in the second column against each variety
is the least number of fruits which would turn the scales against
1 Ib. weight, i.e,, 1 Ib. exactly would have required a fraction
of a fruit less in each case. From this column it appears that 35
fruits of Khadrawi weighed practically as much as 61 fruits of
Alipur Chhohara or 118 fruits of Khaji Gadri, etc. The third
column shows the exact weight of the fruits in each case. The
fourth column gives the weight of seeds got from the number of
fruits against each variety, i.e., 1 Ib. approximately. It will be
seen from the above that the imported Arabian trees are pioducing
fruits which are larger ; have a less proportion of seeds in them,
and less fibre. They also taste better and are on the whole far
superior to the local fruits. The imported trees are still very-
young, being only planted in September, 1910, and there is the
possibility of their fruits improving in quality as the trees become
stronger.

^ Of the fruits from the local trees, the Alipur Chhohara
are the best. Unfortunately there are very few trees yielding
this quality of fruits in the Punjab. These are ohiefly at Alipur
North, Muzaffargarh District. The fruits of these trees are now
packed like our Arabian fruits in small cardboard boxes for
dessert purposes and have been selling at about Ee. 0-8-0 per Ib.
Since our date improvement work began in the Punjab in 1909,
all available off-shoots of these trees have been planted out,
but there is still less than 100 trees of that variety growing.
Therefore these fruits are in no way representative of the general
quality of fruits produced in the Punjab. There appears to

DATE-GROWING. 115

be no record of their origin, or how they came to Alipur. The
Khaji Nalian fruits were gathered from trees growing at Muzaffar-
garh, but there appear also to be very few trees producing fruits
which could be described as of this variety.

Khaji Ghatti is a purple date ; and although a considerable
number of date trees exist which bear fruits that come under
this name, they do not form an important part of the date crop
of the Punjab. The fruits can only be kept for a lengthened
time if dried hard. They are usually split to facilitate drying
and are sold under the name of " Chirvi " or " Shingistan "
(see para. 76, page 101). They are not of good quality. A very
large proportion of their weight is lost in drying them hard,
and even when dried they sell at about 1 to H annas per Ib. If
they are to be used fresh, they must be eaten within 24 hours of
the time they are plucked from the tree, otherwise they ferment
too far and become bad. Khaji Gadri is the sort of fruit that
forms the bulk of the Punjab date crop and it is with this
that the fruits from the imported trees should be compared
when considering the advantages of the introduction of improved
varieties into the Punjab. The date trees of the province with
few exceptions having been all raised from seeds, the number
of varieties of dates is innumerable, but the above gives some
idea of the general quality of the fruits produced at present.

86. The prices of these local fruits vary a little from year

to year, but from information which I have

fruTtsTn the Punjab, "received from time to time the most inferior date

fruits can usually be bought in the local market

at Re. 1 or less per maund (82 Ibs.) and the greater part of the crop

can be bought at Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 per maund, while the best

classes of dates generally sell at Rs. 8-10 per maund. Sometimes

the few specially good fruits can hardly be bought at any price.

I have found fruits of the variety known as Deree imported
into the Punjab, from Basra in the Persian Gulf. These are

Note 1 anna=l penny.

Re. 1 (1 rupee) = 16 pence.

116 THE DATE PALM.

generally sold unpacked in the bazars and railway stations at
about 3 to 4 seers (6 to 8 Ibs. approx.} per rupee. Muskat
dates simply packed in cardboard boxes each containing about
1 lb. of dates are annually sold at 8 annas approximately per
box in Lahore ; also Algerian dates, first packed in small
wooden sided boxes each containing about J lb. of dates and
then encased in air-tight tin cases are sold in the Punjab at
9 annas per box.

The first-class fruits of the 1915 crop from the Persian Gulf
trees growing at Muzaffargarh and Multan Central Jail were sold
at annas 6 per lb. packed for dessert purposes in small cardboard
boxes or jars, and most glowing tributes to the quality of the
fruits were received from those to whom the fruits were sent.
Indeed the limited quantity which we had, could have been sold
several times over at Re. 0-10-0 per lb.

87. The crop of fruits got per adult tree from the local
Punjabi trees has been variously estimated at

p£Lb»t£ from 10 seers (2°J lbs-) to 25° seers (512* lbs-)

and average yields in various places have been
calculated at anything from 20 seers (41 lbs.) to 60 seers (123 lbs.)
or more. Owners of the more important date gardens usually
lease their trees annually to a second party early in the fruiting
season. This second party known as a " baikhar " arranges
for the guarding of the fruits while on the trees ; the harvesting
and marketing of the fruits ; and takes all risks of making a
profit on the sum which in the early part of the season he agreed
to give the owner for the season's produce. For reasons given in
para. 25, page 64, the owners of these larger gardens are generally
unable to give accurate information regarding the crops got from
the trees and both the " baikhar " and the smaller owners
who harvest their fruits themselves, do not care to give the
information required. Again, the crop of fruits per tree varies
greatly not only with the variety of tree, but with the age of the
tree, the quality of the land, the amount of water-supply, the
climate of the locality, etc., therefore, a fair estimate of the average
yield is very difficult to get. Regarding the crops of dates per

DATE-GROWING. 117

tree in the Punjab, the Multan Gazetteer dated 1901-02 informs
us as follows : —

' It is difficult to say what the average produce of a full
grown tree may be. At the recent settlement the produce
recovered by the owner, or baikhar after deducting payment in
kind and miscellaneous losses was assumed to be 30 seers (61 J Ib.)
of green dates in Kabirwala, and 20 seers (41 Ib.) in other tahsils."
From the rather meagre information, which we have been able
to collect so far, the above seems to be as near an estimate as we
will get until the Government plantations at Multan, Muzaffar-
garh, and elsewhere are in full bearing.

88. When a young plantation is laid down as advised
in para. 39, page 77, the trees, channels, etc.,

Gross income

from date pianta- need not take up more ground than a strip
4 feet in width for each line of trees, although
they are more often allowed to take up a strip of 5 feet in
width. If they are restricted to a width of 4 feet and the lines
of trees are 16*4 feet apart therefore only 4/16*4 or J approxi-
mately of the land will be occupied by the date plants and
the remaining f should be available for the cultivation
of other crops (see para. 46, page 83). Even more of the land
can be utilised in this way if cabbage or other suitable plants
are planted along the inner edges of the channels between the
trees. These crops may bring a considerable return from the
land right from the time that the plantation is laid down. Until
the trees become established, however, a disadvantage — when the
plantation is on a large scale — is that bullocks cannot be used to
plough and work the land between the rows of trees without
risk of knocking the trees about and thus harming them. When
the date plants become established this danger ceases. Regarding
the time which will elapse before the trees will bear fruits it will
be seen from para. 84, page 111, that a few trees in our plantations
at Multan and Muzaffargarh came into flower and bore a few
fruits in the second year after planting, and that the number
increased until in the past year (the fifth year after planting)
45 per cent, of the trees bore fruits. In the same paragraph it is

118 THE DATE PALM.

also shown that the trees which bore fruits bore an average of
T30 Ib. of cured fruits per tree in the Multan garden and an
average of 413 Ib. per tree in that of MuzafTargarh.

We expect the number of trees which bear fruits and the
amounts of fruits borne per tree to increase rapidly now until
the trees bear a full crop. Regarding adult plantations, it has
been already indicated that local Punjabi date trees generally get
no cultivation whatsoever except the removal of as many of the
old leaves as enable the people to get at the fruits or satisfy the
cultivators' wants. I, therefore, think that if date trees received
fair attention, we would be well within the mark if we assume
that the crop of green fruits per tree in these districts would be
20 to 30 seers, i.e., 12 to 18 seers of cured fruits vide para. 84,
page 111.

If 139 good palms are planted per acre (trees 19 feet apart
in the rows, and the rows 16'4 feet apart see para. 39, page 77)
they are hand pollinated, 12 seers of cured fruits are got per tree,
and the value of the fruits is 1 anna per Ib. (see para. 97, page 142),
then allowing 4 male trees per acre, the gross income for fruits
would be Rs. 207-9-0 (£13-16-9) and if 18 seers were got per tree,
the gross income would be Rs. 311-5-0 (£20-15-1). We have
already seen in para. 86, page 115, that Muscat dates simply
packed in 1 Ib. cardboard boxes are selling in the Punjab at
annas 8 per Ib. ; that we could have sold all our 1915 crop of
fruits from the imported Arabian trees at Re. 0-10-0 per Ib., and
that Algerian dates packed in J Ib. packets in a way that will
preserve them for more than a year, are selling here at Re. 1-2-0
per Ib. Papers at my hand show that in America in 1912, some
dates grown in Indo-California were sold at Rs. 2-10-6 per Ib.
and that they sold at Rs. 3-2-0 per Ib. there in 1913. These
prices are for dates packed to have a more or less nice appearance
on the dinner table, or to preserve them for a lengthened period,
etc. ; but although they give some indication of the possibilities
of date culture, an extensive market could not be got for such
commodities at once. I, therefore, do not wish to take too much

DATE-GROWING. ll9

notice of these prices. Dates do not require to be re-sown every
year like most farm crops ; they do not usually require much
attention as regards water after the trees are established, if the
water-level is well within 20 feet of the soil surface ; they
require no or little attention during the greater part of the year,
and the fruits require little preparation for the market. In con-
sidering the gross income which may be got from a plantation,
that from bye-products (see paras. 89, 90, and 91, pages 119 to
122) and from the auxiliary crops already referred to should also
be taken into account. With Basra date fruits of fourth 01
fifth quality actually selling in the unpacked condition in the
market here at 3 to 4 seers (6 or 8 Ib. approx.) per rupee (16 pence)
our estimate of a gross income of Ks. 207-9-0 or Rs. 311-5-0 per
acre for fruits alone seems most moderate, and if this is so, dates
properly farmed ought to be an extremely remunerative crop
when grown in suitable districts. s

89. Date-growers in Arabia estimate that they receive
about 5 annas (5 pence) per tree for the sale

Date palm, bye- „_. n ' e

products, their ot date palm leaves, fibre from the bases of the
leaves, stalks of date inflorescence, etc. (Gaskin's
note dated 22nd October 1912). This works out to
Rs. 43-7-0 (£2-17-11) per acre of 139 palms. The different
parts of the date palm are put to a great many uses. The stems
are hollowed out to form water channels. They are also used as
beams for the roofs of houses ; to pivot the gearing of Persian
wheels on, etc. Ihe fibre at the base of the leaf stalk (Kabal)
is used for making ropes, nets, and such things. The flattened
bases of the leaf stalks are used as floats for fishing nets, etc.
From the main axes of the leaves (lakre) crates for fruits, poultry,
etc. ; cages for small birds, fencing for fowl runs, chairs, stools,
sleeping couches, and so on are made. The leaflets are woven
into mats, baskets, etc. The finest matting is made from the
tender leaflets of the young terminal bud (gacha). Date leaflets
are sometimes partly retted and beaten, and the fibre (scleren-
chymatous strands) so extracted from them is made into ropes,
etc. When fodder is very scarce, the leaflets are fed to buffaloes.

THE DATE PALM.

The inflorescences from which the fruits have been removed,
are used as brooms. Fibre from the spathe (sippe) is used for
making ropes. The dried spathes, leaves, etc., are used as fuel.
Articles made from parts of the date palm do not rot readily in
water, therefore, date ropes, etc., are much used in connection
with water lifts and such things. Samples of mats and baskets
from date leaflets and ropes made from date fibre are shown in
illustration No. 40 opposite. Those interested in such things,
however, should purchase small samples of these from Muzaf-
fargarh or Dera Ghazi Khan. The cost will be practically
nothing, and the articles will give a better idea of their suitability
for the purposes for which they are made than any description
could convey.

90. I. have not seen any one in the Punjab tapping date
trees and making wine or sugar from the sap so

Date toddy and

sugar-making from collected, but 1 have seen this done elsewhere.

the sap of the palm. . . .

Indeed wine (palm toddy) extracting is practised
to some extent in almost all countries where dates are
cultivated. For wine or sugar-making, a V-shaped notch
is cut in the stem near the base of the gacha (young terminal
bud) and the juice is collected in pots. The empty pots are
usually smoked to delay fermentation and the juice is removed
from the pot after collecting it for about a day. If the sap is to
be used as wine, it is drunk before it ferments too far, and is liked
best when it is quite fresh from the tree. It usually sells for about
one anna per quart. If sugar is to be made, the juice is simply
boiled down at once to form gur (unpurified sugar) and is mostly
sold and used in that form. Tapping the trees for these purposes
prevents the trees from fruiting and is a very severe strain on the
plant. If roughly done it may kill the tree altogether. Where
tapping is much practised, however, the people become adepts
at it, and trees showing the scars of 20 years or more of succes-
sive tapping can be seen. Owing to want of staff we have
not been able to look into these points in the Punjab, but it is
hoped that they, with others awaiting investigation, may be
taken up soon. Meantime those interested in sugar-making from

S5

S3
O

0?
EH
CO

a

121

palm sap may refer to Mr. H. E. Annett's most interesting experi-
ments on the wild date palm (Phcenix sylvestris) and other plants
in his " Investigations into the Date Sugar Industry in Bengal 5:
(see Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, Chemical
Series, Vol. II, No. 6, March, 1913). It should be remembered that
it is the wild date palm (Phcenix sylvestris} that he has carried out
his investigations on, — not the date palm (Phcenix dactylifera) cul-
tivated for its fruits, and which we have here. The two plants are
so nearly related, however, that botanists have not yet recorded
a very clear difference between them. For the convenience of
those interested, a few remarks may be quoted here from Mr.
Annett's work. Mr. Annett reckons that a plantation farmed, for
sugar made from the palm sap comes into bearing five to six years
after planting and that it goes on bearing for fully 25 years
(Annett, page 380) ; that the average yield of juice per tree per
season in Bengal is 170 Ib. (Annett, page 351) ; that 22| Ib.
of gur are got from that amount of juice (Annett, page 351) ;
and that the gur sells at Rs. 2-8-0 per maund (82 Ib.) (Annett,
page 379). This would give about Re. 0-1 1 -0 gross income per tree.
He reckons the tapping season as extending from the second week
of November to first week of March (Annett, page 324) ; and that
two tappers and one assistant coolie would manage the work
connected with gur -making from 350 trees (Annett, page 379).
A tree is tapped something like 40 to 50 times during the tapping
season. To get at the net profits, the wages of these men for the
2J months of the tapping season, the cost of fuel for boiling
the gur, and other expenses to be incurred would have to be
deducted.

We have seen that Phcenix dactylifera here will yield at
least 12 seers (24f Ib.) of fruits, value Re. 0-1-0 per Ib., i.e., a gross
income of Re. 1-8 approx. per tree, and that the expenses connec-
ted with fruit-farming are much less than those which must be
connected with gur-making, therefore gur-making could not be
considered, where good fruits can be grown, if each tree did not
yield several multiples of the weight of gur which Phcenix sylves-
tris does in Bengal.

122 tHE DATE PALM.

It is possible that gur might be made from some of the many
male date trees which are growing in the Punjab, but the compa-
ratively high price of labour here (6 to 8 annas per coolie per
day), and the cost of fuel would probably make gur-making even
from these a poorly paid business. The severe damage done to
the trees by the tapping should be remembered when considering
the question. An actual test would set the whole matter at rest.

91. In date growing countries various wines are made

by fermenting the fruit of the date and then

natureerofeSwi°ne or distilling the products. They are generally

beer made from - <• • r • t • , c* A- • j

date fruits. maae Irom interior fruits. Sometimes a mixture

of date and other sugary and starchy fruits or
plant products are used in their manufacture. In other cases
drinks of the nature of beer are made by merely fermenting
these materials. Ihe variations in the methods of manufac-
ture ard of the materials employed are many.

122a

ILLUSTRATION No. 41.

Leaflet of date palm half natural size showing Palm Leaf Pustule
(Graphiola phoenicis Pait,)

(See para. 92, page 123.)

ILLUSTRATION No. 42.

Graphiola phcenicis X 35 diams.

a Hyphse.

6 Hard black wall of sporocarp.

c Leaf.

n^M'!!Piiw|vnii

urtiiiiinV'lm'biiillllthJiiHiiitmtiuiuM^^ ,.,ll IiiJ I,. jMiillniiM Irul.iV

(1)

Paint brush stage.

(2) (3)

A later stage. After hyphse have disappeared.

*a£X
&U v>

Piece of hypha with spores attached X 430 diams.

(See page 12:i.)

CHAPTER VI.

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM.
Palm leaf Pustule. (Graphiola phcenicis Pait.)

See illustrations Nos. 41 and 42 on pages I22a and 1226.

92. This is a fungoid pest and is reported from North
America, parts of South America, Ceylon, Algeria, Egypt,
other parts of India and elsewhere. It is to be found among
the local date trees wherever they grow in the Punjab. In some
cases where the trees had a large number of old leaves on them,
I have seen it quite bad. In most of thes3 cases the younger
leaves a;e usually practically free of it. It has not yet been a
cause of trouble among our imported date trees and little attention
has been paid to it.

The disease is often seen as small hard black-pustules scat-
tered over both the lower and upper surfaces of the leaflets
(see illustration No. 42, Fig. 3). They are often about J millimeter
in diameter ; about J of that in height, and the top has a depressed
yellowish centre.

The mycelium (body of the fungus) is composed of hyphee
(thread-like filaments) which are hidden in the tissues of the leaf,
and absorb nourishment from the leaf cells. The black pustules
are developed from the mycelium. They burst the outer layers
of the leaf cells and appear on the surface of the leaf. These
pustules are the sporocarps (structures in which the spores are
developed) of the fungus.

Inside the sporocarp is the spore forming tissue which gives
rise to vast numbers of pale yellow roundish spores about '003 mm.
in diameter and which eventually lie loose in the pustule. These
minute spores, in suitable conditions are capable of germination
and reproducing the disease. From the centre of the pustule

124 THE DATE PALM.

also, long yellow hyphse are developed which protrude from
the pustule at first like hairs from a tiny paint brush and later
become more spreading (see illustration No. 42, Figs. 1-2).
Large numbers of the spores adhere to the sides of these long
hyphse (see illustration No. 42, Fig. 4), and are carried with them
out of the sporocarp to the open air, where wind, insects, etc.,
may convey them to other leaves or plants, there to germinate
and start a new centre of the disease. The hard outer black wall
of the sporocarp protects the developing spores inside, and is
left standing on the leaf after the long brush-like hyphse and spores
have disappeared (see illustration No. 42, Fig. 3). A micros-
cope magnifying over 60 diameters is required to distinguish
the spores and a magnification of over 300 diameters is
required to see them well. The long hyphse protruding from the
sporocarp when they are present, and the sporocarp itself, are
seen by the naked eye but are better examined with a pocket
lens.

As old leaves very naturally become worst affected the trees
should be kept properly pruned (see illustration

Remedial measures.

No. 29, page 86a). Spraying with a solution of
permanganate of potash or with Bordeaux mixture are recommen-
ded by those who have found it necessary to control the disease.
Bordeaux mixture gives excellent results against many fungoid
diseases.

The mixture consists of copper sulphate (CuS04) and quick-
Bordeaux mixture, lime (CaO).

The quantities generally used are 6 seers of copper sulphate
and 4 seers of quicklime in 50 gallons (12J kerosene tinfuls) of
water.

The copper sulphate should be as good and pure as possible ;
copper sulphate containing a large amount of iron or of zinc
sulphate should not be used.

The lime should also be as pure as possible and should be
freshly burnt.

DISEASES OF THE PATE PALM. 125

Prepare the mixture as follows :—

Powder the copper sulphate and then dissolve it in a little
hot water in an earthenware or a wooden vessel. When quite
cold add 28-36 gallons (7 to 9 kerosene tinfuls) of cold water to
the solution.

Next slowly and thoroughly slake the quicklime in another
vessel by first adding to it about a pint of water and repeatedly
adding that amount of water as the previously applied liquid is
used up by the lime. Continue until about a kerosene tinful of
water has been added and the whole lime is dissolved into a
cream. The lime must be stirred well during this slaking process.
When quite cold stir the lime water again and filter it through a
coarse sacking into the vessel containing the copper sulphate,
stirring the copper sulphate all the time. Add water to the
mixture to make the whole lot up to about 50 gallons (12J
kerosene tinfuls) and apply within 6-8 hours after its preparation
as the ingredients are not easily kept in suspension in the liquid
longer than that, and the mixture is not so adherent to the plants.

The above proportions of lime and copper sulphate must
be adhered to carefully as these proportions are required to
neutralise each other. The copper sulphate by itself is injurious
to plants therefore none of it should exist in the free state in the
prepared wash. This is sometimes the case when old or clayey
quicklime is used.

To test whether the mixture is properly made, dip a clear
steel knife blade into the solution. If a brown deposit appears
on it, it indicates that free copper sulphate exists in the wash,
therefore a little more lime should be added to it. When a
great excess of lime is used the wash is almost useless. A wash
as near the neutral point as possible should be prepared.

The exact amount of water mentioned above is not essential
but that is the amount found useful when the mixture is used
as a general fungicide in various parts of the world.

The wash should be applied with a spraying machine in all
cases.

126 THE DATE PALM.

The red weevil or Indian Palm weevil.

(Bhynchophorus ferrugineus. )

93. As far back as any one can remember both adult and
young country date palms in the Puniab have

First sign of the

disease among date occasionally been seen to die from some disease

trees in the Punjab. . ' .

which caused their tops to wither up (see illustra-
tion No. 43 opposite), and in the case of adult palms, the stem to
sometimes bend or break over in a characteristic manner (see
illustration No. 44, page 1266).

Before the trees break over, a 'dirty resinous juice which
has leaked from the tree is sometimes to be seen on the stem.
On the imported Arabian date palms the disease was first noticed
at Muzaffargarh in 1913.

In the case of small palms the tops of which could be closely
examined by one standing near them the first indication of the
coming death of the plant was the appearance near the terminal
bud of a considerable quantity of chewed fibrous material
evidently thrown out from the interior of the stem near the growing
point through a burrow 1 inch approximately in diameter, made
by some animal. In some young trees the stems of which were
not over 2-4 feet high, similar burrows were found almost
at ground-level. Usually such plants then gradually dry up and
die some weeks or months later, depending on the severity of
the attack and on whether it is on a vital spot. Sometimes
apparently healthy trees suddenly collapse. Attacked trees
seldom recover if untreated.

A number of both desi and imported Arabian date palms
similarly affected have been examined, and in all cases insects
in the iorm of either grubs (the worm-like stage) and pupse (the
dormant stage) or as images (the adult insect stage), or in two
or all of these stages, have been found together inside these
trees.

In very developed cases the inside of the stem was frequently
completely eaten out and contained a lot of decaying rubbish

12Ga

ILLUSTRATION No. 43.

Showing two date trees at Multan, killed by the red weevil (Ehynchophorus

Jerrugineua).

(See page 126, para. 93.)

1266

ILLUSTRATION[No/44.

Showing date tree attacked by the red weevil in the Am-o-khas garden, Multan. In
this case the stem has bent sharply over at a point a little below the top so
that the head hangs down. The centre of the stem from the bend upwards is
completely eaten ouV and filled with rotten matter. The leaves have all withered
and fallen off.

(See page 126.)

ILLUSTRATION NO. 45. 126c

THE RED WEEVIL OR INDIAN PALM WEEVIL. (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olive.)

(1) Egg. (2) Egg laid in hole in palm tissue. (3) Newly hatched larva.

(4) Full grown larva. (5) Pupa. (6) Cocoon.

(7) Adult weevil. (8) Side view of head of male weevil enlarged.

(9) „ „ female

The natural sizes of the stages shown in figs. 1 — 7 are indicated by the hair-lines alongside eich figure.

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM. 127

at the points of attack. In bad cases where the tiee stems were
only 3 or 4 feet in height, the grubs and pupae were found even at
the base of the stem. Writers elsewhere record that the grubs may
be found at any point in the stem of an affected tree.

These insects have been identified for us by the Assistant
Professor of Entomology to the Agricultural

Identification of

the post and litora- Department, Punjab, as the Indian Palm Weevil

ture concerning it. r ., , 7 7

or Ked Weevil (Rnynctiophorus jerrugineus,
Olive). Descriptions of the weevil, accounts of its life history,
methods of preventing its attacks and remedial measures will be
found in (a) Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India,
Entomological Series, Volume II, No. 10, December, 1911, under
Life-Histories of Indian Insects — III, by C. C. Ghosh, and (b)
Indian Insect Pests, by Lefroy, page 209. The material for the
following brief account of the pest is practically all taken from
these works and the coloured illustration No. 45, page 126c, is
from (a) above mentioned.

It has been already noticed in the following places :—

Saharanpur, Lucknow, Buxar, Bankipur, Gaya,

Distribution and pu Darieeling, Dikang Valley, Suleman

breeding season. J * '

Range, Shillong, Sylhet, Assam, Moulmein,
Calcutta, Singbhum, Madras, Bangalore, Wynaad, Andaman
Islands, Ceylon, and we have now found it in Multan,
Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghazi Khan Districts of the Punjab.
Doubtlessly it will be found also in adjacent date-growing
districts of the Punjab.

The weevil appears to breed throughout the year. There
is no regularity in the occurrence of the brcods and adult weevils.
Pupae and larvae in different stages of growth may be found
together at the same time.

The Indian Palm Weevil is a big red brown flattened insect

with or without a few black spots on the thoracic

The \3)(adUlt re§ion (region between the head and abdomen)

and with a long slightly curved snout. The snout

of the male is provided with a brush of hairs above, and is

128 THE DATE PALM.

stouter than that of the female (see illustration No. 45, Fig. 8).
The snout of the female is more slender and has no tuft of
hairs on it (see illustration No. 45, Fig. 9). The elbowed antennae
are inserted near the base of the snout. The terminal joint of
each antenna is thick, truncated and spongy. The elytra (hard
wing cases) are ribbed longitudinally and they do not entirely
cover the end of the body (see illustration No. 45, Fig. 7).

The insects fly at night with a loud droning sound and fall
with a thud. They hide from the light and when disturbed
fold up their legs and pretend to be dead.

The larva is at first straw-coloured but in the course of a
few hours its head and a small patch just behind

The larva (worm- •, i -i i •, m, , -,

like stage). its head become brown. The body remains pale
yellow and is soft, fleshy and wrinkled trans-
versely. The margins of the anal segment are slightly
curved upwards forming a small concavity above. There
are no legs of any kind. It is stated that full-grown larvae
in the insectary measured 6'0 to 6'5 cms. in length and2'0cms.
in thickness, but that larvae have been found 7 '5 cms. long on
trees outside the insectary. The larva is usually curved a
little lengthwise so that its under-side is concave and its back is
convex. This is especially marked when its body is contracted
(see illustration No. 45, Figs. 3 and 4).

The eggs are creamy white ; their surface smooth and
somewhat shiny. Thev are about 21 mm. long by

The eggs.

about Ijmm. across and are cylindrical elongate-
oval (see illustration No. 45, Fig. 1).

Apparently much has yet to be learnt about the habits, etc.,

of this insect in its natural state but in the literature above

referred to it is recorded that in the insectary, — at Pusa I

presume — the weevils fed and laid their eggs

Some observa- . .

tions made in the in soit interior pieces oi stem ot the palm

haSTand life-cycle Phoenix sylvestris, Roxb. and of "Tal" (Borassus

flabellifer, Linn.) which were supplied to them.

The weevils gnawed a hole 3 to 5 mm. in depth in a piece of

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM. 129

these and then usually deposited a single egg in it.
Sometimes 2 or 3 eggs were found near each other in a separate
hole. One female in captivity laid 276 eggs in 49 days and another
laid 127 eggs in 46 days. Eggs laid in March hatched out about
4 days after being laid. The larvae spun their cocoons 24 to 61
days after hatching. The insect remained in the cocoon stage for
periods of from 18 to 34 days, and the whole time taken from the
laying of the egg till the appearance of the imago was 48 to 82 days.
The imago lived for 50 to 90 days and required a constant supply
of food. The pest appears to pass the whole of its life on the
food plant ; eggs are laid, the grubs (larva?) feed and pupate
(form cocoons) in the plant.

It is not exactly known how and where the eggs are laid
in nature, but it seems that thev are not laid

«/

Mode Affecting deep in the plant tissues. It also seems that the
part chosen for oviposition will be moist and
provide more or less soft pithy tissues for the young grubs.
The beetles themselves also want such tissue to feed upon.
This would explain why the top regions of the stems of
adult trees are apparently first attacked.

Dr. Barber, Government Botanist, Madras, appears to think
that the weevil enters the inflorescence where the spathe opens,
and lays eggs there. It is believed that the weevils do not require
any special crack or cut for laying their eggs in, as they can
easily creep down the leaf-sheath and reach the soft base of the
top of the shoot, then gnaw a hole there and thrust in the egg.
It is thought most probable that eggs are deposited in this
manner in the comparatively soft tissues near the tops of the
trees and that the larvae bore down the stem. The exposure of
soft tissues by wounds, etc., is supposed to specially expose trees
to attacks however. Another insect pest — the Rhinoceros beetle-
referred to on page 135, is said to bore a hole often over 1 inch in
diameter into the base of the central bud of date trees in some parts
of India and the red weevil is said to often make use of this hole
to get at the soft heart of the tree. Many trees are supposed
to be attacked by the red weevil in this way in these localities.

M, DP 9

130 THE DATE PALM.

The damage done to date trees by red weevil is done by the
grubs only. After hatching, the grub begins to feed on the plant
tissues and forms a tunnel in them. This tunnel increases in
diameter as the grub grows. The grub prefers the inside of the
stem where the tissues are softer and where it can keep away
from the light. Therefore the stem from outside may appear
unaffected although the tree is badly attacked. A cross section
of a date palm stem shows it to be made up of a large number
of fibious strands lying side by side and more cr less firmly bound
together by other and usually softer tissues. Some of these
fibres can be followed into the old leaf scars of the tree trunk,
and others into the green leaves which crown the tree (see illus-
tration No. 7, page 6a). The function of the strands connected
with the green leaves is to conduct the food material from the
soil to the leaves and the elaborated foods from the leaves back
to the various parts of the plant. The leaves of a palm may
therefore look healthy after the plants are badly affected if a
sufficient number of the strands of tissues which feed these leaves
remain uncut by the insect. Consequently also we sometimes
see the sudden collapse of apparently healthy trees when at
length these fibres are cut. At points where the insects have
bored to the outside of the stem, a thick resinous juice has been
found to ooze out and harden on drying.

The damage caused by the imago (adult weevil) is insigni-
ficant. When the adult weevils emerge from the cocoons they
may fly to other trees and infect these. Apparently they are
capable of flying great distances. They are recorded to have
been seen on the wing in the insectary for 2-3 minutes at a time.

It has been advised by some writers that the leaves should
not be pruned from the trees, but that they
should be allowed to dry and fall off themselves.
In my opinion that advice should not be followed
in the case of date trees in the Punjab as (a) if there is any leaf
disease such as the scale insect referred to on page 137 on the
palms, the old leaves often become very badly infected and these
spread the disease to the fresh young leaves coming out of the bud.

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM. 131

(b) After the palm leaves have passed the fresh green stage
and are no longer capable of carrying on their functions
of assimilation, transpiration, etc., with vigor, they are an
encumbrance to the plant and the thorny mass of these old
leaves forms a serious obstacle to attending properly to the
fruit bunches.

(c) The leaving of the old leaves on the plant does not
prevent the attack of the pest, as trees left absolutely unpruned
are attacked. I recently cut down such a tree very badly affected
at Mahmud Kot in Muzaffargarh district and could find many
others among the unpruned male palms there. Unless the people
want the leaves for any purpose the male plants in the Punjab
are frequently left unpruned, as pollination is left entirely to
the wind, and the people have usually no need to get at the
male flower bunches.

The weevil is attracted by the tissues exposed when leaves
are pruned from a tree and is suspected of laying its eggs in
these tissues ; but as the number of leaves removed from a tree
in a year is very small it would be quite practicable to tar the
cut surfaces left exposed, or treat them with other material
which would keep the insects from attacking these parts. The
cost of the tar required would be insignificant. All other wounds
and places where soft tissue is exposed,- should be tarred. When
a tree slightly attacked is noticed, attempts should be made
immediately to open the affected part as far as possible without
unduly harming the tree, so as to get at, and kill the grubs ; the
wound then to be treated as above. If left untreated an attacked
tree will certainly be severely harmed and will probably die.
Cut stumps or useless parts of date trees left lying about
should be destroyed. Palm stumps and soft palm tissues are
said to be used in the West Indies to attract and trap a
similar weevil there, the stumps, etc., being visited in the
morning and the weevils collected and killed. It is [recom-
mended that where the Ehinoceros beetle is found, the red weevil
should be prevented from getting into the hole bored by the
former beetle, by plugging these holes with dry grass or some

132 THE DATE PALM.

such stuff after the Rhinoceros beetle has been extracted from
them, and that the beetle may be extracted by probing the hole
with an iron wire hooked or barbed at the end. A little tar
on the top of the plug is also recommended.

In past years, however, I found that syringing 3 per cent,
sanitary fluid, or an emulsion composed of 2 Ib. Toria (Bmssica
campestris var. toria, Duthie) oil, i oz. of asafcetida, and 2 gallons
of water into the holes in the trees occupied by the red weevil
gave good results, and the idea of getting insecticides to reach
the insects when they have penetrated deep into the tree trunk
has been further elaborated. In the most recent and most
severe attack on our young Arabian trees, eighty palms approxi-
mately were more or less severely attacked by red weevil within a
month of the removal of suckers from them. Insect burrows, 6 to
8 inches in length, were in many cases found in the stem at the
bases of the green functional leaves, running parallel to the line
of insertion of the leaf-base on the stem, and near enough the
stem surface to be exposed along the whole length of the burrow
by removing the leaf-base from the stem. Other burrows were
found to penetrate into the hearts of young suckers that had
been still left on the tree. Others again had gone deep into the tree
trunk. Where burrows came near the surface of the stem,
their presence was usually indicated by a copious flow of dirty
juice from the stem at that point. Many nearly full-grown
larvae were taken out of the burrows while endeavours were
made to get at those in the deeper burrows by probing with
wires, injecting various insecticides into the burrows, etc. Later
we cleared the debris from the insect burrowrs as far as possible,
filled them with concentrated insecticide — undiluted sanitary
fluid in some cases, crude oil emulsion or lead arsenate in others-
made a large mud-basin round the base of each affected tree
(see Illustration No. 46, page USa), and filled the basins with
water twice daily. The walls of the basins were made higher
than the affected parts of the trees and the water was filled to
over the levels of these parts. Large numbers of larvae which
had come out of the affected trees were found dead in the water

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM. 1^3

within three or four days after this treatment started, and none
came out after about a week of it. Of the 80 trees approximately
affected, only three trees have died. The others appear to be
cured of the disease and will apparently live, but as the attack
did not occur till after this edition went first to press the effects
of it on the fruit-bearing capacity of the trees will only be seen
later. A more detailed account of the case will be given in due
course. Meantime I may mention that we are indebted to
Mr. J. Hallahan, Engineer to the District Board, Muzaffargarh,
and to the Entomological Section, Lyallpur, for help in connection
with the suppression of the outbreak.

When date trees are tall and the attack — as usually happens'
—occurs near the top of the stem the mud-basin method of
bringing the liquid in contact with the insect would not be prac-
ticable. I hope, however, to devise suitable methods of dealing
with such cases. Several ideas are being worked out and the
results of these will be reported later.

It is most important for the checking of the disease in date-
growing localities that all trees showing the symptoms already
described should be treated or cut down, and burnt, or the pests
in them otherwise rendered harmless immediately.

When affected trees have been cut down submerging the
trunks in water is recommended to rid them of red weevil. This
would be useful in the case of slightly affected trees, the trunks of
which could be used for building or other purposes. One some-
times sees the stems of date palms intended for such pur-
poses, submerged in village ponds, etc., in the South- Western
Punjab. From our experience already gained I am inclined
to think that submerging for a week would be sufficient to
disinfect a stem. I hope that some tests will be made soon which
will give us further information wanted on this method and
on others. It is, however, most important to remember that
while a simple coating of tar on a wound will effectually
prevent red weevil from attacking that wound, the pest is
most destructive and difficult to deal with once it gets into a tree.

134 THE DATE PALM.

The disease has not yet been seen among the Arabian trees
at Lyallpur, Rakhchhabri, and Charata in Dera
cases of attack by Ghazi Khan ; nor in the Central Jail, Multan
plantations. In 1914 in a plantation of 250
trees approximately in Muzaffargarh, some seven trees were
attacked. All received some treatment. One of these died.
In 1915 in the same plantation some 16 trees were affected. In
many of the cases it was the suckers at the bases of the trees that
were attacked. This was to be expected as the tissues of suckers
are particularly soft and juicy. All these affected plants were
treated by syringing an emulsion of oil of Toria (Brass ica cam-
pestris var. toria, Duthie) and asafcetida into the holes made in
the trees by the pest, and stopping the mouth of the holes by fibre
dipped in tar. Some of the more weakly suckers died but no
mother tree succumbed. In the case of the recent severe attack
referred to above suckers had been removed in September from
180 trees and the wounds on the mother trees had not been tarred
nor apparently properly earthed up. As about 80 of the plants,
i.e., 44 per cent, of them were at once attacked the case was
most serious.

So far as we can find from records, this is the first time on
which a considerable number of suckers have been removed
from date trees in the Punjab, and the effects of red weevil
on the parent trees noted, but even if the percentage of trees
attacked by red weevil were to be far less than in the case'
quoted when wounds caused by the removal of suckers are left
exposed and untreated, it will still be of vital importance to
date-growers to tar all such wounds immediately the suckers
are removed. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that
while this simple and inexpensive procedure will prevent red
weevils from attacking these wounds, it is extremely difficult
to prevent the insect from materially harming the tree for
years, or killing it altogether once it gets in. It may also
be noticed here that so far there seems to be no evidence
to prove that the Rhinoceros beetle is connected with this
attack.

ILLUSTRATION No. 46.

Photograph of Arabian date trees attacked by Red weevil, in the Taleri Bagh, Muzaffargarh
showing mud basins which were filled with water during the treatment of the pest.
(See Preventive and Remedial Measures, para. 93, page 132.)

ILLUSTRATION NO. 47. 1346

THE RHINOCEROS BEETLE OR BLACK PALM BEETLE. (Oryctes rhinoceros.)

(2) Young larva, natural size.

Full grown larva. (4) Pupa. (5) Beetle.

Beetle, side view of head of mlae enlarged. (7) Beetle, side view of head of female enlarged.

The natural sizes of the stages shown in figs. 3 — 5 are indicated by the hair-lines alongside each figure.

(1) Eggs ; that on left newly laid : that on right about to hatch.

(3)

(6)

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM. 135

Rhinoceros Beetle or Black Palm Beetle (Oryctes
rhinoceros).

94. The pest is reported from Ceylon, Madras, Malabar,
Bombay, Kanara, Bandra, Bengal, Tenasserim, Maliwon, Siam,
Annam, Singapore, Pahang, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, Ceram,
Amboyna, Philippine Islands, Formosa, Korea, and Hongkong.

It is said to do a great deal of damage to the toddy palm
(Phcenix sylvestris] in Bombay, Madras and elsewhere in India.
It has not yet been found in the Punjab, as far as I know, but as
the work of observation on the diseases of the date palm is only
starting here and the attacks of tha red weevil (see page 126)
are frequently associated with this pest elsewhere, it is possible
that they are so in the Punjab, although this has not yet been
proved. The few remarks made heue regarding it are therefore
made to help the people to recognise it and report to us if it
should be found.

It is a dark brcwn beetle about 4 cms. long and having a
prominent structure on its head resembling the horn of a rhino-
ceros, therefore the name (see illustration No. 47, page 134&).
The elytra (hard wing cases) are marked by lines of closely placed
annular punctures, one of these lines being close to where the
two elytra meet on the insect's back, and three pairs of other
lines rather wide apart. The tibia (longest segment of leg visible
as the beetle walks) in each of the front pair of legs has four teeth
along one side, the uppermost one of these being small. On
the other side of the tibia and at its lower end, there is also a
short and conspicuous tooth. The tibiae of the middle pair
of legs are much shorter than those of the hind ones.

The beetles are reported to appear after winter and the
majority of them about May ; the greatest damage being reported
about the time of the rains.

The usual mode of attack on palm trees is for the imago
(mature beetle) to bore a hole 1 inch or more in diameter through
the opening leaf-bud or stalks of the leaves into the succulent
top of the stern. They are believed to feed on the soft tissues

136 THE DATE PALM.

inside. When the insect bores clown into the leaf-bud, it eats
away many of the soft leaflets in the process, and when the bud
opens the lateral rows of leaflets appear more or less raggedly
eaten away from the main axes of tb.3 leaves. This appearance
is usually found in the date trees in the South -West of the Punjab
in which the " red iveevils " have been found (see illustration
No. 48 opposite).

It is stated that a quantity of chewed-up fibre is often found
thrown out from the hole made by a Rhinoceros beetle. Quantities
of such fibre are also commonly seen in summer on date trees
affected with red weevil in the Punjab.

The beetles usually so damage the growing part of the
tree that the tree ultimately dies. When rain falls, the water
also lodges in the holes and sets up decay.

The beetles fly at night and hide in holes by day. They are
attracted by light. The egg when laid is white, smooth, oval
in outline, and 2>:3| mm. approximately, but becomes yellowish,
rounder, and bigger before hatching. See Fig. 1 illustration
No. 67, page 134&.

The young larva (worm-like stage) is about 6 mm. long
with a flattened lower surface, pale yellow or greyish body,
a row of yellowish dots along each side and numerous pale yellow
hairs, yellowish brown head, and 3 pairs of pale yellow legs

near the front of the body. See Fig. 2, illustration No. 47.

The full-grown larva is a big fleshy grub about 100 mm.
(4 inches approximately) long when extended and about 25 mm.
(1 inch approximately) across. It is thicker at the posterior
end and lies doubled up ventrally. See Fig. 3, illustration
No. 47.

The pupa (dormant stage) is about 45 mm. long and 20 mm.
across. The legs and wing cases are distinctly marked on the
ventral surface and so also is a protuberance on the head which
represents the horn. See Fig. 4, illustration No. 47. The eggs,
larvae, and pupae are usually found in dung heaps and decaying
vegetable matter. Only the imago (mature beetles) are said to
cause damage to living palm trees.

ILLUSTRATION No. 48.

Young (Into tree at Leiah, Mnzaffargarh Distiict, shc.wirg at (a) the tips of the leaflets on
both sides of the leaf axis eaten away. Tho leaflets came nut of the bud in this state

(See page 136.)

1366

s

136r,

ILLUSTRATION No. 50.

Scale Insects X 14 diams. on Date Palm leaflet.

The darker body of the insect is seen through the thin, hard outer scale covering.

(See pftge 137.)

DISEASES OF THE DATE PALM. 137

For more detailed information regarding this pest, see
(a) Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, Ento-
mological Series, Volume IT, No. 10, Life-Histories of Insect
Pests, III, December, 1911, by C. C. Ghosh.

(b] Indian Insect Life by Lefroy, and

(c) Fauna of India, Vol. — Coleoptera Lamell, Part I,
from which the subject-matter for the above note has been taken.
The coloured illustration No. 47 at page 1346 has also been
kindly supplied by the Imperial Entomologist to the Government
of India and is from (a) above mentiozied.

I have already found two specimens of a beetle identified
for us by the Imperial Entomologist as Oryctes nasicornis. One
of these two was found in Dalhousie in early July, 1915, and the
other in Lyallpur a few weeks later. This beetle has a horn on
its head and might be mistaken by many people for Oryctes
rhinoceros. There are other beetles also which might be confused
with it ; therefore likely specimens should be sent to the
Agricultural Department for identification.

Scale Insects (Coccidese).

95. Scale Insects (see illustrations Nos. 49 and 50, pages
1366 and 136c) are usually to be found in local date trees in the
date-growing districts of the province. They are most commonly
found on the leaflets and on the main axes of the leaves, in
the angles at the bases of the leaflets. When few, they are
usually restricted to the leaflets on the shady side of the trees,
or such places. They have attacked the imported trees much
more vigorously than the local ones ; indeed they have hindered
the growth of the imported trees a good deal in some cases.
At Lyallpur, at Multan, or Muzaffargarh, in some years they
have even attacked the ripening fruit bunches spoiling the
appearance of the fruits. In no case has any of our imported
trees been killed by the pest however. It appears to waken
up with the rains, increase towards winter, remain evident on
the trees all winter, and then decrease as the temperature
increases till the rains come.

138 THK DATE PALM,

The insects are very minute and covered with a thin greyish
scale. Full-grown insects are more or less oval in outline ; usually
1 to lj mm. in length and approximately half, as much in
breadth. The body of the insect is seen through the covering
scale as a darker spot often with a pinkish border. The whole
thing is very flat and appears very closely adherent to the
plant. In that stage the insect appears incapable of moving
about.

Specimens of these insects have been sent to Pusa for identi-
fication but information on the point is not yet to hand.

Pending further information, we may remark here, however,
that the young of coccidse can generally walk actively and may go
for some distance in search of a fresh food plant, thus spreading
the disease. The female eventually settles down, buries a long
beak in the tissues, and sucks the plant juices. The male,
after passing through a period of rest, emerges as a very tiny
two-winged fly, searches for a female, mates and dies ; later the
female produces eggs and dies (see Indian Insect Pests by Lefroy,
page 243, and similar works).

Old leaves become most affected, therefore the plants should
be kept properly pruned, and diseased leaves

Remedial measures.

thus removed should be burned. In some ot
the most attacked of our trees, we have pruned away practically
all the leaves except those in the opening central bud. The
remaining leaves are then easily treated with an insecticide.
This drastic pruning may retard the growth of the tree a little
but does not permanently harm it. Repeated spraying with
almost any insecticide has a harmful effect on the leaves. The
growth of the plant is therefore retarded even if the trees are
sprayed without being pruned, and a larger quantity of insecticide
is required. Where the attack is slight, however, only the old
leaves should be removed and an insecticide should be sprayed
on the plants.

The insecticide which has given us the best results is that
recommended by Lefroy in Indian Insect Pests, page 284, No. 5.

DISEASES or THfc DATE PALM. 139

It is called " Rosin Compound ': and the directions for its
preparation are as follows : -

' Powder 2 pounds of rosin and 1 pound of washing soda
(sodium carbonate) crystals. Place these in a kerosene tin
with enough water to cover them, and boil. Continue boiling
till both are dissolved and then slowly add cold water to the
steadily boiling fluid. Water is to be added a little at a time
for fear of chilling the liquid, and the mass should gradually be
brought up to 2 gallons. • The liquid changes as the boiling
proceeds, becoming thick and soapy ; after boiling for half an
hour or longer the liquid becomes clear, thin, of a deep brown
colour. Continue boiling pouring a few drops of the mixture
into cold water at intervals ; at first the wash on mixing with
cold water forms a slightly opaque fluid, but after some minutes
further boiling, it forms a clear amber liquid on being mixed
with cold water.

" This is the test of the liquid being finished and it should
on cooling remain clear. To this stock solution 6 gallons of
water may be added to make the strong wash ; 10 gallons to make
the normal wash. One pound of rosin is used for every 4 to 6
gallons of wash required, and half as much soda. The wash
keeps indefinitely if properly prepared, and it is best to keep the
stock solution and dilute it as required."

The fruit bunches should not be sprayed with washes which
will give them a bad taste, and poisonous washes must, of course,
never be sprayed on the fruits.

INSECTS FOUND IN STORED DATE FRUITS.

96. In the winter and spring, the caterpillar of a moth
is sometimes found in date fruits in the Puniab.

Tincid Moth.

The caterpillar reaches a length of | inch
approximately and a diameter of about J inch. It lives on the
fleshy tissues of the fruits. The presence of the caterpillar, the
excrement, and debris make an attacked fruit quite unfit for table
purposes. Date-growers state that the attacks are most serious

14!) THE DAfte

in winters following wet fruit harvesting seasons. There was
certainly a lot of damage done to stored date fruits by these
insects in the winter following the wet harvesting season of 1914
and apparently none — at least in the fruits that I have had
stored and examined, or in others that I have heard about — after
the dry harvesting season of 1915. Specimens of the insects and
attacked fruits have been sent to the Assistant Professor of
Entomology, Lyallpur. That officer has not yet worked out the
case completely but has given me the following note protem.

" The pest is a small Tineid Moth.

Life-history. — The eggs are laid singly on the outside of the
fruit ; each egg is small and flattened. The caterpillar is of a
dirty white colour with a palish tinge. As soon as it hatches
out, it bores into the fruit and feeds on the soft pulp. It passes
its whole life in the fruit and fills it with excrement. When the
caterpillar is full fed it prepares a thin cocoon of silk and excre-
ment and pupates inside it."

Experiments are in progress to discover just when the
eggs are laid on the fruits and measures will be taken either to
prevent the eggs being laid there or to sterilise them after they
are laid ; whichever is most practicable.

A small more or less copper coloured beetle about ^th
inches long was found in date fruits stored at

Cigar boring .

beetle. (Lesioderma Lyallpur in 1914 and was sent to the Assistant
Professor of Entomology. He informs me that
it is Lesioderma testaceum, Duft, the beetle which bores into
cigars. He writes as follows : — •

" Its life-history is being studied and the following is a
brief though incomplete account of it.

Life-history. — The female beetle gnaws a hole through the
external skin of the fruit and deposits an egg in the soft pulp.
Then the external hole is covered over. The eggs are laid singly
by the beetle and are small and shiny. They hatch out in six
days ; when the grub emerges it eats its way through the pulp,

DISEASES OP THE DATE PALM 141

reaches the seed and tunnels into it. The whole of the fruit
is filled with excrement. The pupa (dormant form) is situated
inside the fruit in a thin silken case. The mature beetles, when
they emerge, are quite active and feed on the external tissues
of the fruit."

This beetle apparently gets into the fruits in the store room
and where it is found precautions will have to be taken to store
the fruits in such a way that it will not get at them.

CHAPTER VII.

Imports and Exports of Date Fruits and Prospects of Date Farming

in the Punjab Plains.

97. Tables Nos. XXII, XXIII, XXIV, and XXV which
Quantities and follow, show the places from which date fruits

value of date fruits . ,, • j T> •.«_• i T T i •

imported into and were imported by sea into British India during
teiTinediafroiJ Bset the five years ending 31st March, 1915, the
emiinfMaSS! quantities imported from each place, the values
1915- of the consignments, and the total monthly

quantities and values of those dates.

DATE FRUITS.

143

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144

THE DATE PALM.

TABLE XXIII.

Monthly quantities of date fruits imported by sea into British India during
the five years ending 3lst March, 1915.

QUANTITY.

Month.

1910-11.

1911-12.

1912-13.

1913-14.

1914-15.

April

Cwt.
15,290

Cwt.

28,077

Cwt.
18,343

Cwt.
13,035

Cwt.
11,298

May

8,920

14,984

3,803

5,753

6,301

June

6,580

8,680

9,102

10,197

7.719

July

5,808

10,632

6,281

13,391

10,125

August

54,685

33,574

45,915

29,156

52,175

September

80,590

62,888

75,184

83,398

37,175

October

138,543

107,101

195,938

177,427

111,187

November . . •

199,427

219,642

239,353

237,132

131,296

December

199,473

219,491

141,795

152,293

129,527

January ...

96,166

158,481

88,970

96,383

161,258

February • • 4:

53,303

68,090

33,904

50,751

77,231

March . .

51,238

31,535

17,478

49,521

66,026

Data obtained from the Director-General, Commercial Intelligence Department, India.

TABLE XXIV.

The monthly values of date fruits imported by sea into British India during
the five years ending 31st March, 1916.

VALUE.

Month.

r

1910-11,

1911-12.

1912-13.

1913-14.

1914-15.

April

Rs.

94,776

Rs.
2,04,307

Rs.

1,17,854

Rs.

94,837

Rs.

73,689

May

57,251

1,00,758

27,593

42,436

46,016

June

40,396

58,291

54,056

80,230

49,249

July

40,540

68,079

41,632

1,21,640

72,515

August

4,05,214

2,30,320

3,20,606

2,30,980

4,50,964

September

6,07,083

4,60,441

5,05,027

6,31,952

2,77,791

October

9,39,381

7,14,043

12,12,000

12,04,235

7,35,177

November

12,96,866

13,56,777

14,09,985

13,92,545

8,79,093

December

12,57,836

13,40,556

8,17,111

9,45,510

8,62,835

January

6,34,445

9,21,453

5,47,800

6,21,641

9,66,070

February

3,68.248

3,86,053

1,99,394

3,34,002

4,87,023

March

3,66,338

1,84,772

1,28,225

3,21,154

3,99,614

Data obtained from the Director-General, Commercial Intelligence Department, India,

DATE -FRUITS,

145

TABLE XXV.

Annual quantities of date-fruits imported by sea into British India during
the 5 years ending 2>\st March 1915, their ports of landing, total values
and mean values per pound.

I car.

Total
quantity
imported
in cwts.

Ports of
landing.

Amount
landed
in cwts.

Value
in £
sterling,

Total
value
in £ ster-
ling.

Mean
value per
pound in
pence and
decimal
fractions
of a penny.

1

Calcutta

25,537

13,416

Bombay

635,628

297,632

1910-11

910,023 -

Karachi

237,082

92,324

• 407,225

0-9«"

Madras

10,976

3,563

Rangoon

800

290

'

Calcutta

15,260

7,867

Bombay

661,983

289,237

1911-12

963,175 i

Karachi

244,635

90,619

401,723

0-89

Madras

40,586

13,748

Rangoon

711

252

Calcutta

22,451

11,481

Bombay

586,915

249,340

1912-13

876,066 -

Karachi

227,944

85,286

358,752

0-87

Madras

38,261

12,476

Rangoon -.,. •

495

169

Calcutta

19,537

9,967

Bombay

646,196

298,906

1913-14

918,437-

Karachi

212,675

79,170

401,411

0-93

Madras

39,134

12,830

Rangoon

895

538

Calcutta

3,861

1,976

Bombay

559,261

267,007

1914-15

784,318

Karachi

194,955

74,541

353,336

0-96

Madras

26,227

9,799

Rangoon

14

13

Data obtained from the Director-General of the Commercial Intelligence Department,
India."

M, D?

10

14G THE DATE PALM.

From the data in Tables XXII to XXV, there are apparently
40,000 to 45,000 tons approximately of date-fruits annually
imported into India by sea in addition to those grown in India
and imported by land routes. The elates imported by sea arrive
all the year round but October, November, and December are the
chief months of import. The bulk of the fiuits come from Persia
including the Persian Gulf, Arabia, and Asiatic Turkey. Very
few fruits come to India from Egypt and North Africa. Over
trds of the imports are landed at Bombay ; about J at Karachi
and the remainder at the other Indian ports.

In reply to my enquiries, the Director-General of the Com-
mercial Intelligence Department, India, writes :— " According to
the provisions of the Indian Sea Customs Act the value of goods
imported or exported represent (1) the wholesale cash price,
less trade discount for which goods of the like kind and quality
are sold or are capable of being sold at the time and place of
importation or exportation as the case may be without any
abatement or deduction whatever (except in the case of goods
imported) of the amount of duties payable on the importation
thereof ; or (2) where such price is not ascertainable, the cost
at which goods of the like kind and quality could be delivered
at such places without any abatement or deduction except as
aforesaid."

The prices of dates vary of course according to the quality
of the fruits, but they vary much more according to the way they
are packed and the purposes for which they are to be used (see
page 115, para. 86). The dates imported into India are all of
fairly good quality. They are classified under the following
three heads in the import tariff schedule : (1) dates, dry, in bags ;
(2) dates, wet, in bags, baskets and bundles, and (3) dates, wet ;
in pots, boxes and crates. Therefore there is no detailed
information in the trade returns as to the amounts which are
packed in small fancy boxes for dessert or sweetmeat purposes.
I am told, however, that the amount packecl for these purposes
is negligible so the prices quoted in these returns will represent
approximately the wholesale prices of dates which have been

DATE -FRUITS.

147

simply filled into large boxes, baskets, bags, etc., and imported
in that state.

The following statement shows the average prices per cwt.
of the different kinds of dates in each of the principal ports
during the year October, 1914, to September, 1915.

TABLE XXVI.

Calcuta.

Bombay.

Karachi.

Madras.

Rangoon.

Rs. A. p.

Rs. A. P.

Rs. A. P.

Rs. A. P.

Dates, dry, in bags

14 6 4

925

7 1 10

9 10 3

No quota-
tions,.

Dates, wet, in bags, baskets and
bundles.

10 8 6

706

507

6 15 7

No quota-
tions.

Dates, wet, in pots, boxes, tins,
and crates.

16 9 6

5 15 4*

No quota-
tions.

No quota-
tions.

No quota-
tions.

Data from Commercial Intelligence Department, India.

* Note. — The rates were nominal for the first eleven months of the period owing to the
unsettled conditions arising from the war. Rs. 10 to Rs. 12 is the usual average rate per
cwfc.

These figures indicate that it is more profitable to preserve
the dates by drying off only as much moisture as will keep them
from fermenting, than to dry them hard, as much weight is lost
in the latter process apparently without a corresponding rise in
market price to compensate for that. The prices against the
dates in boxes, tins, etc., bear out the statement that the quantity
of fruits imported packed for dessert or sweetmeat purposes,
is negligible. The returns for the 5 years ending 31st March
1915, show that the annual value of dates imported by sea into
India is from over £350,000 to over £400,000, and that the average
wholesale price per Ib. is slightly less than one penny (see
Table XXV). From the dates grown in India or imported into
it by land or sea, there were apparently, from over 1,300 to
over 1,900 tons of fruits exported annually in the past 5 years
(see Table XXVII, page 148), and their value was from over
£14,000 to over £20,000 (see Table XXVIII, page 149).

148

THE DATE PALM.

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DATE-FRUITS.

TABLE XXVIII.

Annual quantities of date-fruits exported by sea from British India during
the 5 years ending 31st March 1915, their ports of export, total value
and mean value per pound.

Mean

Year.

Total
quantity
exported
in cwt.

Ports of
export.

Amount
exported
in cwts.

Value
in £

sterling.

Total
value
in £
sterling.

value
per Ib. in
pence and
decimal
fractions

of a pence.

f Calcutta

9

5}

Bombay

37,451

17,973

1910-11

38,715

•j Karachi

1,243

418 -

18,401

1-02

Madras

12

5

[Rangoon

Nil.

Nil. ]

/"Calcutta

Nil,

Nil. '

Bombay

36,746

18,861

I'.M 1-1:2

37,290

| Karachi

484

162

19,046

1-09

Madras

60

23

V Rangoon . .

Nil.

Nil. :

/"Calcutta

49

25 \

I Bombay

31,825

15,556

UU2-13

32,532

-j Karachi

597

219 [

15,827

1-04

1 Madras

61

27

[Rangoon . .

Nil.

Nil. }

[ Calcutta

14

LM

1913-14

36,896

1 Bombay
\ Karachi

33,405
3,312

19,207
1,035 \

20,393

1-14

Madras

11

5

' Rangoon . .

154

135;

"Calcutta

850

385^

Bombay

25,851

13,752

1914-1.-,

26,966

• Karachi

94

42

14,259

i-is

Madras

Nil.

Nil.

Rangoon

171

80

Data obtained from the Director-General, Commercial Intelligence Department.
India.

,:|«f<

Most of the dates were apparently exported in these years
from Bombay, and the chief places to which the fruits were
exported, seem to be Ceylon, Straits Settlements, Zanzibar,
Siam, Italian East Africa, and German East Africa. It should
be noted that the wholesale value of the dates imported into
India works out to 0'87 to 0*96 pence per Ib., while that of those
exported works out to 1*02 to T14 pence per Ib. The values
are those given at the Indian ports in both cases ; therefore, the
chances are that the Indian importers simply re-exported the

150 THE DATE PALM.

fruits at the higher price to cover custom dues, profits, etc. It
seems rather curious, however, that considerable quantities
of date-fruits have in some of these years been exported to such
places as the Bahrein Islands, Muscat, and Oman. No satis-
factory explanation of this is to hand but it seems possible that
this may represent consignments returned to the owners in these
places as unsatisfactorv or for other reasons.

A «/

vl'Y s

For the convenience of those who may wish to communicate

with people in India already engaged in the date import trade,
I append a list of importers of date-fruits into India (see page 154).

98. From what has been said above of our experience
of date cultivation in the Puniab in the past

Prospects of date

culture in the Pun- 5 years and what we have seen on our tours

jab plains.

in date-growing districts, it is quite evident
that the date palm will grow luxuriantly over the whole
of the plains if ordinary attention is given to it. It is
also evident that high humidity combined with actual rainfall
in the fruit-ripening season are the factors which limit the areas
suitable for date -fruit farming in the province. Some idea of
the maximum rainfall and humidity under which the fruits can
be farmed, can be gathered from what has been written in this
note, but a closer study of the case is required before more detailed
statements are made. We know, however, that considerable
crops of dates are annually got from date trees in Multan, Muzaffar-
garh, Dera Ghazi Khan and Jhang Districts, and it is clear that
much can be done to improve date culture in these parts of the
province at least. As already mentioned most of the plants
grown in these districts as well as in other parts of the Punjab
appear to have grown from seedlings, and the fruits produced
by the vast majority of these are of very inferior quality.
Only a few trees in the province produce fruits of good
quality. Us. 2-8-0 per maund is apparently a very fair price
for the whole crop in the four districts mentioned. Taking
14,07,832 trees (see page 107) and 12 seers (24f Ibs.) of cured
fruits per tree — the lowest estimate — the total value of the crop
there would be Rs. 10,55,874, and if 18 seers (36^ Ibs.) of cured

DATE-FRUITS. 151

fruits are got the crop value would be Rs. 15,83,811. From
the Journal of the Khedevial Agricultural Society, Volume
3, No. 0, page 263, November and December, 1901, I find data
showing that the average quantity of dates exported from Egypt
during a period of 15 years was 645 tons valued at £18 per ton
or about 2 pence per Ib. Taking into consideration the prices
that dates are sold at, to the working class of people in the Punjab
{see page 115, para. 86), the wholesale rates of dates imported
into India (see page 142, para. .97), and the prices actually received
by us for date-fruits grown on the trees imported into the Punjab
from Basra, I do not think I am extravagant if I value those
at 1 anna per Ib. If this is so then by merely growing these
varieties in place of the seedling females already grown, giving
them no more cultivation or attention than is at present given
to the local trees and getting only 12 seers (24f Ib.) of fruits
per tree, the value of the crop would be raised to Rs. 21,64,541
and of 18 seers (36T9o Ib.) were got the value of the crop would
be Rs. 32,46,812. In the date groves that I have examined
there are over 50 per cent, male trees, and all information to
hand seems to indicate that this may be taken as representing
the state of affairs throughout the districts. Assuming this to
be so then if cultivators would hand-pollinate their trees and
thus require only 2 to 3 per cent, of male trees, they could
replace the remaining 47 to 48 per cent, of males by good fruit-
producing females and have practically double the harvest of
fruits, i.e., over Rs. 43,00,000 to Rs. 66,00,000 worth or about four
times the value of the present crop from the same land and with
the same water-supply. The only extra expenses to the grower
would be that of hand-pollination which is practically nothing,
and the guarding, collection and curing of the extra fruits.
Practically the whole of the difference between Rs. 10,55,874
and Rs. 43,00,000 or between Rs. 15,83,811 and Rs. 66,00,000
would therefore go into the pockets of the date -growers. This
difference of Rs. 30,00,000 to over Rs. 50,00,000 per annum
could obviously be far exceeded as the trees would give much
more than 12 to 18 seers of fruits each if they were fairly
looked after. For these figures it is assumed that no more trees

THE DATE PALM.

are to be grown than there are growing at present, but any one
who has seen the large tracts of waste land lying along the sides
of the rivers in these four districts will readily understand
that the above estimate would fade into insignificance if only
a small proportion of these wastes were planted with good
date palms. Hundreds of square miles of lands which are at
present yielding practically nothing would then become among
the most remunerative in India (see page 117, para. 88), and the
people would be supplied with a most sustaining food easily
transported and capable of being preserved by the most simple
means for many months. In districts the climates of which
are suitable for date-growing and where the subsoil water or
irrigation arrangements, etc., are suitable, those farmers who
have no right to the waste lands referred to, can share in the
benefits of date-farming by planting date trees along the borders
of their fields, roadsides, water channels, etc. Then there is the
possibility that we may be able to improve date culture in the
districts mentioned or extend it to other districts by introducing
varieties of dates which will ripen before or after the rainy season
or by other means under consideration.

Fruits grown from good trees in the Punjab have been sold
for far more than 1 anna per Ib. (see page 115, para. 86), and it
seems to me that any one who cares to take a little trouble to
farm his plantation and cure his fruits properly could make very
much more profit out of them for many years to come than is
shown from my calculations based on that price.

99. Perhaps some one will suggest, however, that if date-
farming became extensive in the Punjab, the
>VeofPdatesCt' market would be glutted with the fruits. I do not

think so. In date-growing countries, dates often
form more than half the food of the people. They are delicious
to taste and would be preferred to many common foods by both
rich and poor in any country. As already stated they are a
most sustaining food. I have been in company with men who
have walked 20 to 30 miles per day for hundreds of miles
on end, with nothing to eat but an occasional handful of date

DATE-FRUITS. 153

and a little native bread. This was the fare of these men for
many months each year, and they were as fit on it as any one
could be on the most carefully selected food. Unlike most
fruits, dates are, as already stated, so easily and simply preserved
for many months that the question of an immediate market
is not of vital importance. It seems to me that what is required
to prevent a glut in their case is (a) their qualities as a food should
be widely known, and (6) there shall be suitable facilities for their
transport to markets. The great advances that have been made
of late years in facilities for travel, transport of goods, and inter-
communication among different peoples have already made date-
f ruits known practically all over the world ; therefore, there would
be no difficulty in selling dates in any market. As regards
(6) we have the Punjab rivers and a most excellent system of
railways throughout the whole of India now, opening up to us
a market of over 300,000,000 people in India alone. All the
dates that are grown in the Punjab at present are simply swallowed
up as soon as they are ripe by the people near where the dates
are grown, and I have met people in the eastern side of the
province who did not know that dates could be grown in the
Punjab. Also Punjab date-fruits are only seen for a very short
time after they are harvested. I feel sure that the population
of the Punjab alone could consume many multiples of the quan-
tities already consumed. In years of short crops or of famine
owing to want of rain, dates would be at their best and would be
very acceptable indeed. The extraordinarily high temperature,
the extremely dry atmosphere and the plentiful supply of soil
water required to grow dates successfully, is a combination
extremely difficult to find and limits date cultivation to a very
few places on the face of the earth.

D. MILNE,

Economic Botanist, Punjab, Lyallpur.

LIST OF IMPORTERS OF DATE-FRUITS
INTO INDIA.

KARACHI.

Salleh Mahomed Oomer Dossul, Napier Road.

Lalji Lakhmidass, Bombay Bazar.

Ruttonsi Purshotam, Bombay Bazar.

Haji Thawar Tharia, Kharadhar.

Rahmitoola Lutifali, Kharadhar.

Ramzan Hashim, Bombay Bazar.

Dharamdae Thawardas, Bombay Bazar.

Dhamanlal Gordhandas, Bombay Bazar.

Kushaldas Mangatram, Joria Bazar.

Jasam Majid, Kharadhar.

Haji Jetha Gokul, Khori Garden.

Harzuk bin Mahomed Marzuk, Kharadhar

Ismail Aziz, Kharadhar.

Naroomal Mewaram, Kharadhar.

Lekhraj Tikamdas, Kharadhar.

Raghunath Kalianji, Khori Garden.

Teka Moolchand, Mithadhar.

Moosajee Jafferjee, Napier Road.

Sunderdas Valabdas, Rampart Row.

Husseni Allidad, Kharadhar.

BOMBAY

Vassanji Nursee, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Khetsi Ludha, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi
Chotalal Vadilal, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Damodar Dharamsey, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Allibhoy Chagla, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Tricumji Damji, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Allarakhia Abdulla, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Lilladher Purshotani, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Devji Cooverji, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.
Mohanlal Bhawan, Kharak Bazar, Mandvi.

MADRAS PRESIDENCY.

Venktesh Naik, Coondapur.
Bande Narayana Pai. Coondapiir

DATE-FRUITS.

MADRAS PRESIDENCY— (contd.)

Mowjee Vallabhdas, Hangarkatta.

T. Nagappa Kini, Hangarkatfca.

Vaman Futher Kini, Malpe.

Hassan Abba, Mangalore.

Mahomed Moidin alias Mayappa, Mangalore.

Abdul Rahim Kutty Haji, Cannanore.

Manakat Moidin Cooty Haji, Cannanoro.

Madathil Mamed, Cannanore.

Thackarakal Manoth Moidin Kutty, Tellicherry.

Adiyilagath Abdu, Tellicherry.

P. Abdul Rahiman Cootty, Badgara.

P. A. Koyaman Kufcty Haji, Badgara.

P. Mahomed Haji, Badgara.

Palliparambath Mamed, Badgara.

A. Kaladum, Badgara.

A. Ibrayan Kunhi, Badgara.

Haji Karim Haji Mamed, Calicut.

Aderji Mancherji & Co., Calicut.

M. Ifchan Coya, Calicut.

V. Ali Barami, Calicut.

Purushothem Goerdhan, Calicut.

Pithamber Sunderji, Calicut.

Hassan Kassan, Ponnani.

Haji Habib Haji Purmohamed, Ponnani.

P. M. Mohamed, of Kalvathy, British Cochin, Cochin.

Lalji Tejpal, Mathancherry, Native Cochin, Cochin.

Viljee Senejee, Mathancherry, Native Cochin, Cochin.

Danjee Laladhar, Mathancherry, Native Cochin, Cochin.

Hussan Cassim, Mabhancherry, Native Cochin, Cochin.

BENGAL.

Gopal Dass Virjee, 50, Ezra Street, Calcutta.
Hajee Tar Mohamed Ayoob, 13, Amratolla Street, Calcutta.
Meghjee Ratanjee & Co., 28, Amratolla Street, Calcutta.
Dalsookhraj Khub Chand, 17, Amratolla Street, Calcutta.
Ratonjee Jivan Das, 19, Mullick Street, Calcutta.
Madhusudan Dey & Sons, 2-10, Bonfield's Lane, Calcutta.
Tribhuvan Heera Chand & Co., 9, Amratolla Street, Calcutta.
Kanai Lall Johur Mull, 4, Amratolla Street, Calcutta.

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