PALM-TREES AND THEIR USES. 3?l 



I should not much, wonder if he could in this way make a hand- 

 some speculation. 



Since the above was written, I read in the dailies that Secre- 

 tary Noble has been informed that speculators are following in 

 the wake of the Government surveyors, and trying to secure land 

 and water titles ; and that the Land-Office has been instructed to 

 inform its registers and receivers throughout the arid regions 

 that no such business will be allowed, but that the Government 

 will retain control of these rights. This is a matter of several 

 hundred times more importance than one Eastern man in a dozen 

 will dream of. 



-+*+- 



PALM-TREES AND THEIR USES. 



By M. J. POISSON. 



AFTER the grasses, with their various adaptabilities for the 

 purposes of food and the arts, the palm-trees hold the first 

 place ; and this, not only on account of the uses for which they 

 are fit, but also by reason of the beauty and amplitude of their 

 foliage and the stately size which many of them attain. Their 

 worth in decoration and their usefulness have been celebrated in 

 all times and in many languages. In the time of Linnaeus, eight 

 or ten species, belonging to half a dozen genera, were known. At 

 this time the number of determined species exceeds a thousand, 

 and these are distributed among about one hundred and thirty 

 genera. In a short article like this we can only touch upon the 

 subject and indicate the principal useful species. 



The date palm was the one of most interest to the ancients. 

 It is the fortune of the peoples of northern Africa and the orna- 

 ment of the oases of that region. It sports into numerous varie- 

 ties, which are easily obtained from the seed. When quarrels 

 arise between tribes, the first thought of the hostile factions is to 

 ruin their enemies by attacking their date crops. The male and 

 female flowers being borne on different trees, a few male plants 

 are sufficient for the fecundation of a great many females ; and 

 the destruction of the former not a very hard task will make 

 the latter worthless. Date-trees the fruits of which are not pala- 

 table are used for building purposes, or for making palm-wine 

 the fermented sap, which is drawn from the tree by tapping it as 

 we tap maple-trees. The sap is also much drunk fresh, when the 

 Arabs call it lagmi. The dates are eaten directly, or their ex- 

 pressed juice is used for sirups and flavorings. Those which, 

 because of being grown too near the sea or in unfavorable situa- 

 tions, as at many places in the regency of Tunis, do not become 

 fully ripe, are mixed with bread and fed to horses and cattle. 



