262 H O R T U S . J A ?>I MCE^SIS. :- iv.Ts' 



the nutmeg.- For medical use;tlatesaie to be chosen large, full, fresh, yellow on the 

 surl'ace, scjt't and tender, not too much wrinkled ; such as have a vinous taste, and do 

 not rattle when sliaUen. 



The trees which spring from seed never produce sncli good dates as those that are 

 raised from shoots ;, tiiey being alvva\s poor and dl. tasted. It is undoiditedly by force 

 of cultivation, and 9.fter several generiuions, tliat ihey ecquire a good quality. 



Tlie dale-trees, whicli have beeiroriginally sown, grow rajiidh, and sometimes bear 

 fruit ui the fourth or fifth yead-.' Care is taken to cat the inferior branches of the date- 

 tiee in proportion as they rise ; and a piece. of tjie root is always left of some inches in 

 Icngibj which atfords the easy means of cJiinbing to the summit. ; These trees* live a 

 long time, accor>iiiig to the account of the Arabs ; and, in order to prove it, the}' say, 

 that when they have attained to their fuii gi-ov\th, no change is observed in them for 

 the space of three generations. 



The number of iensales cnltiv;ited in Asia ismnch sn])erior.to;tbat of the males, be- 

 cause they are much more profitable. TJie sejcual organs of the date-tree grow, as is 

 well known, iipoii diflerent stalks, and-these trees flower in the months or April and 

 May, ^at w.hicli time tlie Arabd cut the -jnale branches to impregnate the female. For 

 tills purpose, they make an incision in. the trunk of each branch, which they wish to 

 produce fruit, and place in it a stalk of male bowers ; without this precaution the date 

 tree would jnoduce only abortive fruit. In some camons the male branches are only 

 siiakcn over the female. The practice of impregnating the date tree m this manner is 

 very ancient. Pliny desa'ibes it very accurately in .that .part of his vvijrk wiiere he 

 treats of tJie palm tree. 



Pere Labat, in his account ofAmerica, mehtions a tree which grew near a convent 

 in Martinique, which produced a great quantity of fruit, and came to maturity enougli 

 for eating ; but, as there was no otlier tree of the kincl in the island, it was desirous to 

 propagate it, but none of the seeds would grow, -.iie conjectures that diis tree might 

 probably be so far impregnated by some neighbouring palm-trtes. as to render it capable 

 of bearing fruit, but not sudicient to make the seeds ^jrohfic. The flowers of both sexes 

 come out in very long bunches from the trunk between the leaves, and are covered 

 with a spatha which opens and -withers ; ihose of the male have six siiertsstamens, with 

 narrow four-cornered anthers filled with farina. , The female flowers have no stamens. 

 The celebrated Linna;us, m his Dissertation on (he Sexes of P'ajifs, spe:aking of the 

 date-tree, says, " vV ieinale date-bearing palm flowered many years at Berlin without 

 producing any seeds ; but the Berlin people taking care to have some of the blossoms 

 of the male tree, which was then flowering at Leipsic, sent to them, by the post,_ they 

 obtained fruit by these means; and some dates, tiie offspring, .of this impregnation, 

 being planted in my garden, sprung up, and to this day continue to grow vigorously. 

 Koempfer formerly told us, how necessary it wa?. found, by the oriental people, who 

 ive upon the produce of palm-trees, z.ad are the tvue. lotopkagi, to plant some male 

 ^rees among the female, if they hoped for any fruit : Hence it is the practice of those 

 who niake war in that part of tlie world to cut down all the male palms, that a famine 

 may aftlict their proprietors ; sometimes even the inha'oiiants themselves destroy the 

 male trees when they dread an invasion, that their enemies jnay find no sustenance in 

 the country." 



There is scarcely any part of the date-tree which is not useful. The wood, though 

 of a spongy te.xture, lasts such a number of years, that the inhabitants of the country 

 say it is incorruptible. They employ it for making beams and -instruments of bus- 



.Jbandt^y ^ 



