.36 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Febeuaey 6, 1909. 



WEST 



1^ 

 INDIAN 



FRUIT. 



PACKING OF CITRUS FRUIT. 



In reporting to the Permanent Exhibition Com- 

 mittee of Dominica on the e.xhibits of produce .«ent 

 from lh;it if;l;inrl to the Colonial Fi-nit Show held in 

 London at the end of November Inst, i\lr. A. E. A.'^pinall, 

 Secret'irv of the West India Committee, makes the 

 following reference to tlie packing of the citrus iVtut 

 sent over: — 



The fruit was very well packed, lait there is still room 

 for iini);-ovcinciit in the style of packages adopted, which 

 lack(!d lunl'oi-niity. Tims, oranges should hu shipped in 

 staiidanl Florida boxes, uioasming 2 feet .'^^ inches, by 12^, 

 inches l:>y 12 inches, instead of in the slatted crates now used. 

 On this point the fruit trade is quite inianimous. With regard 

 to limes, there is no question that the cases measuring 1 euliic 

 foot, and containing from 200 to 220 fruits are the most 

 inark(:tabl(>, while, as I have so often pointed out, those limes 

 wrajiped in stout brown paper last far longer than those 

 protected by thin tissue jjaper only. 



THE DATE PALM. 



Although the dale |)aliu {I'lidriiir (hirU/Ufi'rd) is not 

 a native of tlio West Indies, its natural home being in the 

 dry, hot regions of Northern Africa, and the attempts so far 

 made to cultivate it in these islands have been chiefly of an 

 experimental character, yet it has been shown that the tree 

 can be successfully grown in suitable situations, and at the 

 Botrtnic Stations of .lamaica, Trinidad and Dominicrt, fruit 

 of good (piality has been produced of recent years. Since 

 the t.ree is of a handsome cliaracter, it is well-suited for 

 I)lai\ting for ortianiental purposes. It Houri.shos Ijcst in a very 

 hot climate with little rainfall, hut must be grown only in 

 situations where its roots are in contact with a good supply 

 of water. 



A late inunber of the Ken' /iiil/ilui. (So. 7, 190S) con- 

 tains an article of .some interest on the cultivation of the 

 date ]jalm in Me.sopotainia, where it is grown on a very large 

 scale. It. is pointed out th;vt though the tree can be raised 

 from seed, it is preferable to plant ' otfshoots, ' which are 

 •suckers usually borne at the base of palms of from six to 

 sixteen years of age. Since the date palm is ' di(ecious, ' i.e., 

 having the male and female flowers on ditferent trees, male 

 trees constitute about i")0 per cent, of the young jilants 

 raised from seed. But one male tree will usually sullice for 

 the pollination of about lOd females, so that only a very small 

 proportion of the former are required. The sexes cannot he 

 distinguished until the trees Hower, which does not usually 



occur until they are about six years of age, so that if 

 a plantation is rai.sed from seed, an undue proportion of the 

 area v>\\\ be occupied by useless trees. The advantage of 

 growing from suckers is therefore apparent, as not onlj' can 

 the sex be assured, but the quality of the fruit is generally 

 superior to that from .seedling palms. 



Larger offshoots are regarded with more favour than 

 smaller ones. They should usually be removed from the 

 jiarent tree when from tine," to six years of age. A\ hen cut 

 fnr t ran.splanting they appear as rootle.ss stumj)s from which 

 the larger leaves have been removed. They .should be 

 planted in holes about 3 feet deep, and of the .same diameter, 

 the holes being afterwards filled with loo.sc earth mixed with 

 lieu manure. The shoe's arc (ilanted from 10 to 1.5 feet 

 apart. Date palms love abinidance of sunshine, and grow 

 slowly in shady situations. If the .soil is not natin'ally 

 provided with a good supply of water the ycnitig shoots need 

 watering daily for at least six months. 



It is mentioned that in Mesopotamia, under suitable 

 conditions, the date palms develop rapidly, and bear fruit 

 within four or five years from the date of i)lanting. One 

 variety of date, the Khadramec, the fruit of which is largely 

 exjwrted to Europe and America, frequently bears fruit at 

 the end of three years. Two other kinds, Hsdhiwee and 

 Sayer, the former of which is mentioned as the best kind 

 grown at Basra, begin to bear in four or five years. \Vhere 

 water is scarce and the ground hard, from seven to eight 

 years elapse before any fruit is produced. 



The male date palm is bigger and stouter than the 

 female tree. The flowers on lioth the male and the female 

 trees are enclosed in .sheaths or spatlies. In Mesopotamia 

 the female flower opens about the end of March : at the same 

 time a blossom from a male tree is .secured, the sheatli 

 surrotniding it artificially opened, and .some pollen shaken on 

 to the female flowers. If the process of fertilization is not 

 carried out by hand, pollen from the male flowers is naturally 

 distributed by the wind, but it is aflirmed that the resulting 

 fruit is never so good as that which is produced from arti- 

 ficial ijollination. 



The date frnitls form about one month after pollination, 

 but are not ripe and ready to gather till four montlis later. 

 The clusters are then cut down carefully. 



A large number of dift'erent varieties of dates arc men- 

 tioned as being grown in ^Mesopotamia. In addition to the 

 kinds already referred to, the fruits of the ' Zahdee ' and 

 ' 1 )creo ' varieties are exported in quantity. Arrack is also 

 distilled from the ' Zahdee ' dates, which are considered to be 

 especially suitable for this purjiose. The fruit of the many 

 other varieties grown is consumed at home. 



