Vol. XIII. No. 312. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



lU 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



THE 'FRUITING MALE' OF THE 

 DATE PALM. 



A recently published book on date cultivation was 

 reviewed lately in the Agricidtarcd Nnrs, snd the 

 following note on the fruiting of this palm, taken from 

 the N'ew Phytoloijist (January-February 1914), will 

 prove an interesting continuation of the subject: — ■ 



The date palm, P. dactyl itera, L., is normally dioecious. 

 The occurrence of so-called 'fruiting rn;iles' is not, however, 

 unknown. One such instance, occurring in Tortugal, is 

 recorded in Gardeners C/')"n/f/e 87,11, p. 530; in this case 

 the male plant is stated to have produced a female 

 inflorescence. Other cases are recorded by Toumey, Bull. 29, 

 Arizona Experiment Station: (.'harlet. Bull. Soc. Geog. 

 d Alger, 1905; Kearney, U.S. Dept. of Agric. Bur. of Plant 

 Industry, No. 92; and Bois, Rw. II. .,t., 82 (13), p. 492. 



Kearney writes: 'The writer saw in February a palm 

 which had all the characters of a male .... Nevertheless 



it bore clusters of small seedless dates Although the 



only case observed by him. this is apparently a rather well- 

 known phenomenon.' Bois cites an instance of a plant in 

 which a certain number of flowers, or an inflorescence, in 

 other respects typically male, develop fruits. 



In all cases it is assumed that the change is from 

 a dioecious, to a monoecious habit. The observations have 

 apparently been made on the plant when in fruit, and there 

 appears to be no record in the details of the flower structure 

 in such a plant. It may, therefore, be of interest to give in 

 greater detail a further instance of this phenomenon. 



Attached to the Government Botanic Gardens, Sahar- 

 anpur, Northern India, is a date plantation in which different 

 varieties of date palms, imported from various sources, are 

 under cultivation. Among these occurs a single plant to 

 which the description given by Kearney would apply if the 

 plant were seen in fruit only. L^nfortunately the source and 

 history of the plants there growing are not now traceable 

 and it is impossible, therefore, to say whence this particular 

 plant originally came. The attached figures* are of different 

 flowers all taken from this single plant. It will be seen that 

 the change does not consist strictly in the substitution of 

 a monoecious for a dioecious habit, but that a whole series of 

 intermediate and hermaphrodite flowers are produced. The 

 exact development of these has not been traced, but it is 

 probable that the few fruits which reach maturity are derived 

 from those female flowers in which the stamens have com- 

 pletely aborted. The condition of the hermaphrodite, 

 intermediate between those of the dii.linous flowers is not 

 confined to the stamens and pistil; a correlated change in the 

 form of the perianth segments occurs. This i.s shown in 

 Fig. 4. Here the segment opposite the single developed 

 stamen retains the character of the male flower, the remain- 

 ing two segments having a form approximating to that 

 characterteristic of the female flower. 



PAPER PULP PROM GRASSES. 



Attention is being directed in the Federated Malay 

 States to the production of paper pulp from grasses. 

 Special regard is being given also to the possibilities 

 of utilizing Hedychium colonariam, a wild ginger 

 which yields fibre of greater tensile strength than 

 Manila hemp. This plant was described in the Agri- 



*These figures are not reproduced. 



cultural Keus. Vol. XII, p. 30. The conclusions 

 drawn, up to the present, by Mr. B. J. Eaton, are as 



follows: — 



From the results obtained it is concluded that out of 

 ten species of major importance and eight species of minor 

 importance two of the former and three of the latter are of 

 doubtful value owing to the inferior quality, or unsuitable 

 because they do not yield clean pulps under the standard 

 conditio) iS applicable to the majority of the grasses of major 

 importance. These species are therefore unsuitable as 

 mixtures. 



It is disappointing, however, to find Imperata ariai- 

 dinarea (lal-lang) included in this li-t as inferior, especially 

 since in this country, as in India, it would certainly be 

 a grass of major importance in respect to quantity available 

 and predominance over large areas. 



This inferiority is due principally to weakness and 

 shortness of fibre and difficulty of bleaching. Since lal lang 

 grass as a raw material for the production of paper pulp 

 has been favourably reported on in this country, it may 

 possess different qualities, depending on soil, moisture 

 conditions, etc. 



A sample of normal air-dried lal-lang, containing 116 

 per cent, of moisture, prepared in this country, was found 

 by the writer of this review to ccutain 57'1 per cent, of 

 cellulose, which is higher than that given for the Indian 

 material. The material examined by me had undergone 

 preliminary treatment. Suggestions for improving the 

 methods of extraction by first crushing the more resistent 

 nodes of the grasses between rollers and economizing soda 

 by preliminary treatment of the material in water to 

 remove starch and other soluble constituents, which increase 

 the soda consumption, are also given. Finally, the cost 

 per ton of unbleached pulp at the factory is estimated in 

 each case, although certain items of expenditure are 

 uncertain. 



The order in which the grasses of major importance are 

 placed as regards commercial value is as follows: — 



(1) Anthistiria giyantea, sub-sp. arundinacea, and (2)- 

 lill'isa; {3) Sa' r/iaruitt iitunja; (4) Isvhaemuni anyustifolium;. 

 (5) Pkrag mites karka; (6) Saccharum arimdinaceum; (7) 

 iS. ^joerra^fa; (8) S. sponianeuvi; (9) Aruiido donax. 



It will be seen that Baib (Isvltaemuin anffiisiifoliiiiii), 

 which is already used commercially takes fourth place on 

 this list. ^ 



The figures given, show that the cost of production is 

 less than the delivered cost of European wood pulp imported 

 into India to make up for the shortage of Baib. 



An instructive preface is written to the pamphlet by 

 Mr. R. S. Hole, Botanist at the Forest Research Institute 

 Dehra Jiun, dealing with the growth of the difl'erent grasses, 

 flowering periods, and probable crops, together with the 

 rotation necessary to allow seeding to take place, One 

 species, Sa'-'-harui/i arv.^'dinareun', appears to be outstanding 

 with regard to yield, as it produces 443 tons of dry grass 

 per acre in one cutting, or an estimated annual yield of 

 14'8 tons, calculated on a suggested three-year rotation. 



It is interesting to compare this yield with that of 

 Hedi/chium colonariun , which is 6 to 10 tons of dry material 

 per acre, and which is said to be greater than that of any 

 other product for paper pulp; this latter is thus seen to be 

 considerably less than the grass. This large yield is however 

 due to the habit and growth of the plant, as this species 

 attains a height of 25 feet and the culms have a diameter of 

 |-inch, thus resembling sugar-canes or bamboos in its 

 general growth. 



