Dec. r, 1SS5.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



3S9 



dighera," iu the Mediterranean. II says, " Bat by fai- 

 the most lucrative trade is in Palius. Tliey are planted 

 ill every avaliable spot, and most carefully cultivated ; 

 the soil is excellent and suits them well. As the plants 

 attain a certain height they are swathed, or tied up 

 ia the same way that we treat Lettuces. Large quant- 

 ities thus blanclieil are sent to Rome and other places 

 fur Palm Sunday, while a considerable number find 

 their way in the month of August to different Jewish 

 communities for the I'east of Tabermaclcs." [See also 

 illustration in Gartlenei-s' ^Chronicle, April S, 187G.] 

 Further on, it states that " Many old Palms have 

 strings or orauge-coloiu'ed Dates depending from the 

 crowns, but these are never fit for food." The group 

 of I'alms selected for the illustration in the Garden 

 certainly does not show careful cultivation. They are 

 growing out of a hillside, where they could get little 

 water, either from rain or other sources. 



I do not know whether the Date Palm is indi- 

 genous to the Sahara desert; but this I know, that 

 it has been disseminated wherever the Arabs have 

 gone. All along tiie North of Africa, up the Nile, 

 into the Soudan, into Spain, whence it could h.ave been 

 easily introduced into Bordighera, on the lliviera, by 

 " Dominican monks somt^ centuries ago," as the Garikii 

 .states. In Mooltan, Siudh, and adjacent countries the 

 Date Palm grows iu hundreds of thousands. There is 

 a legend ihat the seeils were introduced bv the Arab 

 coiiijuerors of Mooltan iu the seventh century. It is 

 largely grown on both co.asts of the Persian Gulf, 

 whence the best Dates found in the London shops 

 come. The Date Palm is more likely, I think, to 

 have been indigenous in Arabia (or wherever the 

 rbieni.t sylvestris has its home), ami then to have 

 found its way to the Sahara with the Arabs. There is 

 no doubt that most trees reipiire direct sunlight to 

 grow lu.\uriantly and strongly, jirovided they get 

 moisture at their rootji, and I sliould say the Date 

 Palm is no exception to the rule. I know it grows 

 badly under trees, but I would not be certain that 

 this happens because of the absence of direct sun- 

 light, and not because it i.s robbed of nourishment 

 by the trees. The I'luenix dactylifera and the P. 

 sylvestris are, I believe, bolanically indeutical. At the 

 foot of the Ivalka Hill, in the Punjab, there is a dense 

 forest of the latt.^r. The wild Date Palm is also to 

 be seen all over India. It is one of the "Toddy" 

 Palms in Jlysore, the Deccan, North- Western Pro- 

 vinces, and even further north. In many parts of 

 t^his district tEtawah) there are groups of the wild 

 Date Palm, with numbers of young Palms growing at 

 the foot of the old ones; and in the latter case their 

 soiirce of water can only be from the clouils, in the 

 rains, as the subsoil water is too deep (often 60 or 

 70 feet) to suppose that their roots get down to it. 



I think the Date Palm will vegetable rapirlly where- 

 over it gels water at its roots, at the same time that 

 it has a suitable soil ami a sufficiently warm atmosphere. 



In Bengal immeu.se plaut.ations are made of the 

 I'li.eiii.x sylvestris. Date-sugar is made from its sap. 

 In Jessore alone, in l,SS2-;j, oihcial reports state that 

 there were 24,122 acres uniler Date cultivation, and 

 that the value of moist and dry sugar in that year, 

 came up to K-kJ,-(G,241. In Bengal the subsoil water 

 is near the siirtace, and the atmosphere is more or 

 less damp throughout the year. This P.dm is grown 

 there only for its Kap, and the Palms are so planted 

 that their leaves touch, when full-grown. 



A.S to the Phujui.'C dactylifera, the cultivated variety, 

 I have 8tuilie<l it more closely. In the Persian Gulf 

 there is a great t.ade in Dates with Europe and 

 .\merica. From information obtained through the 

 British Political Resident, it apjiears that in the Gulf 

 there are upwards of one hundnd varieties of Dates, 

 that some do not ripen their fruit beyond the red or 

 yellow stage, which is crisp and astringent, or sweet, 

 according to the amuuiit of ripeness. These are called 

 " Kharek," and thn.^e kinds which are exported to 

 Kurope in boxes, after i>assMig through their •' Kharek " 

 stage, become soft and sweet, and acquire the well- 

 known amber-brown colour, and when allowed to be- 



come semi-dry on tlie trees are picked and packed 

 for exportation. These are called " Khoorma." 



Now everywhere in the Gulf the lUtu Palm is very 

 carefully cultivated. Plantations are formed of female 

 offsets only, the trees are irrigated from whatever 

 source may be possible — rivers, widls, springs, rain 

 torrents. Irrigation appears to be an important matter 

 iu Date cultivation. The trees are also well manured ; 

 iu short, they are treated in every way as fruit trees 

 are from which a first-olass crop is expccteil. When 

 iu flower artificial fertilisation is practised, wit'iout 

 which, they say, a crop cannot be relied on. i\[ore- 

 over, they say that " unfertilised Dates are stonoless 

 .and insipid, and only fit for goats." It the Palms 

 are well cared for and in good soil, they begin to 

 bear in five or six years from offsets. All along the 

 Gulf, at Busra, Biishire, Lar, Bunder-Abbas, Bahrein, 

 El Hasa, &c,, the Date Palm has the influence of the 

 sea; iu the interior of Arabiii it has not. Palgr.ave 

 met with it througliout his jcnirney, but always in 

 oases, whore it could be watereil from some source 

 or other. He says, "it is the .staff of life and the 

 staple of trade." In Muscat it has also the eea 

 air. There the annual rainfall is only (5 inches. On 

 the other hand, iu Mooltan, it grows from seed spont- 

 aneously. It is never cultivated. In Sindh, Baha- 

 wulpoore, Dehra, Ghazi Khan, Dehra Ismail IClian, 

 and as far as Banuu, it is equally .abundant. Jlr. 

 O'Brien, Deputy Commissioner of Mooltan, informs 

 me that the P. dactylifera grows literally in hundreds 

 of thmisiiuds, so that in the Mooltan district alone 

 the Government revenue, at the nominal rate of one 

 anna per female tree (four farthings) comes to 

 R12,084. At this rate there cannot be less than in:!,.344 

 female trees. There are, however, many exemptions, 

 and the male trees are not taxed. The annual rainfall 

 in Jlooltan is 7 inches, and there is no such thing as sea 

 air. — E.BoNWH, M. D., Etawah. — Garden, r.i' Chronicle. 



COLOKY COFFEE.* 



In the Madras Mai! of Aug. llth, the above subject is 

 continued and Ceylon planters are defended, as follows : — 



Sir, — Allow me a little further .space to tell "An 

 Iniliau Planter" that I entirely .agree with him, that 

 leaf disi^ase is the sole clause of the deterioration of 

 the coffee beau, and am sorry I did not say so, but 

 it is a matter I have always taken for granted. If 

 he will ro-re,ad my letter, he will find 1 do not vent- 

 ure to give the AVynaad planters an answer to their 

 questions, nor a specific methoil how to grow coffee, 

 but out of my parallel experience advise them as to 

 the best w.ay of securing color in a particular year. 

 I said plainly that I thought the discussion as to color 

 futile, because, in my opinion, easily to be inferred 

 in my former letter, color has not deteriorateil iu 

 nearly so great a degree .as the size and fullness 

 (iiuality) of the bean ; they really fix prices, not the 

 color, for color is not the criterion, but the confirm- 

 ation of quality. Colfee is apparently doomed, and 

 the most intelligent jjlanter eauTeally do little against 

 le.af disea.se. If ever the pest .abates in viruleuco, the 

 bean will improve, and up will go prices and color. 

 As to low prices of Ceylon coffee in 1884, I cannot 

 speak from personal kuowleilge, being absent most 

 part_ of the_ year, but would attribute them to deficient 

 rainfall during the early months, and consequent want 

 of size in the bean. Surely an "I. P.," is aware that 

 cultiv-ation has been cut down in Ceylon from K120 

 to R4.5 per acre during the last few years; so lie 

 must not attach the whole blame to planters. 



I am \iii-y sorry to hear from an " I. P." that 

 Ceylon men turn out badly in India, but find it 

 difficult to reconcile the statement with his reference 

 to the " several superior Ceylon men " now in the 

 AVynaad ; an " I. P." may assure himself a great number 

 of " superior " Ceylon men have bi;en given occasion 

 to leave the island. l\lr. .lowitt is que pretty well 

 known Ceylon man India has secured. lie is the 

 Wynaad Chairman and (in confirmation of my theory) 

 is the leader among those trying to gain iuformation 



* See p. 210 ef ffq, — Ed. 



