THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Sri'TEMBER 16, 1911. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE DATE PALM. 



The date palm, to be successfully grown, needs intense 

 heat, excessive dryness of the airand absence of rain for months 

 at a time, especially during the growing season. Hot and 

 dry winds are advantages rather than drawbacks to the date 

 palm. This palm lias the'power of resisting large amounts 

 of alkali in the soil, hence does not mind the ordinary brak 

 and sandy soils so frequently met with in the dry regions. 

 The best commercial variety is the Deglet Noor. The Khars 

 $s a good early date for cool climates; the plant is vigorous, 

 'bears while young, and the fruit is extremely sweet and tender- 

 Skinhed. The Teddala is also a good sort for a cool climate. 

 The fruit of this variety is larger than that of the Khars. It 

 attains a size up to 3 inches long, is a vigorous grower and 

 prolific bearer. Sonle varieties of the date require practically 

 no curing, but dry on the bunch quite fit for use. 



The proportion of male palms in commercial groves 

 should be one to a hundred; it is, however, advisable to have 

 One to fifty. 



The blooms in spring should produce six to twenty flower 

 clusters; each flower cluster on a female palm produces fruit. 

 'A bunch bears from 10 to 40 lb. of dates. Vigorous trees 

 are allowed to carry eiglft to twelve 'bunches. ' 

 • r Seedlings are .not the best means for [iropagation, ott- 

 ehoots are preferable, as they withstand more alkali in the 

 soil than seedlings. Also, the date does not always reproduce 

 true to type from seed. 



Offshoots should be set out where they are from three 

 to six years old, not earlier. The.se should be planted in the 

 fearly summer when the soil is warm, and be kept moist con- 

 tinually during their first season. 



In soils where a considerable quantity of alkali is present 

 and rises to the surface, young i)alms do not thrive well. 

 As.sistance may be given them by enclosing the spot where each 

 one is planted with a vi-all of sand; into this the fresh water 

 should be put, and the surface covered a foot deep with f rass 

 or straw, so as to prevent evaporation and rise of alkali. 



Plants .should be set out 26 to 3,3 feet apart, giving sixty 

 trees to the acre. The land between the young trees may be 

 cultivated, and crops taken from it, during the first ten years 

 of the trees' life. 



' Offshoots, under proper conditions, usually produce fruit 

 in their fourth year, and should be in full bearing in their 

 eighth or tenth year. I'alms continue bearing up to 100 

 br more years of age. A good tree will produce from 60 

 to 200.lt). of fruit f>er annum. 



For pollination, one twig of male blossoms extracted 

 from a cluster should be inserted into a bui'ch of female 

 flowers and tied thereto; this will be suBicient to pollinate the 

 whole l)unch. Pollen may be i)reseived in a cool, dry place, 

 and it will remain active for fully twelve months. (From the 

 Ayrirnltural Journal of th,' Union of South Africa Vol f 

 p. 678.) . y , . i, 



REPORT ON LIMES FROM ST. LUCIA. 



The following report on a case of limes sent to 

 England from Choc estate, St". Liicia, has been kindly 

 furnished by Mr. A. E. Aspinall, .Secretary of the West 

 India Committee, at the special request of the .St. Lucia 

 Agricultural Department, on the behalf of which it has 

 been forwarded by 3Ir. A. .J. Brooks, Assistant Agricul- 

 tural Superintendent. 



These limes show a marked improvement on any from 

 St. I.ucia which I have yet seen, and though it would be too 

 much to say that they are collectively as fine as any shipped 

 from the jieighbouring lime-producing colony, many of .ths 

 individual limes are fully equal in appearance to the finest 

 shipped from Dominica. 



The case was unsatisfactory, being made of slats of 

 uneven thickness, and the box had suffered somewhat in 

 transit. 



The trial sliipment is particularly interesting in view of 

 the fact that the fruit arrived here during a spell of tropical 

 weather, the thermometer ranging from 76' to 88° in the 

 shade, and owing to the delay in the arrival of the Mail, was 

 for .some reason or other not delivered with the usual rapidity 

 from Southampton, the case not being opened in consequence 

 until four days after the arrival of the Mail. In spite of this, 

 many of the limes are still green, which indicates that they 

 might have been kept even longer before shipment. The 

 public here do not understand green limes, although West 

 Indians know that they are preferable to yellow ones, which 

 are in greatest demand on the London market. 



There was some inecjuality in the size of the fruit, and 

 consequently the limes wore not packed sutticienlly closely 

 together, but the average size was larger than that of recent 

 shipments from Dominica. There was not a bad fruit in the 

 whole case. The brown paper used in packing left nothing 

 to be desired. 



