211 



flower cluster, and to bring about the development of a bunch of 

 dates. 



' The female flowers, like the male, are borne inside of sheaths 

 which are at first entirely closed. Finally the sheath is split open 

 by the growth of the flowers within, and at this stage pollination 

 is accomplished. The two tips of the cracked-open sheath are 

 separated, and the cluster of female flowers pulled out. A twig 

 of male flowers is then inserted into the cluster of female flowers 

 and tied in place by a bit of palm leaf or with a string. This 

 completes the operation of pollination. 



'The fruit cluster soon begins to grow rapidly, and in a few 

 weeks the piece of palm fibre or thread with which the male 

 flowers are held in place, is broken by the pressure of the grow- 

 ing fruit clusters.' * 



YIELD, &C. 



The age at which date palms commence to bear depends very 

 much upon the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the water sup- 

 ply. In Arizona, United States, it is stated by Swingle, trees have 

 been known to bear within four years of the planting of the seed. 

 It is, however, usually considered that trees do not yield paying 

 quantities of fruit till they are from six to eight years old. 



In regard to the bearing of the date palm. Swingle writes : 

 ' When date cultivation is practised scientifically, practically no 

 seedlings are grown, but instead orchards are started by planting 

 fairly large offshoots, which soon strike root, and which often 

 bear abundantly four or five years after being transplanted. How- 

 ever, in the large plantations made in Algeria by the French, it is 

 not considered advisable to allow the palms grown from offshoots 

 to bear fruit until six years after they are transplanted, and the 

 trees are not in full bearing until ten or eleven years after they 

 are plated. 



' They continue bearing from this age, if well cared for until 

 they are 1 00 years or more old, a good tree producing an average 

 of from 100 tb. to 200 lb. of fruit a year, although some trees have 

 been known to produce as much as 400 lb. or 600 ft., when grown 

 in rich soil and abundantly irrigated.' 



DATE CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Efforts have been made to establish a date-growing industry in 

 various districts of the United States. There are portions of 

 Nevada, California, and Arizona, where it is thought the date 

 palm will thrive. In 1898, efforts were made to secure suckers of 

 the best kinds of dates from Algeria. With these was started a 

 special date garden in conjunction with the Arizona Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, where a very large number of varities of dates 

 has been gathered together, and an attempt is being made to estab- 

 lish the cultivation of the date in some of the irrigable areas of 

 the district. 



• Bulletin No. 53, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S Department of Agi-icuUure, pi.i, 2G-7. 



