14 AGRICULTURAL AND BOTANICAL EXPLORATIONS IN PALESTINE. 



grows on the black basalts, where in summer a burning temperature 

 prevails. 



I believe that Zizyphus spina-christi and Z. lotus may be of great 

 value as stocks for Chinese jujubes or t'saos (Z. sativa) and that by 

 their use we can extend the cultivation of this fruit to regions where 

 it is now absolutely impossible on account of excessive dryness or 

 excessive alkalinity of the soil. These stocks seem to me to be espe- 

 cially adapted to the Imperial Valley of California. 



Paliurus spina-christi. — Another species related to the two already 

 mentioned is Paliurus spina-christi. This is a bush 10 to 13 feet 

 high. It does not extend so far south as the two preceding species, 

 but thrives on the plateaus of upper Galilee, where it is used for 

 hedges around unirrigated olive plantations, and also at the foot of 

 Mount Hermon, where hedges of it are planted around irrigated 

 fields. 



This species, also, should be tried as a stock for the Chinese jujube. 

 It is adapted to less arid soils than Zizyphus lotus and does well on 

 those having a considerable degree of moisture and in regions where 

 the winters are relatively severe. 



If these three species, Zizyphus spina-christi, Z. lotus, and Pal- 

 iurus spina-christi, graft readily with the Chinese jujube, we shall 

 have stocks for this fruit available for all kinds of soil — moist, arid, 

 and alkaline — and for both high and low altitudes — from 3,300 to 

 4,000 feet above to 1,300 feet below sea level. 



Pistacia terebinthus and Pistacia palaestina. — These species will 

 furnish stocks for Pistacia vera, the true pistache nut, a crop 

 which can be made of great value in the United States but which has 

 not as yet been much cultivated here. Each of these species is 13 to 

 26 feet high and 2-| feet or more in diameter. They are found in all 

 sorts of soil, particularly in crevices of calcareous rocks. P. palaes- 

 tina is found more frequently than P. terebinthus, which seems to 

 prefer moister soils. The former grows in the valley of the Jordan 

 and extends as far as Petra and the Arabah, generally in slightly 

 moist sandstone soils. This plant is especially to be recommended 

 for the vicinity of Indio and Mecca, Cal. 



Pistacia atlantica. — This variety has proved to be a good stock for 

 Pistacia vera (the pistache), and I believe that P. terebinthus and 

 P. palaestina w T ill also prove valuable and should be imported and 

 tried in the United States. The male flowers of P. terebinthus are 

 often used in Asia Minor for the pollination of P. vera, and it may 

 be that in this way we can increase the productiveness of P. vera in 

 the United States, where hitherto it has not yielded well. 



Amygdalus communis. — The wild almond is very common in 

 Palestine and Syria; that is, a really wild almond, not one that has 

 escaped from cultivation. It covers a very extensive area, and there- 

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