183 



CuLTivATiox. A few notes on tlie o-eneral civltivatloii and 

 propagation of palms in tlie tropics would it is thoiiiiht be of use. 

 This has hoen fully dealt with in "The Agricultural Bulletin 8. 

 and F. M. S.," \'()1. Ill, pagi' "^oO. The rollowing extract is taken 

 from that journal as tlie notes there given are e(|ually a]jplicable 

 now. 



'■ Althougii far the gicatcr numher of ])alms are natives of 

 tro])ical regions a snuili niiniher inhahit cdoler, sub-tropical, or 

 almost teni})erate regions. Sueli are ('li<nntit'rojis hinnilis of 

 Southern Kurojje. Xitniiorhojis fiilrliicaiui of Afghanistan. Trarlni- 

 carpus I'.rcclsiis of .lapan, Itlmiiis liiniiilis of Japan, k'fiiiin sajii'la 

 of New Zealand, and I'scnilitjtliDCnlv Sarf/fiilii of Florida. 



"These cooler climate palms are much less easy to cultivate 

 here and seldom thrive when })lantetl out. althougli they may be 

 kept as pot or tub plants foi' a long time. 



" There ai'e also a W'w desert palms, which are also difficult to 

 grow on account of our hea\\- rainfall, such are Iliijthaencs, the 

 common date. {I'liociii.r due/ i/lif ('>■(() , whi(-h, however, van be made 

 to grow but has never liowered with us. The I'almyra or Lontar 

 palm (Burdssiis) introduced to India from Africa and thence to 

 the Peninsula, thrives near the sea in sandy ])laces, but seems 

 difficult to grow far inland, and even in the drier parts of Sing- 

 apore is not at all easy to grow satisfactorily. The Xi])a ]jalm so 

 abinidant in the tidal swamps does not grow well away from salt 

 mud. 



" E.xt-lusive of tlu'se almost all the palms from different parts 

 of the world which ha\e been introduced into .Singapore have done 

 well and many have flowered and fruited successfully and are 

 readily cultivated. 



" Seeds. Generally speaking palms are reproduced from seeds. 

 in a few instances pro])agatiou by means of division or root cuttings 

 is the method adopted. The priiu'ipal genera from which root cut- 

 tings may be obtained are: — Pinanga, Cyrtostacluj^, Oncoxperma. 

 Jriartea, Oenocarpus^ Chumaedorra, ('hri/salidocarpus, Wallichia, 

 Arenga, Can/ota, Ni'pa, Licuala, Rliapis, Calamus, Zalaccu, Kor- 

 thahia, llaphia, Bacfris, Desmorcus, Asfrorari/uin. and Sagus^ With 

 these an umlergrouiul cree})ing rhizome i)roduces a new growth and 

 it is best to cut or ring this rhizome behind the growth and wlien 

 a tuft of roots has been formed the cutting may be removed. Koot 

 cuttings, howe\er, seldom make nice sluapely ]>lants, the process is 

 usually a slow one and the percentage of loss generally heavy, for 

 these reasoiis when procurable seeds are always preferred. 



" In collecting })alm seeds it is essential that the seed should be 

 perfectly ripe. This is generally easily determined by the hanl- 

 ]iess of the seed, that is to say of the albuinen, and also by the 

 colour and softness of the fruit, occasionally the albumen seems to 

 be fairly hard before the fruit is ripe enough to germinate. The 

 colour of the fruit is often a help, thus, in Iguanura the fruit is 

 first white, then becomes red, and at last black, and when it has 

 arrived at this colour only it is ripe enough for collecting. 



