160 



Tlie story in wliicli interest lias again been aroused is, how- 

 ever, no new one, for it was first brought to the notice of European 

 readers as long aejo as the year 1901, when Professor Schweinfurth 

 published an article on ''The Cultivation of the Date Palm'' in 

 Gartenflora* From this original source the account of the sup- 

 posed change of sex has been somewhat widely, if sporadically 



propagated. 



It re-appeared in Le Jardin of June 20th, 1902 (p. 177), with- 

 out any acknowledgment of its source, and thence it has been 

 copied into numerous Agricultural Journals, etc., becoming con- 

 siderably modified in the course of years. 



It MuIl be seen from information kindly supplied to Kew by Mr. 

 G. St. C. Feilden, Chief Gardener to the City of Cairo, that the 

 Arabs believe that the sex of young date palms may be changed 

 under certain conditions; but that these beliefs rest on any 

 adequate basis of fact seems to be highly improbable. 



It is alleged, however, that it is possible to tell the sex of 

 seedling date palms before the young plants have flowered, and 

 the information given may be of use to those who contemplate 

 making a date plantation from seed. 



Whether there be any truth underlying these Arab beliefs in the 

 possibility of turning male date palms into female or not is really 

 only a matter of minor importance from the economic point of 

 view since, as Professor Schweinfurth points out in a letter sent to 

 Mr. Feilden, the date palm is propagated almost entirely by the 

 offshoots formed at the base of the palm. For not only is there 

 an uncertainty as to w^hether a date palm seed will yield a male 

 or a female tree, but there is also the further difficulty that the 

 seedlings only rarely resemble their parents, and it is very unlikely 

 that a good variety will come true from seed. 



In order to try and ascertain whether the Arab belief in the 

 change of sex of the date palm, might rest on any foundation, 

 letters of enquiry were sent to Professor Trabut at Algiers and to 

 Mr. Feilden. From Mr. Feilden several interesting particulars 

 were obtained in the form of answers to specific questions which 

 he put to three prominent native growers of dates in Egypt. 



He also pointed out that the belief in the change of the sex of 

 date palms does not appear to have been an ancient one since 

 Delile, writing on Egypt in 1824, mentions that the reason why 

 palms were not usually grown from seed was because of the uncer- 

 tainty of knowing whether the seedlings would be male or female, 

 and that for this reason propagation by offshoots w^as the recog- 

 nised method of raising a stock of young palms. 



The following questions were put to the native growers : 



1. What percentage of seedling date palms are male? 



Answers : A. 66 per cent. male. 



B. 33 per cent. male. 



C. 33 per cent. male. 



« 2. Is there any way by which the sex of a young date palm can 

 be determined? ^ ^ F 



_ Answers: A. The leaflets, especially the lower ones, are stiffer 

 in the males than in the females. 



* Gartenflora, 1901, ]. pp. 645-6. 



