PROPAGATION BY SEED 83 



probably in rows seven or eight feet apart, and three 

 or four feet apart in the row. No fertilizer is necessary 

 unless in exceptional cases,* but irrigation and cultiva- 

 tion should not be stinted. With such treatment, palms 

 have been known to bloom as early as one year — 

 only one rudimentary blossom, of course, but it 

 sufficed to determine the sex. Frequently they bloom 

 in two years, and should usually do so in three, with 

 the rest of the palms coming into flower in the fourth 

 or fifth year: but it must be understood that this 

 record is obtainable only with the best of care, and 

 when the palms are not too crowded in the rows. 

 Under ordinary circumstances, and with most seedling 

 plantations, five to eight years have been required to 

 determine the sex of the palm. 



As soon as the sex has been shown by a flower 

 the males can be dug out and the females trans- 

 planted to their permanent positions. To effect this 

 removal without the loss that has sometimes accom- 

 panied it, the palms should be given no irrigation for 

 three weeks before transplanting. When taken out of 

 the ground the leaves should be cut back; then if 

 they are put in the orchard and given plenty of 

 cultivation and irrigation they will continue to grow 

 without any check; while if they are taken from 

 moist rows and transplanted, those that do not die 

 often suspend growth for from three to six months. 

 The same precaution should be observed in trans- 

 planting seedHngs from flats, and in transplanting 

 offshoots from the hot bed or nursery row to their 

 field location. 



If the seedling palms are to be maintained as a 



*A little lime sometimes seems to improve the soils of Coachella 

 Valley, but it should be used sparingly and with discretion. 



