122 DATEGROWING 



as has been often suggested here, he will have a large 

 number of males, representing all kinds of character- 

 istics, and taking up so little room on his grounds 

 that they can be allowed to grow indefinitely. With 

 the pollen of these he can begin to experiment, both 

 on other seedlings, and (in a more limited way, not to 

 reduce profits) on his choice varieties of palms, until 

 he has found what each male will do. As soon as he 

 gets a male that satisfies any particular variety of 

 female, he should make a careful note of the fact and 

 use nothing else with that variety. If he has such a 

 male as Ghanami to start with, it is quite likely that 

 he will find nothing better; but whatever male he 

 selects for perpetuation he can readily propagate by 

 offshoots until he has as many as he can ever need, 

 and some to sell to his neighbors. 



If one secures a male that blooms very early and 

 seems potent, he should propagate it as a precaution, 

 so that he may always have pollen at the beginning 

 of the season. 



Until seedlings have blossomed, no way has yet 

 been found to distinguish male from female. Doubtless 

 there are some differences, but they are not suflSciently 

 marked and constant to be relied on. But as soon as 

 the first flower has appeared, the question is 

 permanently settled. 



The offshoots of different male varieties differ 

 from each other almost as much as the offshoots of 

 different female varieties; but in general it is not 

 difficult to distinguish a male offshoot from a female 

 offshoot, and an adult male palm can be told from an 

 adult female in most cases, although not in all, for 

 some varieties of female exactly resemble a male palm. 

 The general difference is that the male has more and 



