PROFITS OF DATE GROWING 177 



This should begin with the fifth year. In the 

 third year some varieties should bear enough fruit 

 to pay the cost of up-keep, and in the fourth year 

 to return a fair profit. From the fifth year they 

 will bear well for a century or more. 



This figure takes no account of the production of 

 offshoots, which, with choice varieties, promises for 

 some time to be fully as valuable a product as dates 

 in the United States. Some remarkable records 

 have been made already in this respect, but to be 

 well within the limit of probability we will assume 

 that each tree yields only one offshoot a year, from its 

 fifth to its twentieth year of age. Such a production 

 should not diminish the yield of dates, while if the 

 offshoot is sold at $5 (a price considerably below that 

 now current), it will increase the annual gross revenue 

 of the plantation by $250 per acre; and it is probable 

 that with most varieties two offshoots a year could 

 be taken from the palm, without reducing the average 

 yield of fruit below 100 pounds. This would make the 

 annual gross return of the plantation $1500 per acre. 

 I believe that the offshoots alone will be, for some 

 years, of sufficient value to pay all expenses of running 

 a properly managed plantation in the United States, 

 leaving all returns from marketing fruit as clear 

 profit. 



This would mean, under the best conditions, 

 $1000 a year per acre net profit from a plantation. This 

 estimate does not agree with many others that have 

 been put forward, and in such a case each man may 

 weigh the evidence and judge for himself. Many 

 think the price of dates will be much higher than I 

 have assumed, and I am far from saying that they 

 may not be right — in fact, I know they are right so 



