196 DATE GROWING 



wine will be consumed by a man who gets roaring 

 drunk on it and yet can make himself think that he 

 is keeping within the letter of the law. 



The palm wine or laqmi* has always been a 

 specialty of North Africa, where its manufacture 

 assumes really large proportions, to the point of 

 having recently been forbidden in most parts of Algeria 

 and in Tripolitania, because of the damage which 

 owners were doing their palms in their endeavor to 

 keep themselves provided with the beverage. The 

 season of its manufacture is from May to October and 

 the method is as follows: 



A V-shaped incision is made in the terminal bud 

 and an earthenware jar fastened under it. This is 

 usually emptied morning and evening. The flow 

 will continue for three months; sometimes four or five 

 quarts will be produced in a single night. The yield 

 varies from day to day ; some varieties also give more 

 than others. In any event, the tree will produce no 

 fruit for several years afterward; but if it is allowed to 

 recuperate for such a length of time it can then be 

 tapped again. The second tapping usually kills it, 

 although it may undergo a half a dozen. 



The sap closely resembles coconut milk in flavor, 

 but is a little sweeter. It quickly begins to ferment, 

 the process being hastened by the dirty condition of 

 the vessels in which it is usually kept; and if allowed 

 to stand in the sun for a day or two, a quart is sufficient 

 to start several fights. It is also made intoxicating 

 by the addition of seeds of the rue (Ruta graveolens) .\ 



*It is often called lagbi: the name appears to mean nothing 

 more than "swallows" or "mouthfuls." 



jThis common plant, known to the Arabs as harmal, is one of 

 the most valued in their materia medica; Muhammad declared that 

 it cured seventy-two diseases and the physicians have ever since 



