PHCENIX 

 TIIK h <;AR PALM BYLVB-JTRIB 



Tr-t/I- 



pind. Pind dates may be ripened on the tree, van di pind, or ripened after gather' 

 inn, /n'nrf /tint. Dates which have shrivelled on the tree are known as kuk or QMMstaa. 



A-uJvm. In Sind tho fruit, when ripe, is designated khurma, and 



plucked before ripe. In MuEaffargarh the most esteemed kind is called chirni. 



This is split down tho middle and dried in the sun. The second best is called 



pind, and is eaten as it comes from tho tree. The least esteemed, buy 



lioilc'l in oil ami u.ili-r. Tin- l.-rininal Juiin-li or In-art <f . 



is preserved when a tree is cut down, and eaten as a vegetable and 



into .-HITS . Like f. Mf/frrrHw. (liJH species also yields a saccharine juice. : 



\\li: n Si OAB aid a fermented drink may be prepared; tin uparntivnly nagr. 



lit tli usoilfor tin.-. |iurpose, as whon of good quality it is too valuable to besulijeotod 



t<> t hat treatment. Tho hard kernels of t)i fruit aro ground into FOOD for cumob, rodder. 



goats, sheop and horses. The green date, khamdl, is also given to sheep n- 



Tho roasted kernels have been used as a substitute for coffee. T) 



and fairly durable, and is used in Multan and Sind as beams for supporting roofs 



in Native architecture, and also for water-channels, bridges and other purposes. 



TRADE. Exports. The exports of Indi;m dates are not as yet im- Trade. 

 portant ; they have averaged about 130 cwt., valued at Rs. l.iilf>, during xports. 

 the four years ending 1904-5, but in 1905-6 were onlv 

 Rs. 364, and in 1906-7, 14 cwt., valued at Rs. 254. The re-exports, 

 during the same period, were as follows : 1900-1, 34,444 cwt., valued at 

 Rs. 1,69,263; 1901-2, 27,632 cwt., valued at Rs. 1,41,939 ; 19<> 

 47,041 cwt., valued at Rs. 2,18,455; 1903-1, 25,330 cwt., valued at 

 Rs. 1,27,277; 1904-5, 22,260 cwt., valued at Rs. 1,24,684 ; 1905-6, 

 23,542 cwt., valued at Rs. 1,31,373, and in 1906-7, 27,945 cwt., valued at 

 Rs. 1,69,639. 



Imports. The foreign supplies, on the other hand, are large and im- import*, 

 portant ; in 1900-1 they came to 871,272 cwt., valued at Rs. 41,94,972 ; 

 1901-2, 901,006 cwt., valued at Rs. 42,11,091 ; 1902-3, 663,390 cwt., 

 valued at Rs. 31,43,967 ; 1903-4, 725,003 cwt., valued at Rs. 36,27,590 ; 

 1904-5, 812,284 cwt., valued at Rs. 40,96,034 ; 1905-6, 867,229 cwt., 

 valued at Rs. 44,87,709 ; and in 1906-7, 814,781 cwt., valued at 

 Rs. 48,37,461. The largest quantities come usually from Turkey-in- ^PP"/- 

 Asia, viz. 479,200 cwt. in 1906-7 ; Arabia, 238,101 cwt. ; and Persia, 

 73,863 cwt., and are received chiefly by Bombay and Sind, which took 

 as their shares 562,335 cwt. and 205,571 cwt. respectively. 



[Cf. The Bower Manuscript (Hoernle, transl.), 1893-7, 121 '; Baber, Memoirs 

 (Leyden and Erekine, transl.), 326 ; Purchas' Pilgrimes, 1626, v., 664-5, 707-8 ; 

 Taleef Shereef (Playfair, transl.), 74, 137; Ligon, Hist. Barbados, 1657, 72; 

 Ovington, Voy. to Suratt, 1689, 423 ; Thevenot, Travels in Levant, Indostan, 

 etc., 1687, iii., 94; Fryer, New Ace. E. Ind. and Pers. (ed. 1698), 225; Milburn, 

 Or. Comm., 1813, i., 1 106 ; Bonavia, Future of Date Palm in Ind., 1885 ; 

 Reid, Cult, of Date Palms in Canal Plant., Pb. Irrigat. Branch Papers, Jan. 

 1894, No. 1 ; Dodge, Useful Fibre Plants of the World, 1897. 260-1 ; Kew Bull., 

 1898, 46-50 ; Fairchild, Persian Gulf Dates, and Their Introd. into America, U.S. 

 Dept. Agri. Butt., 1903, No. 54 ; Cunningham, Plagues and Pleasures of Life in 

 Beny., 1907, 348, 350, etc.] 



P. sylvestris, Roxb. The Wild Date or Date-sugar Palm, sendhi, D.E.P., 

 kejur, salma, boichand, kharak, sandokka-nar, itchumpannay, ita, ichal. etc. ; Xig 1 ^'' 

 pindakharjura, kharjura (Sansk.). A tree 30 to 40 feet high, distinjjui.shnl Wi j d f^te 

 from the former by the absence of root suckers. It is indigenous in many 

 parts of India, being most abundant in Bengal, Bihar, on the Coromandel 

 Coast and in Gujarat. 



Like the former, this species yields a GUM, and the leaves, petioles, an. 

 flowering spathes, etc., are variously utilised for purposes similar to those 

 indicated above. The reader will find these detailed in the article Baskets 

 and Wicker Work (pp. 115, 188). The tree flowers at the beginning of 



885 



