FRUITS 



73 



growing in the Sahara and eastwards through Persia and 

 North India. The date is indeed the tree of the hot deserts, 

 but only of the oases of the deserts. Though it thrives in 

 burning hot dry sunshine, its roots must have water. As 

 the ancient proverb says, ' The date must have its head in the 



FRUIT OF DATE PALM 



fire, and its roots in water.'. 



Though the Sahara and the dry hot lands of the Northern 

 Hemisphere are the original home of the date palm, there 

 seems no reason why it should not nourish in similar soils and 

 climates in other parts of the world, and in the Western Plains 

 of Queensland trees have already been planted and are thriving 



