TIIK STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



44 1 will U'll you of one that will pi-runt you to 

 prove what 1 have told you; but first of all lot nu- 



mention a second example. 

 "The date tree, like the 

 locust, is dioecious. Arabs 

 cultivate it for its fruit, 

 dates, their chief food." 



"Dates are those long 

 fruits of a very sweet taste, 

 preserved dry in boxes," 

 said Jules. "A Turk was 

 selling some at the last fair. 

 The kernel is long and split 

 all along one side from one 

 end to the other." 

 Date-palm "That is it. In the coun- 



try of the date-tree, a sandy country burnt by the 

 sun, spots of watered and fertile earth are rare. 

 These spots are called oases. It is necessary to 

 utilize them as much as possible. So the Arabs 

 plant only date-trees with pistils, the only ones that 

 will produce dates. But when they are in flower, 

 the Arabs go long distances to seek bunches of flow- 

 ers with stamens on wild date-trees, to shake the 

 dust on the trees they have planted. Without this 

 precaution there is no harvest." 



"Uncle will tell us so much," Emile interposed, 

 "that I shall have as much regard for the pollen as 

 I have for the ovary. Without it, I should not have 

 tasted the dates of the Turk who smoked such a long 

 pipe ; without it, no apricots and no cherries. ' ' 

 "In the garden there is a long pumpkin-vine that 



