PROPAGATION OF DATE PALMS 329 



tions of Deglet Noor offshoots were made by the Coachella Valley 

 Date Growers' Association from 1912 to 1914, with the co-operation 

 and help of the Department. During the war Algeria forbade export 

 of date offshoots. In the spring of 1921 permission was secured 

 from the Algerian government to import 1,400 offshoots of the 

 Deglet Noor. The Department entered into a contract with a local 

 firm of date growers of Indio to root these offshoots, plant them out 

 in permanent orchard form and return to the Department one-fifth 

 of the offshoots produced on the imported trees, and sell three-fifths 

 of the offshoots to bona fide date growers living in regions suitable 

 for the culture of the Deglet Noor variety and who do not already 

 have 100 trees of this variety, at a price not to exceed $7.50 each for 

 the unrooted offshoots. One-fifth of the offshoots are to go to the 

 firm as their share, in view of their having borne all the expenses of 

 the introduction. This source of supply of Deglet Noor is expected 

 to be in continuous operation for many years. 



During recent years large importations of other date varieties for 

 commercial planting in Southeastern California have been made by 

 Mr. Popenoe, after searching foreign investigations. Some of these 

 consisted of varieties of dates which are drier and firmer in flesh 

 when mature than the soft dates to which Americans are accustomed 

 and which they must be taught to esteem if their production is to be 

 profitable in this country. There is, therefore, an issue arising 

 between types of dates which it will take time to determine. There 

 is also an issue between advocates of imported palms and those 

 grown in this country from seeds of selected palms established 

 here. These issues between sources and policies of propagation and 

 other matters also have given rise to personal controversies between 

 those holding diverse views and interests the adjustment of which 

 can not be foreseen and the only clear aspect of which in 1921 is that 

 the conflict may be as hot as the sun and as bitter as the water which 

 the palm itself can thrive upon. 



Growing Palms from Seied. Seeds taken from the dried dates 

 of commerce germinate readily ; in fact, seedlings frequently appear 

 in the gutters of unpaved streets where the seeds have been thrown 

 during the rainy season. Director Forbes, of the Arizona Station, 

 says that seeds will come up more promptly if first stratified. This 

 may be done by taking a gasoline can or deep box and placing 

 three inches of sand in the bottom after making a number of holes 

 in it for drainage. The seeds are placed upon this layer and the 

 can or box filled with sand, the whole then being put in a sheltered 

 place and kept moist from three to six weeks, when the seeds will 

 be soft and ready for prompt growth when planted. The seedlings 

 may be started in nursery rows for transplanting after one to three 

 years, or if frequent irrigations may be relied on, in the fields where 

 the trees are to remain. 



Dr. W. T. Swingle, whose work on date growing has already 

 been cited, gives the following suggestions on the growing of seed- 

 lings and their subsequent handling to determine sex and to select 

 bearing palms of desirable type : 



