330 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



The seed should be planted rather thickly in well-drained beds of fer- 

 tile soil, free from alkali. These beds should be watered frequently, as the 

 young date seedlings need an abundance of moisture. If properly cared 

 for the seedlings will reach a height of from 12 to 18 inches the first year 

 and can be transplanted into the permanent orchard the second year. 



These seedlings should be set out in rows about 30 feet apart and placed 

 5 or 6 feet apart in the row. Ordinarily field crops can be grown between 

 the rows until long after the palms come into bearing. After three or four 

 years, when the young palms begin to flower, the surplus male trees can be 

 dug up and destroyed, thus thinning about half of the trees. Then when 

 the female trees come into fruit, those which yield decidedly inferior fruit 

 can also be removed, so that finally about one-fourth of the original num- 

 ber of seedlings will be left standing. The spaces between the seedlings 

 will be irregular and offshoots can be taken from the best sorts and planted 

 where the largest gaps occur. By preventing offshoots from growing on 

 the poorer sorts they will yield more fruit and finally can be destroyed 

 and replaced by offshoots from some of the better sorts. In this way, by 

 degrees, the orchard can be improved without expense for offshoots aside 

 from the labor of planting them. 



Rooting Suckers. Suckers taken off in warm weather and 

 watered freely usually take root readily. In the Coachella Valley 

 they are usually cut in March, but can be handled successfully all 

 the year except December and January. In cooler valleys the 

 season would probably run from April to August, as they do not 

 root readily during nor approaching cool weather. Care should be 

 taken not to let the plants dry. Director Forbes gives these points : 

 Suckers should not be taken from the parent tree until they have 

 attained a diameter of 5 to 6 inches and a weight of 15 to 20 pounds. 

 Suckers should be removed by cutting in and down along the line 

 of cleavage between them and the main trunk, with a strong chisel 

 or a flat-pointed bar. If possible the cut should be carried down 

 so as to bring away at least one or two sound roots. The leaves 

 should be closely pruned and for shipment the cut bases had better 

 be protected against drying out by layer of wet moss or similar 

 material. In planting, the sucker should be set in previously irri- 

 gated and well settled soil to the depth of its greatest diameter, 

 taking care that the center of the palm is not below the irrigating 

 water level. 



For convenience in irrigating, a shallow basin of earth should be 

 made about the sucker, in which, to lessen evaporation and the rise 

 of alkali, a mulch of the fine barnyard litter three or four inches deep 

 should be spread. The soil about the newly transplanted suckers 

 should be kept constantly wet by frequent irrigations. 



Rooting offsets in a hot bed is commended by Mr. Bruce Drum- 

 mond. He plunges them in a forcing bed made of one and a half 

 feet depth of manure, covered with one foot of earth. The forcing 

 house is of canvas and the heat thus increased by the covering 

 induces such a rapid and vigorous growth that offshoots cut from 

 the parent tree in the spring are ready to plant out in the grove in 

 the fall, and will begin bearing dates four years thereafter. 

 Mr. Drummond says that offsets about 5 inches in diameter weigh 

 J to 12 pounds, and root more easily than larger ones. He cuts 

 away about one-half of each of the leaves of the offset rather than 

 prune them all away. 



