THE DATE PALM. ] 449 



palms commence to bear flowers and fruits when they are 

 seven or eight years old, and continue to bear fruit until 

 the age of 80 to 100 years, when they cease to be 

 productice, but if allowed to remain will continue in 

 apparently healthy condition for many years more. 



Palm trees of any size can be transplanted with 

 comparative safety if the operation is done with due care 

 and at the right season, that is from March to May, or 

 from September to October ; and it is also possible to 

 transplant them in full summer, if the heart-leaves are 

 well protected from che action of the sun's rays. In any 

 case the outer leaves should be removed ; leaving only 

 the central undeveloped leaves and those immediately 

 around them, and the tree is taken up with a large ball 

 of earth and transferred at once to its final destination, 

 where it should be planted at least 10 c.m. deeper than 

 in its former position, packing the soil quite tight all 

 round. Large trees with a tall stem should be planted 

 deeper by 20 to 30 c m. with the object to induce an 

 abundant formation of new roots from the stem at a 

 higher level than those already existing. Without this 

 necessary precaution failure will be more frequent than 

 success. As an additional precaution, particularly in 

 the case of large trees transplanted in summer, from 

 May to September, it is advisable after removing the 

 outer leaves, to bind up the inner leaves together, over 

 the central or heart- foliage, and to cover the whole 

 rather tightly in a fusiform rr ass, by means of a piece of 

 canvas or sackcloth. This covering of canvas is kept on 

 the tree for three or four months and is removed^ late 

 in September on a cool or cloudy day, so as to avoid 

 injury by the sun to the tender and half-bleached foliage. 

 In this manner I have transplanted with perfect success 

 a number of large trees with stems varying from 2 to 10 

 metres high. Newly transplanted palm trees should be 

 watered every eight or ten days during the first summer, 



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