PREFACE. V 



for its purpose. Where other workers have helped me as regards 

 material for the note, acknowledgments have been made in the 



text. 



It will be seen there that I have been greatly indebted to 

 Dr. G. T. Walker, c.s.i., Director of the Indian Meteorological 

 Department, for meteorological information regarding the Punjab 

 and the principal date-growing countries of the world, to 

 Mr. H. E. Annett, Agricultural Chemist, Bengal, for certain notes 

 regarding date-toddy and sugar-making from the sap of PJicenix 

 Sylvestris, to Mr. Bainbrigge Fletcher, Imperial Entomologist, for 

 the use of illustrations Nos. 45 and 46, to Professor H. M. Lefroy, 

 late Imperial Entomologist, to Mr. C. C. Ghosh of the Entomological 

 Section, Pusa, to L. Madan Mohan Lai, Assistant Professor of Ento- 

 mology, Lyallpur, and others for most of the material for the notes 

 on the insect pests, and to Mr. Ley. late Director-General of 

 Commercial Intelligence, Calcutta, for information regarding 

 exports and imports of dates, etc. 



Mr. J. H. Barnes, Agricultural Chemist, Punjab, kindly 

 allowed the departmental photographer working in his section 

 to develop for me all the photographs which have been used 

 as illustrations, and to take many of these photographs under my 

 directions. 



Mr. T. Miller Brownlie, Agricultural Engineer, at considerable 

 inconvenience to himself, was kind enough to allow me the use of 

 his draftsman to make illustrations Nos. 22, 24, 26, 27, 32, and 35. 



When the date work referred to in this note was started, 

 our greatest difficulty was to get our instructions regarding the 

 care of young plantations carried out, and the Agricultural 

 Department is specially indebted to Mr. F. W. Skemp, I.G.S., 

 then Deputy Commissioner, Muzaffargarh, for having the planta- 

 tions there most carefully attended to and for the great personal 

 interest which he took in the work. The department is also much 

 indebted to his successors for so willingly continuing the work. It is 

 indebted to Lieut. -Col. Lowis and successive Deputy Commissioners 

 of Dera Ghazi Khan district for help in the work undertaken in that 



