PROPAGATION BY SEEDS. ?3 



of the trees a second time, and they will have to be well attended 

 to till they establish themselves in their new positions, but the 

 death-rate among the plants will be very much decreased. Much 

 less water will be required for a number of trees in a nursery 

 than if they are widely scattered over a large area. Even where 

 old trees have to be replaced in a date plantation, it may be 

 advisable to grow the suckers in a nursery for a time before 

 planting them in their permanent positions, as these young plants 

 require much more water and attention than the older trees, 

 and they are very apt to be neglected if scattered about in odd 

 places. In suitable localities dates are probably a more paying 

 crop than most others, and if vegetables, lucerne, and other crops 

 are grown between the trees, a piece of land laid out in a first 

 class quality of date trees ought to be a very paying investment 

 (see para. 88, page 117). Where the difficulty of the enemies 

 can be got over easily, however, and where the subsoil water 

 conditions are suitable, I think it would be well to have a 

 considerable number of trees planted round the edges of the 

 fields and along water channels as well as in plantations. As the 

 many factors involved differ not only in the different districts, 

 but with each individual cultivator, each intending date-grower 

 will have to decide what is best to be done in his own case. 



38. In choosing the site for a plantation the question 

 of the water-supply must be carefully considered, 

 and preparations 8 ^ Although date palms love an abundant supply 

 a *t[on S ( of water and can stand water-logging to a far 



greater extent than many other plants (see 

 para. 2, page 1), they yield their best crops only when a 

 plentiful supply of water is accompanied by proper aeration 

 of the soil. Adult trees which stand in a water-logged soil, or in 

 a sea of stagnant water all the year round, may not die but they 

 do not bear as good crops of fruits as those growing in better 

 selected soils. 



In the foreground of illustration No. 23, page 72, are two date 

 trees photographed in the fruit-bearing season and which have 

 been standing in a pond of water for several years, their roots 



