PEOPAGATION BY SEEDS. 79 



Where there is a distance of 25 feet or more between the 

 palms in a plantation, other fruit trees are usually grown between 

 them. 



40. Many writers advise manure being given to the trees 



The question of when they are planted, but the Arabs I met 



to P the 8 piant8 nU at m Egypt and our late Arab date-overseer from 



planting time. Basra are al j e^^ically against manure 



being used at planting time. When the off-shoot has just 

 been planted, it has lost connection with the roots of the 

 parent tree and has usually no root system of its own by 

 means of which water and dissolved salts from the soil necessary 

 to carry on the vital function of the plant, and to enable it to 

 grow a root system, etc., for itself, can be properly supplied to it. 

 A large quantity of manure closely applied round the off-shoot 

 at planting time would, when wetted, produce a concentrated 

 solution which would retard the passage of water into the plant 

 to an extent depending on the degree of concentration just as 

 strong solutions of the Alkaline salts do (see page 19 ,para. 14) 

 and so might cause the death of the off-shoot. Apparently 

 this is not a hyper-sensitive point, for in the case of 59 suckers 

 to each of which about 22 Ibs. of well-rotted cow-dung were given 

 at planting time well mixed with the earth replaced in the planting 

 pit, the death-rate was no higher than among the plants which 

 got no manure. 



Until we have further data, however, I should advise planters 

 to be very careful of the use of manure at planting time. In 

 lands of ordinary quality it would be safer to use none then, 

 as anything which will interfere with the passage of water and 

 dissolved salts into the plants at this critical period of their 

 existence is to be avoided. When growth once starts, however, 

 a little well-rotted manure spread round the plant and dug into 

 the soil an inch or two, soon gives a robust appearance to the 

 plants and accelerates their growth greatly. The differences in 

 rates of growth of date plants growing on rich trenched land and 

 on ordinary poor land is shown in illustrations Nos. 25 & 25a, 

 pages 786 and 78c. The trees growing on both plots were got 



