82 THE DATE PALM. 



of clean fiver sand that will not run together forming a com- 

 pact hard cake when it dries, cr it may be composed of 

 decaying leaves, refuse litter, straw or any material which 

 will form a loose layer an inch or two in depth on the surface of 

 the soil. 



In the Punjab coal ashes perhaps form one of the best 

 materials for spreading round the plant, as they not only form 

 a nice mulch, but retard the attacks of white-ants. The object 

 of a mulch is attained by keeping the upper inch or two of soil 

 loose by very frequent hoeing, etc. The idea is to form a layer of 

 matter which will retain a considerable volume of air in the spaces 

 between its component particles and so retard the swift exchange 

 of dry air of the atmosphere for the more or less moist air that is 

 in contact with the soil surface. If this is done either by 

 frequent hoeing or by an artificial mulch the number of irrigations 

 required to keep the land in a satisfactorily moist state for the 

 plants, will be reduced to an astonishing extent even on medium 

 loams. When the soil is stiff and no mulching is done, the earth 

 around the plants contracts and cracks very readily, and the 

 young tender roots of the off-shoots are apt to be torn during the 

 contraction, or dried up by exposure at the cracks. 



44. Immediately the off-shoots are planted each plant 



should be loosely thatched with sufficient grass 



Newly planted . J . . 



trees must be shaded to provide a gentle shade for its young terminal 

 bud as the older leaves which naturally formed 

 this shade have been trimmed off (.seepage 68, para. 31). 



45. The trees must on no account be shaken or pushed 



about after being planted, as this breaks the 



Trees must not be 



shaken till firmly young roots being sent out, or disturbs the 



established. 



proper packing of the soil around the stem so 

 that air spaces are left there into which dry air passes and 

 shrivels up the roots. Ordinary bullock labour, therefore, should 

 not be allowed in the plantation between the time the plants 

 are planted and the time the plants become firmly established. 



