84 THE DATE PALM. 



48. A register should also be kept of the number and 



, dates of waterings and, if possible, the amount 



liegister 01 J 



waterings. o f wa t er given, as different soils and positions 



require different amounts of water. If a record is kept of the 

 condition of the plantations and compared with different 

 supplies of water given, the best results can be got eventually 

 with the most economical water-supply. 



49. An irrigation must be given to the date plants as 



soon as they are planted. A very great stream 



Water and other 



requirements of a of water should not be turned on to the 



young plantation ... . , . 



on medium soils in plantation when irrigations are given, as this 

 is apt to submerge too much of the plant, carry 

 dirt into its crown, rot the central bud and kill the plant. The 

 land must be kept continuously almost wet for the first month 

 after planting and continuously moist until the plants become 

 established. Sandy soils will require much more water than 

 clayey soils will, to keep them in the proper condition, and the 

 waterings may have to be applied more or less frequently in 

 different classes of soil, so that the only reliable way to discover 

 when a young plantation requires watering is to see the dampness 

 of the soil in the basin round the plants. When plants have been 

 planted in the first week of September on well drained medium 

 loams in Multan and nejghbourmg districts, however, the plants 

 will stand one watering per day for the first 40 days, one watering 

 every 2 days for the next 40 days, and one watering every 6 days 

 till growth starts and the heat commences in spring. After the 

 frosts in spring are well over and before the weather is very hot 

 the thatching may be removed from the plants for a week or two 

 and then fresh thatching put on. Care should be taken, however, 

 not to shake the plant much while removing the old thatch or 

 replacing the new. This thatch may finally be removed when 

 the plants have formed a few strong leaves. From spring the 

 plants may require a watering every 4 or 5 days till the rains 

 begin and one watering per week or less after that. One watering 

 every 6 to 7 days will probably have to be given during the next 

 hot weather. By the end of that time most of the plants will be 



