90 THE DATE PALM. 



off-shoots are produced as a rule. Sometimes, however, much older 

 trees give off one or more suckers (see illustration No. 29, page 86). 



If a tree bears good fruits and off-shoots from it are much 

 wanted, a larger number of off-shoots may be allowed to grow at 

 its base than is quoted in paragraph 54 above. The total number 

 of suckers which a date tree bears during its lifetime varies greatly 

 with the variety of the date, the vigor of the plant, the degree of 

 moisture usual in the surface soil, etc. Imported Arabian trees 

 planted as suckers at Lyallpur 5 years previously are now bearing 

 1 to 16 suckers each and have an average of about 7 suckers 

 per tree ; trees of the same consignment planted at Muzaffargarh 

 are bearing 1 to 15 suckers each, with an average of about 6 

 suckers per tree ; and trees of the same lot in the Multan Central 

 Jail Garden now bear 1 to 14 suckers per tree. About 60 per 

 cent, of these suckers are ready for removal from the parent trees. 



Twenty is an approximate estimate of the average total number 

 of suckers that a date tree will produce during its normal sucker- 

 producing years, but, as will be seen from the above, the number 

 even on individual five-year old trees varies very widely. 



When it is desired to extend the period during which a tree 

 will give off off-shoots, or to increase the number of off-shoots 

 which it is giving off at a younger period, a platform of earth is 

 sometimes raised round its stem and kept moist. Continued 

 contact of the stem with the moisture induces it to give off suckers 

 and roots at that point (see page 10, para. 5). In the case of old 

 trees a mass of matting, ropes, etc., is sometimes wound round 

 their steins higher up and kept moist for similar purposes. 



Several cases have been met with where old trees have 

 fallen over and suckers have developed from the upper portions 

 of their stems where they remained in contact with damp earth. 

 In the case of one such date tree when found the original base 

 of the tree had disappeared and the lower part of the old stem 

 was quite clear of the ground while much further along it a sucker 

 and a new root system had developed from its side where it lay 

 in contact with the soil. 



