150 THE DATE PALM. 



fruits at the higher price to cover custom dues, profits, etc. It 

 seems rather curious, however, that considerable quantities 

 of date-fruits have in some of these years been exported to such 

 places as the Bahrein Islands, Muscat, and Oman. No satis- 

 factory explanation of this is to hand but it seems possible that 

 this may represent consignments returned to the owners in these 

 places as unsatisfactorv or for other reasons. 



A / 



v l 'Y s 



For the convenience of those who may wish to communicate 



with people in India already engaged in the date import trade, 

 I append a list of importers of date-fruits into India (see page 154). 



98. From what has been said above of our experience 

 of date cultivation in the Puniab in the past 



Prospects of date 



culture in the Pun- 5 years and what we have seen on our tours 



jab plains. 



in date-growing districts, it is quite evident 

 that the date palm will grow luxuriantly over the whole 

 of the plains if ordinary attention is given to it. It is 

 also evident that high humidity combined with actual rainfall 

 in the fruit-ripening season are the factors which limit the areas 

 suitable for date -fruit farming in the province. Some idea of 

 the maximum rainfall and humidity under which the fruits can 

 be farmed, can be gathered from what has been written in this 

 note, but a closer study of the case is required before more detailed 

 statements are made. We know, however, that considerable 

 crops of dates are annually got from date trees in Multan, Muzaffar- 

 garh, Dera Ghazi Khan and Jhang Districts, and it is clear that 

 much can be done to improve date culture in these parts of the 

 province at least. As already mentioned most of the plants 

 grown in these districts as well as in other parts of the Punjab 

 appear to have grown from seedlings, and the fruits produced 

 by the vast majority of these are of very inferior quality. 

 Only a few trees in the province produce fruits of good 

 quality. Us. 2-8-0 per maund is apparently a very fair price 

 for the whole crop in the four districts mentioned. Taking 

 14,07,832 trees (see page 107) and 12 seers (24f Ibs.) of cured 

 fruits per tree the lowest estimate the total value of the crop 

 there would be Rs. 10,55,874, and if 18 seers (36^ Ibs.) of cured 



