DATE. 141 



Linnaeus, in his " Dissertation on the Sexes of Plants," 

 speaking of the date-tree, says, " A female date-bearing 

 palm flowered many years at Berlin without producing 

 any seeds ; but in the year 1749 the Berlin people taking 

 care to have some of the blossoms of the male tree which 

 was then flowering at Leipsic, sent them by the post, 

 they obtained fruit by these means ; and some dates, the 

 offspring of this impregnation, being planted in my 

 garden, sprang up, and to this day continue to grow 

 vigorously." 



Pere Labat, in his Account of America, mentions a 

 tree which grew near a convent in Martinique, that pro- 

 duced a great quantity of fruit, which came to maturity 

 enough for eating ; and as there was no other tree of 

 the kind in the island, it was desirable to propagate it, 

 but node of the seeds would grow. He conjectures that 

 the tree might probably be so far impregnated by some 

 neighbouring palm-tree, as to render it capable of bearing 

 fruit, but not sufficiently to make the seeds prolific. 



M. Geoffrey cites a story from Jovicus Pontanus, who 

 relates, " that, in his time, there were two palm-trees, the 

 one a male, the other a female, in the woods of Otranto, 

 fifteen leagues apart ; that this latter was several years 

 without bearing any fruit; till at length, rising above 

 the other trees of the forest so as it might see," says the 

 poet, " the male palm-tree at Brindisi, it then began to 

 bear fruit in abundance." M. Geoffrey makes no doubt 

 but that the tree then only began to bear fruit, because 

 it was in a condition to catch on its branches the farina 

 of the male brought thither by the wind. 



It may appear to many persons almost incredible, 

 that the pollen of the male flower should be conveyed to 

 so great a distance ; but that it should be attracted by a 

 tree of its own species, will not so much create our 

 wonder, when, with the least reflection, we must be 



