148 



" A female date-bearing palm, flowered many 

 years at Berlin, without producing any seeds ; 

 but 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, 

 sprung up, and to this day continue to grow 

 vigorously/' 



Pfere Labat, in his Account of America, 

 mentions a tree which grew near a convent in 

 Martinique, that produced a great quantity 

 of fruit, which came to maturity enough for 

 eating : but as there was no other tree of 

 the kind in the island, it was desirable to 

 propagate it, but none 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 ca- 

 pable of bearing fruit, but not sufficient 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 wood Otranto, 

 fifteen leagues apart; that this latter was 

 several years without bearing any fruit; till 

 at length, rising above the other trees of 



