RIPENING DATES. 51 



In the Jerid oases, males constitute a very small proportion of the 

 total number of palms. One male is said to furnish sufficient pollen 

 for fecundating 500 to 600 females. In the most extensive garden 

 of Tozer oasis the writer was shown an unusually large and fine male 

 which he was told served not only for all of the fruiting palms in 

 this garden, considerably more than 1,000, but for neighboring gar- 

 dens as well. The flowers of male palms are said to be free to all 

 who wish to use them, without compensation to the owner. The males 

 are reputed to live longer than the females, but finally become so 

 tall that it is difficult to gather the flower clusters. They then share 

 the fate of female palms that have ceased to bear, the terminal bud 

 being girdled in order' to extract lagmi, or palm wine, an operation 

 that sooner or later results in the death of the tree. 



The writer saw, in February, a palm (illustrated in PI. IV, fig. 2) 

 which had all the characters of a male, as the tenant of the garden in 

 which it grew declared it to be. Nevertheless, it bore clusters of 

 small, seedless green dates, similar to the " sichi " (unfecundated) 

 fruits of the Fteemy variety (see p. TO). Although the only case ob- 

 served by him, this is apparently a rather well-known phenomenon. 



RIPENING. 



The bunches of dates often become too heavy for the stalks that 

 bear them. To prevent the breaking of the fruit stalks the clusters 

 are therefore frequently " straddled " upon the nearest leafstalk, as 

 shown in Plate III. This is an operation that requires considerable 

 skill, and, in the case of choice varieties, is usually intrusted to an 

 expert. 



Much rain during the first few weeks after pollination is as in- 

 jurious as irrigation at that season, causing the newly set fruit to 

 drop. On the rare occasions when rain falls during the months of 

 May, June, and July that is to say, after the fruit has set and be- 

 fore it begins to ripen it does no harm. During the early autumn, 

 when the dates are maturing, hot, dry winds from the south and west 

 are favorable, as they hasten the ripening process and prevent the 

 fruit from becoming wormy. On the other hand, a heavy rain at this 

 season is disastrous. If it falls in August or September it will cause 

 the fruit to drop before maturity ; if a little later, the fruit tends to 

 rot or to become moldy. When the dates have become perfectly ripe 

 a light rain is rather beneficial than otherwise, as it softens them and 

 washes off the dust that has gathered on them. But a heavy rain 



J. W. Tourney (Bui. 29, Ariz. Exp. Sta., 1898) notes the fruiting of male 

 date palms at Phoenix, Ariz., and at La Paz, Mexico. Charlet (Bui. Soc. 

 Geogr. d'Alger, 1905), mentions the existence of two fruiting male palms in the 

 Wzab oases. 

 92 



