A USEFUL TEEE. 157 



begins to bear is about seven feet high. Each year the lowest ring 

 of leaves falls off, so that the age of a palm may be roughly computed 

 from the notches on its stem. Its fruit begins to decline after a 

 century, and the tree is then cut down for building purposes ; but it 

 will live for at least a couple of hundred years. Some trees produce 

 as many as twenty bunches, but the average in a favourable season 

 is from eight to ten bunches, each weighing from twelve to twenty 

 pounds. Before the dates ripen, each proprietor is bound to set 

 apart one tree in his garden, whose fruit is consecrated for the 

 service of the mosque and the use of the poor. 



From the juice of the date the Arab obtains a sweet fermented 

 liquor, called "laguni," of which he is inordinately fond. He makes 

 an incision in the top of the tree, taking care to strike home to the 

 centre. A funnel is attached, by which the sap flows into a vessel 

 at the rate of about three quarts every morning for ten to sixteen 

 days. The incision requires to be opened afresh daily. 



The cabbage, or soft pith and young unfolded leaves at the sum- 

 mit of the stem, in taste approaching the chestnut, is also eaten, but 

 only when the tree has fallen or been felled, as the loss of its crown 

 invariably destroys it. 



There are fifteen varieties of dates, of which the dghetnour is 

 considered the best for keeping, and three other kinds are pre- 

 ferred fresh. 



The crest of the full-grown trees rises about fifty feet above the 

 ground. The air circulates freely under the leafy canopy formed by 

 their interlacing branches, but the sun's rays do not penetrate. 

 Shade, air, and water these three elements permit the most varied 

 cultivation in the palm-garderis, despite the scorching heats of 

 summer. The fruit trees which flourish are the fig, the pomegranate, 

 the apricot ; less frequently, the vine and the olive ; still more rarely, 

 the peach, the pear, and the orange. Vegetables are commonly 

 cultivated during winter ; such as turnips, cabbages, onions, carrots, 

 beans, and pimento (Capsicum annuum), an indispensable condiment 

 for those Arab sauces (merga) destined to stimulate the digestive 



