PROPAGATION BY OFFSHOOTS 69 



the fruit can not ripen, and therefore the palm is 

 allowed to devote its whole energy to reproduction 

 through suckers. 



If it is desired to get as many offshoots as possible, 

 the grower should keep the leaves on all of them cut 

 well back while they are still on the parent palm. 

 The energy thus saved to the tree will be used to grow 

 more offshoots. 



So far the discussion of offshoots has assumed 

 that they are to be grown in the open ground, but 

 experiments made in California have shown that the 

 application of bottom heat will give higher percentages 

 of success and much quicker results, saving from three 

 to six months in the time necessary to root an off- 

 shoot. The method may never be practicable for 

 handling a large shipment of offshoots, but for ordinary 

 purposes it seems likely to supplant outdoor 

 propagation altogether. 



Credit for the development of this method is due 

 to Bruce Drummond, in charge of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture Experiment Station at Indio, 

 Cal. It has only been tried for one season, but the 

 results have been almost perfect. 



Offshoots are set closely together, either in a bed 

 of ordinary sandy loam or in pots of the same material, 

 over a coil of pipes carrying hot water, in such a way 

 that the soil around the roots is kept at a temperature 

 of from 100 to 110 F. The difference will be realized 

 when it is known that the soil temperature in Coachella 

 Valley rarely exceeds 80 or 85, and that up to the 

 middle of May it does not rise above 55. The heat is 

 kept constant night and day, moisture abundantly 

 supplied, and within a month or two the offshoots 

 usually begin to grow; roots seven inches long were 



