86 DATE GROWING 



that he will produce a palm a little better than any- 

 thing else. The chance is too good to neglect, and 

 every date grower should have as many seedlings 

 as he can care for without detriment to his profits, 

 but a slight consideration will show that the chance is, 

 arithmetically, not very great. It is true that all 

 the varieties in the world have been produced from 

 seeds, but the small number of high grade varieties, 

 which is most noticeable in the very districts where 

 propagation is by seed instead of offshoots, shows 

 that such an occurrence is rare. It is only once in a 

 century that a Deglet Nur, a Khalaseh, a Tabirzal, or 

 a Birket alHajji appears; and although some choice 

 seedlings have already been produced in the south- 

 western United States, an honest examination of them 

 will show that they are no better than, and in most 

 cases inferior to, good varieties which we have already 

 imported from the Arab world. 



The greatest opportunity of the seedling grower 

 lies in the rapid production and propagation of 

 offshoots. If from a thousand palms he gets a few 

 that are of good quality and reasonably uniform, he 

 can, after they have proved their value by one good 

 crop, force them to devote their whole energy to the 

 production of offshoots, which he will remove while 

 still small, and root with bottom heat. These in turn 

 will produce offshoots in four or five years, and the 

 multiplication of the variety, or the similar varieties, 

 will then go forward with some speed. Such work 

 offers a legitimate field, but it is of necessity one that 

 will attract the nurseryman more than the grower 

 whose aim is to acquire, as soon as possible, a plant- 

 ation of dates that will yield him a steady income. 



