CULTURE OF THE PALM 93 



bacteria, to increase the nitrogen supply, has never 

 been tried with this culture, but it would be well 

 worth trying. If a secondary crop is to be grown, 

 alfalfa or some leguminous plant should be given the 

 preference for this same reason. 



When a subsidiary crop is grown between the 

 rows, the nutrition which it takes from the soil must 

 be replaced unless the palms are to suffer. Ordinarily 

 it will be sufficient to plow the crop under after it 

 has yielded its produce. 



The Arabs have some excessively fastidious ideas 

 about fertilizers, which can not be accepted until they 

 have been scientifically tested. Camel manure is 

 looked on in Algeria with disfavor, as being "too hot." 

 That of mules and donkeys is given the preference, 

 but that of cows and horses is also considered good. 

 Ibn Awam says that the excrement of pigs burns the 

 roots of the palm; he also suggests that the roots 

 should be irrigated with date syrup in order to make 

 the fruit sweet! Wine lees are in high repute among 

 the old masters, as a fertilizer. Faqir Amin al Madani 

 is, as usual, original in his remarks: 



"And you must fertilize the palm, for that is the 

 best thing to increase its yield. Cow manure or that 

 of camels is best, spread under it in winter, but any 

 good manure, well rotted, will prove efficacious if 

 applied in winter. But an easier method to make it 

 more verdant is, in the summer days, to gather all 

 the fallen fruit and that bruised by feet or spoiled by 

 the birds, and to put a little water on it and let it 

 rot and save it for winter; then pour on each palm 

 a portion of three pounds of this liquor, and in this 

 manner there will be no expense to you, because the 

 fallen fruit would have been a loss to you in any case." 



