30 DATEGROWING 



only in an arid region has been set aside by further 

 investigation and experiment. I found the date grow- 

 ing side by side with the banana, coconut, and tropical 

 pawpaw {Carica papaya) in Oman, on the eastern 

 coast of Arabia; and these three plants all require a 

 humid climate. In Tunisia excellent bananas are 

 raised in the shade of the palms. But most conclusive 

 on this point are some of the tests made in British 

 possessions. 



In India, for instance, there has been during the 

 last half century a small but continuous effort to 

 establish the date palm on a large scale. It has been 

 growing there for centuries — ^introduced, according 

 to legend, by the troops of Alexander the Great — 

 and in desert regions of the Panjab and Sindh excel- 

 lent fruit can be produced. Not content with this, 

 the investigators tried to establish it in all the warm 

 parts of the peninsula, and although their efforts 

 have hitherto failed in most cases, from a com- 

 mercial point of view, they have given some surprising 

 indications as to the way in which the palm can adapt 

 itseK to varying weather conditions. The great 

 drawback to their work was the arrival, in June, of 

 the monsoon rains, which come with great force at 

 the very time when the earliest dates are ripening, and 

 last until November. At first sight it would appear 

 that this made the growing of dates absolutely impos- 

 sible, yet there is reason to believe that even this 

 obstacle may be eventually overcome. At Saharan- 

 pur in the United Provinces, where there is a five 

 acre experimental garden, several varieties of very 

 fair dates have been found which have been able to 

 mature their fruit before the rains set in — and this 

 in spite of the fact that the winters there are by no 



