34 DATE GROWING 



results. Experiments in Coachella Valley leave no 

 doubt as to that, and the government experiment 

 stations have swallowed up carload after carload of 

 manure. 



One may undertake date culture on any fairly 

 good soil, if he uses a little care in selecting varieties 

 adapted to it, but there is one desirable condition: 

 good drainage. The palm requires a large amount of 

 water, under ordinary circumstances, and unless this 

 water can find an outlet the ground will soon become 

 water-logged — a condition that will be especially 

 serious if the soil is alkaline. 



A little alkalinity in the soil is no hindrance, for 

 the palm is remarkably tolerant of it. Arabs consider 

 that it does best in a salty soil, and many occidental 

 investigators have followed them in this opinion, but 

 the point can not yet be considered as proved. Ancient 

 writers did not hesitate to advise that common salt 

 be added to the soil, in cases where it was lacking. 

 I know of no region where this practice is followed 

 today, but I never met an Arab who thought that 

 alkali could injure a palm, even in large quantities. 

 They are mistaken on this last point, however, for 

 it is easy to find in Algeria palms which have reached 

 the limit of alkali tolerance, and others which have 

 passed it and no longer flourish. Observation would 

 undoubtedly show the same results in other parts of 

 the world. 



Surface indications are by no means a reliable 

 guide, and anyone who contemplates growing dates 

 should investigate his soil to the depth of six or eight 

 feet. It may be excessively saline on the surface, but 

 if there is one stratum of good soil in which the roots 

 can spread out, success will be possible. One per cent 



