64 DATEGROWING 



water, and labor in cultivation and irrigation. The 

 Fardh date growers of Oman, who are the cleverest 

 Arab cultivators I have seen, habitually follow the 

 same practice. Elsewhere it is the custom to plant 

 offshoots in the position which they are permanently 

 to occupy. If any quantity of offshoots is to be 

 planted I recommend the plantation in nursery rows, 

 but where only a few are to be added to an existing 

 plantation, or the gaps in the latter to be filled, it will 

 be an advantage to put the offshoots in their perma- 

 nent locations from the beginning, where quarantine 

 restrictions permit one to do so. 



Arabic authorities go into great detail on the 

 proper method of planting offshoots. Faqir Amin al 

 Madani advises that a hole a yard square and equally 

 deep be dug, and ashes be mixed with a third of the 

 dirt removed, which is then put back in the excava- 

 tion. The shoot is planted, and one-third more of the 

 earth put upon it. After it begins to grow the remain- 

 ing earth is added in light layers from time to time. 

 In general the Arabs never use manure or other 

 fertilizer in planting offshoots, and their practice is 

 doubtless correct, unless in special cases where the 

 soil is lacking in some element. A common practice is 

 to place the base of the palm on a handful of small 

 stones: it is thought that this makes the roots spread 

 out more widely and draw more nourishment from 

 the soil. 



The shoot should be planted to the depth of its 

 greatest diameter, or a httle deeper in case it is long 

 and slender; but the terminal bud must always be 

 kept high and dry, for if water gets access to it it will 

 be scalded or rot. The bulb of the offshoot should be 

 set perpendicularly; if the stem is then leaning, it 



