350 Man's Work on the Farm 



The Romans, though they had colonies all round 

 the shores of the inland sea, made no such changes 

 in its vegetation as those which followed the coming 

 of the Saracens. It is, indeed, curious to reflect 

 how much Europe owes in the way of beautiful 

 trees and flowers, and of useful plants, not only to 

 the fanatical, blood-thirsty Arab, but also to the 'un- 

 speakable ' Turk, who brought us the horse-chestnut, 

 tulip, and other ornamental plants. The Arab of 

 to-day carries with him the seeds of his favourite 

 plants, fruits and vegetables, even when he is on his 

 slave-making expeditions in the heart of Africa. And 

 wherever he settles, if it be but for a year or two, 

 there he makes a garden. 



It was so, also, in the eighth and following centuries. 

 Egypt, North Africa, Spain, the Balearic Islands, 

 South France, Sardinia, South Italy, Sicily, the Levant 

 — all felt his influence, for wherever he went he tried 

 to make the new country as home-like as possible. 



The planting of the first date-palm in Spain was 

 an important ceremony, performed by the first caliph, 

 Abdurrahman himself, in a garden near Cordova, his 

 capital ; and this tree is said to have been the ancestor 

 of all the palms of modern Spain, including the forest 

 of 60,000 fruit-bearing trees in Valencia. 



In Calabria and Sicily the palm was allowed almost 

 to die out again when the Saracens were gone, and for 

 the same reason as before — because it did not bear 

 fruit ; and it was not until the ceremony of the blessing 

 of palms on Palm Sunday was introduced, that people 

 began to think it worth cultivating for the sake of its 

 foliage only. 



Then, however, the palm began to be made much 



