DATES. 7^ 



their measure of sugar, then another layer of bread toasted 

 and again currants. Pour over half a cup of warm water 

 and bake one hour. 



Curi-ant Sliort-Oake.— Make like strawberry short-cake 

 (described under the head of strawberries), and serve with- 

 out cream and while warm. 



THE DATE. 



" There dates oJ agate and of jasper lay. 

 Dropped from the bounty of the pregnant palm." 



No tree occupies so prominent a place in poem and pict- 

 ure as the date-palm with its plentiful fruitage of dates. 

 It is associated with slow-moving caravans and dasky, tur- 

 baned Arabs, with the boundless desert and clusters of 

 domes outlined against a cloudless horizon, with the camel 

 and all the spices and puesy of the orieot. In our prosa- 

 ic hemisphere the fruit often becomes a shapeless mass of 

 consolidated sweetness, coarse in taste and appearance. 

 Yet the date-palm is known as one of the most highly- 

 prized of all trees since its fruit furnishes food to millions 

 of oar race. 



A native of the north of Africa and the south-west of 

 Asid, the date forms the staple article of diet in Persia, 

 Arabia, and a portion of Africa. It contains 58 per cent 

 of sugar, besides a large amount of gum and other essen- 

 tia] elements. It is used both when fresh and dried, be- 

 sides fumiKhing wine and vinegar after distillation. 



Nor is this the only value of the date-bearing tree. 

 Food is procured from the undeveloped panicles of the 

 flowers, the roasted seeds are made into coffee, while from 

 them an oil is expressed; baskets are made from leafstalks, 



