313 HORTICULTURAL MANUAL. 



soon become a popular fruit in all the States where it 

 cannot be grown. 



209. Propagation and After Care.— The seeds germinate 

 readily when planted, even under the most unfayorable 

 conditions. We have known them to germinate in the 

 streets of Aines, Iowa, where seeds were dropped that grew 

 to a height of five or six inches, with continual travel 

 around and over them. But they do not come true from 

 seed, and up to the present no way is known to distinguish 

 the pistillate from the staminate trees until they blossom. 

 But with further experience — as with the Buifalo-berry — 

 it is probable that some close observer will reveal the sex 

 diiierence when the plants are young. The usual plan is 

 to bank up earth about the crown of the variety to be 

 propagated and above the base of the suckers, keeping the 

 earth moist by daily watering. Usually the suckers are 

 severed partly from the crown before mounding, which 

 favors the emission of roots and makes it easier to separate 

 the plants when rooted. With the aid of glass covering 

 to lessen evaporation and the liberal use of water, the 

 suckers can be rooted in pots by severing them with a 

 sharp chisel close to the crown of the parent and using 

 them as green cuttings (63). When grown in pots it is 

 far easier to transplant them in orchard where they are 

 exposed to a dry air and hot sun. But in transplanting, 

 the Arab saying that "the date should have its head in 

 the fire and its roots in the water," should be kept in 

 mind. In orchard planting it is usual to plant about one 

 male tree to twenty-five pistillate ones, and to pollinate, the 

 great clusters of flowers of male blossoms are tied to the 

 leaf-stems above the cluster when expanded. But where 

 the two sexes are growing near each other the clusters 

 seem to be pollinated most likely .by insects. 



