882 
and a piece tied near the opening of each 
female panicle. 
The date palm, whether male or female, 
varies greatly as to time of blooming. It 
always blooms late, however, thus escap- 
ing injury from late spring frosts. In 
Arizona the blossoming period begins 
about April 15 and continues six weeks 
or more. In planting male trees suckers 
should be selected from those that blos- 
som earliest and most profusely and con- 
tinue in bloom from three to five weeks. 
The varieties of dates are almost innu- 
merable. They vary greatly in size, color, 
sweetness, delicacy of flavor, and length 
of time required to mature. The dates of 
commerce are usually light colored, these 
being of firmer texture, and are hence 
preferable for shipping purposes. 
The average yield of a tree is eight 
bunches, each weighing about 17% 
pounds, though they may weigh as much 
as 44 pounds. In Arizona seedling trees 
seven years of age have produced up- 
wards of 200 pounds in a single season. 
Young trees blossoming the first or second 
time should not be allowed to bear more 
than four or five bunches. 
Among the various enemies of the 
date, birds and bees do much injury by 
feeding on the ripe fruit. Cheese cloth 
sacks loosely inclosing the bunches on 
the tree afford the best protection. The 
expense should not exceed 10 cents per 
tree. Grasshoppers do much damage by 
feeding on the foliage. The most serious 
pest that the date has in this country is 
a scale insect that was imported on palms 
several years ago. The insect is small, 
but conspicuous against the dark green 
leaves, both sides of which are infested. 
The Arizona station has not yet discov- 
ered any means of eradicating the pest. 
Applications of whale-oil soap washes and 
fumigation with hydrocyanic-acid gas 
have been only partially successful. 
Office of Experiment Stations, U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Bulletin 92 
Delaware 
Delaware has a land area of 1,257,600 
acres, and with the exception of Rhode 
Island, is the smallest state in the union. 
Tt has a population of 202,322, a large per- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
centage of which live in manufacturing 
centers. There were reported in 1909 
10,836 farms which give a fairly good esti- 
mate of the number of farmers. The aver- 
age number of acres per farm is 95.6, and 
the average value of farm land per acre 
is $33.63. 
The soil and climate are not much dif. 
ferent from those of New Jersey, or any 
of the portions of country along the Atlan- 
tic coast. There is in the soil a consid- 
erable mixture of clay and sand with 
some humus, which renders it adaptable 
to the growing of fruits, melons, potatoes 
and vegetables. The waters also furnish 
reasonable protection from frosts. It has 
been supposed that Delaware was espe- 
cially adapted to the growing of peaches; 
and some supposed it would soon become 
a great peach orchard; but at the time of 
the largest hopes in this direction, the 
“Peach Yellows,” a disease not well under- 
stood, struck the orchards and thousands 
of acres of trees were dug up, while the 
planting was in a considerable degree 
checked. According to the census of 1910 
Delaware had of peaches and nectarines 
1,177,402 trees; apples, 429,753; pears, 
449,692; grapes, 260,936 vines, and straw: 
berries, 7,194 acres. In 1909 the produc- 
tion of all orchard fruits together was 
65 per cent less than in 1899. 
For market facilities, there is no state 
more favorably situated than is Delaware. 
Of the total value of crops in 1909, 51.4 per 
cent was contributed by cereals, 21.1 per 
cent by potatoes and vegetables, 12.9 per 
cent by hay and forage, and 15.6 per cent 
by small fruits, forest products, orchard 
fruits and nuts. 
GRANVILLE LOWTHER 
Progress in Apple Growing in Delaware 
Progress in apple growing in Delaware 
in twenty years is from practically noth- 
ing to a respectable crop. To realize just 
what has been done, a comparison must 
be drawn between then and now. 
Then a few venturous spirits had been 
making excursions into the unknown by 
planting any variety that any one recom- 
mended. Out of that hodge podge of 
planting had appeared some few varieties 
seemingly well adapted for use here, but 
