784 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in Trinidad, Antigua, Jamaica, and Porto Rico. The only fungoid disease 

 which has hitherto given trouble in connection with the Date Palm is that 

 known as Graphiola phmiicis, which is known throughout Europe, 

 wherever the Date Palm or Chamcerops is cultivated, whether in the open 

 or in hot-houses. — M. C. C. 



Date Palm, The. By E. Bonavia (Gard. Chron. No. 913, p. 401, 

 June 25, 1904). — Dr. Bonavia gives a resume of reports on the cultivation 

 of this Palm: "Persian Gulf Dates," by D. G. Fairchild, and "The 

 Date Palm," by W. T. Swingle; Bulletins of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, Washington. The first bulletin is mainly occupied with descrip- 

 tions of the various plantations in the Persian Gulf, and of the best 

 varieties cultivated there : it has several good illustrations. " On the 

 banks of the Shat-el-Arab, which is formed by the junction of the 

 Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, is to be found the largest single Date-pro- 

 ducing region in the world. There are probably over five or six million 

 Palms planted along the banks of the river on a strip of land varying 

 from less than a mile to four miles in width and some seventy miles in 

 length." The second bulletin treats more of the propagation and cul- 

 tivation of these Palms. They have been introduced into the deserts of 

 Arizona, where they grow well. " A Date Palm will continue bearing, if 

 well cared for, until it is one hundred or more years old, producing an 

 average of from 60 to 200 lb. of fruit per year." "If waterlogging be 

 prevented, this plant can live and thrive when irrigated with water so salt 

 as to kill all ordinary plants. In Central Australia experiments have 

 been made in cultivating this Palm, which have been so far very successful." 



G. S. S. 



Date Palm, The, and its Utilisation in the South-Western 

 States. By Walter T. Swingle (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Bur. PL Ind., Bull. 

 No. 53 ; plates). — Deals with Date Palm culture in general, and is intended 

 to draw attention to its peculiar suitability to that part of South-Eastern 

 California generally called Colorado Desert, but which, since the com- 

 pletion of a system of irrigating canals fed by the Colorado River 60 miles 

 away, this writer prefers to call by the less invidious title of Salton Basin. 

 One great peculiarity about the Date Palm is its indifference to, and even 

 preference for, an amount of alkali in the soil which would be fatal to 

 almost any other form of vegetation, and, as the most pressing need of 

 Southern California and of parts of Arizona is for a crop which will with- 

 stand alkali, and as the climate of these two regions is suited to Palms, 

 the Department is anxious to encourage a great extension of Date-growing 

 there. Tables are here given showing the enormous quantities of Dates 

 imported yearly into the United States, and there seems no reason why 

 American growers should not set themselves to supply this demand ; while, 

 from hints given in Bulletin No. 54 of unsavoury details connected with 

 the packing of the Persian fruit, it would be obviously to the advantage 

 of the consumer to be able to buy his Dates in a more civilised market. 

 What the Date Palm must have during its growing season is blazing 

 sunshine, good water, and plenty of it. An Arab proverb says it must 

 have its feet in running water and its head in the fire of the sky, while, at 

 the same time, it is able to withstand at least as much cold as it would 



