88 
THE Tropical agriculturist. 
[Aug. 1, 1901. 
The Barbadoes gooseberry (Pereskia aculeata Mill,) ; 
the Granadilla ^Passiflora qnadrangularis, L.) ; the 
Water lemon (PasKiflora laiiiifolia L.) the Cape Goose- 
berry rPhysalis peruviana L ) and the Cucumbei Cus- 
tard apple (Monstera delioiosa, Liebm ) are all culti- 
vated in gardens, but, with the exception of the last 
two, only for ornamental puposea, althouRh they 
should ail be market produce. Of the Sapodilli, or 
na^eberry tree (A.chia-) sa oia, L.),a good fi-u't, sold 
in the Calcutta baz iar i under th' name of mangos- 
teen. " whieh it somewhat resembles but cannot.be 
compared to for flavour, a fine old tree exists in the 
inland of Roda which fruits annually ; no other exists 
in Egypt. 
The "Tamr Hindi ", or Tamarind ("Tamarindns indica 
L.J, is cultivated in gardens and flowers well, but 
cannot ripen its fruit in the Egyptian climate. Two 
fruit trees which might be introduced advantageously 
are the Avocado Pear or subaltern's butter (Persea 
gratissima Gortn.) an excellent fruit, and the Litchee 
of China (Nephelium Litchi Camb.) ; the former is 
abundant in Algeria. 
The total import of fresh fruit into Egypt is very con- 
siderable, and in 1899, omitting dates, melons and 
water-melons amounted to 51,691 tons valued at L.E. 
44,079 ; more than I/.') of the whole came from Malta 
and Gibraltar, the same from Italy and about 2/5 from 
Turkish porta. 
Although a humble annual, the "Pul Soudnni" or 
earthuut CArachis hyogesa, L.), claims our attention as 
a larger export produce than dates from B^ypl; and 
its cultivation, which onlv dates from the la-it twenty 
years, doee not, as might be imagined from the Arabic 
name, 1 ilong to th^ S 'udan. but to the Ftvoun and 
Delta, especially in 'he PrQvince of Ch rkieh, It is 
of Siuth A iiHrioa" o igin although much c titivated in 
Central Afiica ana throughout the tropical world. 
The export fiom Egypt was in 
1899 ... 1926 tons valued at L.E. 22.525 and in 
190» ... 1431 „ „ 167o3 or 
at obouti L.E. 12 per ton. Almost the whole export 
went to Turkish ports. 
" The consumption of this seed, " says Simonds, (1) 
" is held in such estimation for eating in the TJ.S A. 
{where it is known as the peanut; that flourishing 
sale stands are seen at almost every street-corner of 
Mew York. They are not much appreciated in Eng- 
land except by children. In America 3i million of 
bushels are sold annually. There are full 750,000 
bushels (18,750 tons) sold yearly in the city of New 
York alone. Previous to 1860 the product of peanuts 
in the U. S. A. did not amount to more than 150,000 
bushels (3,950 tons), and of this total nearly 5/6 were 
from North Carolina. It was estimated that Virgina, 
Tennessee, Georgia and Carolina, sent conjointly over 
3,000,000 bushels (75,000 tons) to market in 1886, of 
which 1/4 went to New York. As much as 10/- to 12/- 
is paid for the bushel £20 to £24 per ton). The yield 
is from 80 to 120 bushels per acre. " Apart from the 
question •f food the earthuut is a valuable plant for 
the oil contained in its seeds and pods, the former con- 
taining 45 0/0 aud the latter 30 0/0 of oil ; they make 
an excellent but expensive oilcake for feeding cattle. 
The cultivation of Henna (Lawsonia inermis, L. and 
L Bpinosa, L.) represents about the same export im- 
portance as dates and earthnuts. It is cultivated, 
like the latter, almost entirely in the Delta and pro- 
vince of Charkieh. The average export of the powder- 
ed leaves during the 15 years 1884 98 was 1,115 tons 
per annum, valued at L.E. 15,025 or about L.E. 13"5 
per ton. 
1899 ... 1178 tons valued at L.E. W.IK and in 
1900 ... 1294 „ „ 21.0.S6 or 
at from L.E. 16 to L.E 17 per ton. Nearly the whole 
of thi» went to Turkey, Tunisia and Algeria. None 
goes direct to great Britain but a portion of the small 
export to Malta, valued at L.E. 74, may find 
its way there for the purpose of making hair dye. 
The Henna is cultivated thr^ ughont India, as a hedge 
plant and in gardens, for the same purposes as in 
Egypt, and also as a hair dye. The glos«y jet-blaek 
colour of the hair so prized in the East is obtained by 
dyeing first with henna and then with indigo powder, 
each being made into a paste for that purpose, with a 
subsequent application of castor oil. < ertain Moslems 
prefer only the first part of the operation and leave the 
hiir of a brilliant red, dyeing the manes and tails. of 
their horses of the same colour. — The Egyptian Gazette. 
« 
THE COMMON DATE PALM. 
CAN IT BE GRAFTED? 
To THE Editob or THE Egvptian Gazette. 
Sir, — I shall be glad if any of your correspondents 
C ' Q itiform me, by means of your columns, of an in- 
stance they have known of a successful attempt to 
graft the common date palm. An Algerian agricul- 
turist, Count de F, — who makes the cultivition of this 
tree a speciality — has recently pointed out to a tra- 
veller at Biskra a date palm which he said he had 
himself grafted in the ordinary way when it was 
bfctween five and six years old ; this tree has now three 
branches or stems at its summit. The count informed 
the traveller that, for the purpose of grafting, he had 
made use of the young shoots, known to the Arabs as 
" ragab, " which, occasionally, are found in the axils 
of the lower leaves near the base of the tree and are 
much smaller than those arising from the rhizomes 
beneath the ground (known as '• job^r ") which are the 
usual means of propagating the date palm. The fact 
of the existence of the triple-crowned stem is indispu- 
table; but that it has resulted from the ordinary pro- 
cess of grafting appears almost incredible. 
The curious mode in use in Egypt of continuing by 
"layering " (murcottage) the propagation of a valuable 
kind of date palm, which is deteriorating without any 
young shoots by which to replace it, has been accurate- 
ly described by Figari Bey in his '• Scientific Studies 
in Egypt. " In this case, a cylindrical hole is bored, 
horizontally, in the stem, about six inches in diameter, 
at twelve feet from the summit of the tree ; in this is 
placed a corresponding piece of wood, projecting at 
each end, to which is attached, below, a sort of sack, 
made of matting and filled with good eariih and manure, 
which is carefully watered every few days for nine or 
ten months ; the upper portion of the trunk is secured 
by ropes to neighbouring trees during the aboTe-men- 
tioned period. When the new roots are well formed 
(after expiration of ten months) the tree is sawn 
through near the base, and carefully lowered down, 
the newly rooted part being then removed and planted 
in the place previously prepared for it. In two years, 
ifnot tco old, it will give excellent fauit of precisely 
the quality of the original tree. With care, date-palms 
forty or fifty years old many be safely tran'^planted. 
But "grafting" a palm tree is a long way in advance 
of any such process as the above, and I should like 
to bo convinced. — Egyptian Gazette. 
I am, etc., 
Appella. 
To Preserve Young Limes. — Millions of limes go 
to waste every year in this island, which with very 
little trouble and slight cost could be made into a 
delicious and very saleable preserve. The following 
method of preserving young limes will be found 
useful : — Use limes not over i inches in diameter. 
Prepare brine by dissolving salt in water until an 
egg will float, in which place the limes for from 
ten to fourteen days ; then cut these in halves and 
scoop out the pulp ; boil the skins in two or more 
waters until the salt and essential oil are removed ; 
stew them in syrup made from white granulated 
sugar. If crystallised limes are required, after they 
are stewed dry them and dip them several times in 
thick syrup, drying them after each dipping. — Journal 
of the Jam%ca Agricultural Society- 
