The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1881-11-02
The Date Palm.
Nrs4x The NeW York Tribune.

lust as the coCOanut palm Is the pain
of the sea coasts; the former renders
the deserts passab!e, and, to GER
tain extent, habitable; the latter col
onizes the otherwise barren islands
and islets OF the tropical seas, and
supports large population without
labor. Of this ancient and remarka-
BILE plant, So lnseparably associated
with the earliest races OF mankind
of which we have any history, The
Gardeners Chronicle lately compiled
some trustworthy and interesting
information, for part OF which we
make room, as follows:
"The date palm alone preserves,
and to great extent constitutes,
those small isolated spots Of vegeta-
ton chars cseristic OF the wide, wide
Sahara. In their 6gurative language
the Arabs say, this King of the
GASES plunges its feet into the water,
and its head into the fire OF heaven
This pretty accurately descbes the
conditions under which 1t fourishes
best. Where the atmosphere is hui
mid or the rainfall considerable, there
the date palm will not ripen its fruit.
Cosson states that if there is such
thing as an oasis in Europe it is at
Elche in Valencia, where there is a
plantation OF 10000 date palms ripen.
ing their fruit Under the shade of
the date cereals and many other
plants are cultivated. Generally
speaking the destruction of tree is
regarded as a sinful act, and the
most deplora0le results have tol>
lowed the cutting down OF the enc
mys date palms in warfare. Exten.
sive areas have been thereby rendered
permanently desolate. "Abundant
moisture at the roots, great heat,
at least during the summer, much
sunshine and little rainfall, are the
most essential conditions in the cul>
tivation of the date. Neither the
fiercest heat of the sun nor the
strongest winds injure It's foliage.
The wind may bend the crown 10
the earth, or even uproot the tree,
but it is incapable OF breaking its
trunk, and it will bear without in>
jury 10 deg or II deg. OF frost, as
well as very low night temperatures
succeeding very high day tempera>
lures. The nature of the soil is Of
little Importance, provided always
there is plenty OF water, which may
be either fresh or brackish. Like
most OF our fruit trees that have been
long under cultivation, the date palm
has given birth to innumerable va
rieties, and these increase in number
as we recede from either the Polar
or Equatorial limits OF its cultivation,
whereas only two are distinguished
at Elche in Spain, and Thebes in
Persia. Cosson enumerates seventy
five for the oasis of Zibau.
These varieties differ in the con-,
sistence, shape, color and ripening
season OF the fruit and they bear
such names as the Beauty OF Mimon,
the Gazelle's Horn, Doves Egg,
Birds Brain, Bitter Sweet, Sweel>
ness Itself, etc. Propagation is usu-
ally effected by means Of suckers, as
they not only perpetnate the variety
pure, but come into bearing much
younger, and the cultivator runs NO
risk OF over production of the male
plants IN five years they produce
fruit, though they do not come into
full bearing until they are about
thirty years old Alter they attain
eighty Or ninety years the crop be-
gins TO diminish, yet they sometimes
continue bearing until they are 300
years old. The trunk is of very slow
growth, AID eventually reaches a
height OF seventy or eighty feet.
Ain Old tree that produces fruit OF a
superior quality Is sometimes reju>
venatcd by banking up the trunk
with mud 20 the depth OF TWO yards.
Ii about a years time it is rooted
in the mud; it is then cut off above
the old roots ard transplanted.
although the inhabitants of the
desert aubsist tor loug periods al
most or quite upon dates, yet these
do not replace every other article OF
diet as the cocoanut does in some
regions. They may replace milk,
fish and meat, but grain is regarded
as necessary concom!tant Dates
are prepared tor eating in a variety
OF ways. An Arabian proverb says
that good housewife knows how
to dish her husband up dates differ.
emily every day for month. AniN
mails as well as human beings draw a
great part Of TIER nourishment from
dates The seeds are given to animals.
Fresh fruit is very largely con.