The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-08-31

seedlin" variety that may be desired
+ for further study
Planters who undertake to set out
, seeding orchards viii be given the
preference in arranging for the distri-
| button of imported offshoots and will
; be supplied in the order of their appli-
cations as long as the supply of off
shoots holds out. In addition, they will
have the right TO all the offshoots
which are produced by the imported
palms given them as a bonus, and will
not be required, as are all other reel
| pients, to give one half Of the offshoots
to the Department of Agriculture.
Under these terms. therefore, it is
j possible for the grower to establish a
| fair-sized orchard of date palms at a
very little expense beyond the labor of
caring for the same. Even supposing
that the seedlings prove of very little
value, the grower would still have from
one-fortieth to one twentieth of the or
chard planted to choice imported off
shoots adapted to his soil and climate,
After these had been set out from FIVE
to six years, he would get on an average
of one offsh0ot year from each palm
for from five to ten years; that is, by
the time the seedlings were in full bear
ing, say five years after planting, he
would have every year enough otfshoots
from each acre planted to imported va
rieties to plant one acre additional,
which would practically insure him
against loss, even in the very improb-
able event that none of the seedlings
proved valuable.
The Department of Agriculture has
on hand some thousands of seeds of the
choicest varieties of the world. These
are now available for distribution and
will be sent TO any applicant who will
give a detailed statement regarding his
land-the exact location, township,
range, section, quarter-section, ETC..
character of the soil, facilities for irri-
CATION, and such other information as
may be pertinent.
It may be stated that in the hottest
regions large proportion of the female
date palms yield marketable fruit,
while in colder situations many of them
do not come to full maturity. Such
seeding orchards are therefore most
promising in the Salton Basin, Salt Riv,
er and ella River Valleys in Arizona,
and the valley of the Colorado river
from Needles to Yuma. However, in
case settlers in the interior valleys of
California or other localities not hot |
enough to grow late varieties wish to
set out seeding orchards, they will be |
sent seeds of the earliest varieties and |
will be given imported offshoots of the |
earliest sorts which are most likely to |
ripen in their locality.
The following paragraph from Won |
Muellers Select Extra Tropical |
Plants is also of interest:
North Africa, also inland; Arabia, |
Persia. This noble palm attains finally |
a height of eighty, exceptionally l20 |
feet. It is unisexual and of longevity. |
The trees of from 100 to 200 years old |
continue to produce their annual crop |
of dates though gradually at every |
age at diminished rates. |
Though sugar or palmwine can be OBJ
tanned from the sap, and hats, mats and
similar articles can be manufactured |
from the leaves, we would utilize this 1
palm beyond scenic garden ornaments
ton only for its fruit. The date palm
would afford in time to come real
boon in the case of desert-tracts, swept |
bv burning winds, where although it
might be grown also in the valleys of
and in any part or lowlands
free of severe frost. Several punches
Of flowers are formed in a season, each
producing often as many as two hun
1red dates. In Egypt as many as 4
,wt. of dates have been harvested in
1ne season from a single date palm.
Many varieties of dates exist, differing
in shape, size and color of the fruit;
those of Gomera are large and contain
no seed. The unexpanded flower
punches can be used for palm-cabbage
and the fiber, of the leaf-stalks for
.ordage The town Elche, in Spain, is
by planted forests of about
5000 date palms, and the sale of leaves
for decorative purposes produces con.
siderable income TO the town, irrespec- |
tive of the value of the date fruits;
and so it is at Alicante. As far north
as the Gulf of Genoa also a date for
est exists. The ease with which this
palm grows from seeds affords facility
N adapted chimes to initiate these ex
amples, and we certainly ought to fol-
ow them in all parts of Australia and
m similar Chimes The best dates are
gfown in GASES, where fresh water
pushes from the ground in abundance |
md spreads over light soil of the des,
ert subject to burning winds. The Ia,
lie variety produces the heaviest crop, |
averaging 800 pounds to the tree; SUI
1erior varieties can only be continued
rom offshoots of the root; these will
commence to bear IN five years and be
n full bearing at ten years; one male
rec is considered sufficient for half a
hundred females.
"'ThA pollen-dust is sparingly applied
" artificial means. The date palm will
i've in saltish soil, and the water for
is irrigation may be slightly brackish
SurgeonM Major ColviH). F."
With reference to the remark of
our correspondent that the sap forms
refreshing drink which is sometimes
,ermented and is the source of arrack' -
the latter part of the statement APP |
,ears to require some qualification The
zap of the date palm is certainly not
he exclusive source of 'arrack. - The
after is probably a generic term ap-
lied to various fermented beverages
obtained from several sources-rice
wen being used for the production of
kind of arrack. / am unfortunately