A Valuable Tree for California [pp. 73-77]

A Valuable Tree for California.
vast number of these trees: "For upwards of one hundred and twenty miles
along the western and southern coasts
of Ceylon, one continuous line of cocoanut groves wave their green leaves to
the sea-breeze without a break; except
where some broad clear river cleaves the
line of verdure as it meets the sea."
The date palm, the most useful variety
of this great family, is a tall and graceful tree fifty or sixty feet in height, with
a broad and leafy top which expands into
a beautiful crown of leaves. It is the
most characteristic tree in Arabia, Persia, Nubia, Egypt, and the Barbary
States. While it finds a congenial home
in tropical India, it thrives as far north
as Italy and Spain.
The date resembles a plum but is longer in proportion. The pulp is soft and
sweet. Each berry when filled to plumpness is covered with a delicate bloom,
while its bright color contrasts strikingly with the dark green leaves. The date
is rich in sugar - more so than any other
known fruit -and is very wholesome.
Those who only know this fruit from
the dried specimens of it sold in our
fruit stores, can hardly imagine how delicious it is when eaten fresh from the
trees. While there is not as great a difference between the fresh and dried
date as between the green and dried
apple, yet the difference is similar in
character. The people of date regions
will not eat the dried fruit after it is a
little old, when the fresh ones can possibly be obtained.
The date varies in size and quality
under cultivation as much as the peach
in our more northern regions. There
are some varieties without seeds or
stones, and like the orange there are
some that are bitter, while most varieties are sweet. In color they vary from
black to white; the red, or China date,
is common, and there are others of a yellowish hue.
Famous as the date is for its fruit, every part of the tree has its special value
to the dwellers in desert lands. The
wood is used for house building and for
fences, the leaves supply a thatch, and
the footstalks are consumed for fuel.
Not man alone lives upon the date, but
horses, camels, and even dogs eat this
fruit with great eagerness. The seeds
are ground into a pulp, an oil is pressed
from the same and then the refuse is fed
to cattle. The young leaves and the
pith they enclose -known under the
name of palm cabbage -are so highly
esteemed that thousands of trees are
destroyed every year to obtain this delicacy. Palm wine is famous through Africa, and is made by fermenting the sap.
Each tree yields from three to four
quarts of sap daily for about two weeks.
The roasted seeds are often used as a
substitute for coffee. Baskets are made
from the footstalks of the tree, and the
fibrous parts are used for cordage, while
mats and bags are made from the leaves.
It yields such quantities of sugar that
in India alone 130,00ooo,000pounds of date
sugar are manufactured. The leaves,after
being macerated in water, are made into
hats and fans. The seeds, after being
burned, are used by the Chinese to make
India ink. The leaves are made into
walking sticks, weapons, mats, and sails.
As the poet has expressively said,
"And in the hour of his great release,
His need of the palm shall only cease
With the shroud wherein he lieth in peace."
One reason why so few have ever attempted to grow the date palm in this
State has been the length of time required to bring the tree into bearing from
the time the seed is planted. There are
four ways of reproducing this tree - by
the seed, from the root, by shoots, and
by planting the axil of the leaves. The
latter is the preferable plan for two reasons. First, that the tree can be grown
and fruit produced in five or six years.
This alone is sufficient to cause this
method to take the place of planting the
seed for reproduction. But there is a
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[Jan.