HOW DATES ARE GROWN.

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1399, 31 May 1923, Page 3

HOW DATES ARE GROWN.

Commenting on Hie rec.eiu report on •])a.es and Date- Cultivation in Irak ' ; issued by the .Mesopotamian agrii ill- , lura 1 directorate, the Geographical j Journal gives the reminder that the | date palm lias the outstanding pemi- ! Parity that it, as a rule, matures its fruit only in a rainless land of intense j and prolonged summer beat, rain pre- ! venting fertilisation of the Powers and ripening of the fruit. On Hie other hand, the roots require to he liberally supplied with water, so that the habi- j ia! of Hie tree las a fruit producer) is ; limited to the irrigable dry belts on j either side of the tropics, in Irak it. j nourishes everywhere, if watered and attended, southward of Ami on the j Euphrates and Samara on the Tigris, j hut the most important area is that of j the Shat al Arab, which is in fact the ] largest single area of date cultivation I in the world. Both hanks are- lined j with dale gardens for LOS miles, and j the total number of palms may per- ; haps reach la to Bi million. Al- | though not particular as to soil, the j tree will only yield a good crop if the j land is thoroughly cultivated, and in i I lie Shat al Arab the custom is to dig I the ground every fourth year to a | depth of 4ft. shallow digging being | given in the other years. If subsidiary J crops are grown ip the_date gardens. \ the cultivation they receive is con- ' sidered sufficient for the palms. The j requisite water is provided by tidal in- j undation, by gravitation flow, or by I lift by various means from the river ! or wells; and the tree appears able to flourish when irrigated by rerv j different waters -clear, silt dadeti!, j salty, sulphurous, etc. In maturing j the date passes through four distinct j stages, known as Chimri. Khalal. Ratal) and Tamar. The fully ripened tamar form the dried dates of the 1 market. Dates exported from Basra j are of four main kinds, going chiefly ) to the United Kingdom. India and the ! United States. The total export, in j 1919 was estimated to reach a value j of 2GB lakhs of rupees, of which 111 I represented the export to the United j Kingdom and 73 that to India. j