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India. It has been cultivated, and much prized throughout most of these regions from the remotest antiquity. Its cultivation and use are described on the mural tablets of the See also:

ancient Assyrians. In See also:

ARABIA

Arabia it is the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief source of See also:

NATIONAL

national See also:

WEALTH

wealth, and its fruit forms the See also:

STAPLE

staple See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article of See also:

food in that See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country. The tree has also been introduced along the Mediterranean shores of See also:

EUROPE

Europe; but as its fruit does not ripen so far See also:

north, the See also:

EUROPEAN

European See also:

PLANTS

plants are only used to See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply leaves for the festival of Palm See also:

SUNDAY

Sunday among Christians, and for the celebration of the See also:

PASSOVER

Passover by See also:

Jews. It was introduced into the new See also:

WORLD

world by See also:

early See also:

SPANISH

Spanish missionaries, and is now cultivated in the dry districts of the south-western See also:

UNITED

United States and in See also:

Mexico. The date palm is a beautiful tree, growing to a height of from 6o to 8o ft., and its See also:

STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem, which is strongly marked with old See also:

LEAF (O. Eng. leaf, cf. Dutch loof, Ger. Laub, Swed. lof, &c.; possibly to be referred to the root seen in Gr. Ma-eta, to peel, strip)

leaf-scars, terminates in a See also:

CROWN

crown of graceful shining pinnate leaves. The See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring in branching spadices from the axils of the leaves, and as the trees are unisexual it is necessary in cultivation to fertilize the See also:

FEMALE

female flowers by artificial means. The fruit is oblong, fleshy and contains one very hard See also:

SEED (from the root seen in Lat. serere, to sow)

seed which is deeply furrowed on the inside. The fruit varies much in See also:

SIZE

size, See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour and quality under cultivation. Regarding this fruit, W.

G. See also:

Palgrave (Central and Eastern Arabia) remarked: " Those who, like most Europeans at See also:

home, only know the date from the dried specimens of that fruit shown beneath a See also:

LABEL (a French word, now represented by lambeau, possibly a variant; it is of obscure origin and may be connected with a Teutonic word appearing in the English " lap," a flap or fold)

label in See also:

SHOP

shop-windows, can hardly imagine how delicious it is when eaten fresh and in Central Arabia. Nor is it, when newly gathered,See also:

HEATING

heating,a defect inherent to the preserved fruit everywhere; nor does its richness, however See also:

GREAT

great, bring satiety; in See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short it is an article of food alike pleasant and healthy." In the oases of See also:

SAHARA

Sahara, and in other parts of Northern Africa, See also:

DATES

dates are pounded and pressed into a cake for food, The dried fruit used for dessert in European countries contains more than See also:

HALF

half its See also:

WEIGHT

weight of. See also:

SUGAR

sugar, about 6 % of albumen, and 12 % of gummy See also:

MATTER

matter. All parts of the date palm yield valuable economic products. Its See also:

TRUNK (Fr. tronc, Lat. truncus, cut off, maimed)

trunk furnishes See also:

TIMBER

timber for See also:

house-See also:

BUILDING

building and See also:

FURNITURE (from " furnish," Fr. fournir)

furniture; the leaves supply See also:

THATCH (O.E. thaec; the word is common to many Teutonic languages in the sense of " roof," " cover "; cf. Du. dak, Ger. Dach; from Du. dekken comes " deck "; the Indo-European root is stag, whence Gr. or.yos, roof, Lat. tegere, to cover; the French equiva

thatch; their footstalks are used as See also:

FUEL (O. Fr. feuaile, popular Lat. focalia, from focus, hearth, fire)

fuel, and also yield a fibre from which cordage is spun. Date sugar is a valuable commercial product of the East Indies, obtained from the See also:

sap or toddy of Phoenix sylvestris, the toddy palm, a tree so closely allied to the date palm that it has been supposed to be the See also:

PARENT, SIMON NAPOLEON (1855– )

parent stock of all the cultivated varieties. The juice, when not boiled down to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form sugar, is either drunk fresh, or fermented and distilled to form arrack. The uses of the other parts and products of this tree are the same as those of the date palm products. Date palm See also:

MEAL

meal is obtained from the stem of a small species, Phoenix farinifera, growing in the See also:

hill country of See also:

SOUTHERN

southern India. For further details see See also:

Sir G. See also:

WATT, JAMES (1736-1819)

Watt, See also:

DICTIONARY

Dictionary of the Economic Products of India (1892) ; and The Date Palm, U.S. See also:

DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

Department of See also:

Agriculture, See also:

BUREAU (a Fr. word from burel or bureau, a coarse cloth used for coverings)

Bureau of Plant, See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

Industry, Bulletin No.

53 (W. T. Swingle), 1904.

End of Article: DATE PALM

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