Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1901 — Introducing the Date Palm. [ARTICLE]

Introducing the Date Palm.

The date palm may solve the problem of what to do with the arid ’and alkali lands of Arizona and other western states. Experiments have been made in the past, but renewed interest is being taken by the section of plant introduction of the department of agriculture. According to the New York Sun Professor D. G. Fairchild, agricultural explorer for the department, now traveling in Africa, has procured a number of suckers, or offshoots, from the delta of the Nile, which will be distributed in the southwestern portion of this country. In the United States the date is an article of luxury, but in its native country it is a most important food, many regions in Arabia and the Sahara being uninhabitable but for the date palm.