Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1901 — PALMS FOR ARID PLAINS. [ARTICLE]

PALMS FOR ARID PLAINS.

Trees From the iille May Solve the Waste Lands Problem. The department of agriculture seems to entertain the belief that the date palm may solve the problem of what to do with the arid and alkali lands of Arizona, California and other western states. Experiments have,, been made in the past by the departmrent and experiment stations, but renewed Interest is being taken by the section of plant Introduction of the department Of agriculture, and 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 he has shipped to the department and which will be distributed in the southwestern part 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 ths date palm. The United States annually Imports nearly $1,000,000 worth of dates, but it Is possible, the de-

partment believes, to raise all the dates needed in this country. The date palm, although grown profitably only in arid and semi-arid regions, Is not in the proper sense of the word a desert plant. It requires a fairly abundant, and, above all, a constant supply of water at the roots, and at the same time it delights in a perfectly dry and very hot climate. The date palm la able to stand much more cold than an orange tree, but not so much as a peach tree.