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Persian Gulf Administration Reports 1883/84 - 1904/05 [‎22v] (49/602)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (299 folios). It was created in 1884-1906. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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42
administration report op the pee si an gulp political
The agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of winds and various nectar-loving flies and insects does not seem to be suffi
cient to effect tlie necessary fecundation, as in such cases the fruit yielded is stated to become
abortive or blighted, with little flesh, without stone, and totally insipid, and is termed " Shis/''
Consequently human agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. is considered essential for a fruitful impregnation.
The male spathe, as soon as it has attained its full size and maturity, which is known to
the cultivator by certain signs and indications, such as a faint rustling sound, elicited when the
central part of the spathe is gently pressed, or a peculiar seminal odour, detected by making a
slight indentation in the marginal part of the spathe, so as to expose the flower, which is cut
at its root and taken down.
The enclosing spathe is slit open and the flower-sprigs are gently detached from the spadix,
and carefully preserved in a basket, which is suspended in a spot protected from drafts of wind ;
the sprigs are allowed to dry for 20 to 24 hours before being used.
As soon as the female flowers have split open the spathe under their growing pressure,
the cultivator considers it time to commence the operation of fertilisation. He takes the
flower-twigs of the male palm, and deposits one or two in each bunch of the female blossom,
lightly binding it up with a strip of date leaf. If the cultivator finds that some of the larger
spathes have not split, to save him the trouble of reclimbing, he slits them open and deposits
the flower-sprigs in the blossom, as before. Only very small ones he leaves untouched, to be
attended to, if necessary, subsequently, when they have attained maturity. But, as a rule, he
does not allow all the flower-spathes, which vary from 12 to 24, to remain on the palm and form
fruit, because by doing so the fruit becomes small and degenerate, and during the next year the
yield of the fruit is lessened. According to the vigour of the palm, which he knows by ex
perience, he leaves 8 to, 12 bunches to form fruit. The excess is removed and consumed by
his people and friends. The sprigs of the male flower are preserved, in a dry form one or two
months and used as occasion demands. They are, however, before being used, slightly moistened
with water to prevent the pollen from being scattered and blown away by the wind.
It is stated that sometimes, when the male flower is not in sufficient quantity at " Kharg,"
the cultivators import it from Busrah. Pollen of one year cannot, it is stated, be preserved for
use during the next year, as it becomes spoiled- When the female blossom has thus been
treated with pollen, the supply of water is cut off for a time, varying from one and a half to
two months, as excess of water is said to be detrimental to a proper fertilisation.
The general method adopted for cultivating the date palm in these parts, where it is grown
for economic and commercial purposes, is that it is planted in extensive groves for facilities of
tending them and collecting the fruit. Spots are. selected where abundance of water is avail
able in shape of river, spring, " kanat," or well water ; in other places, where water from
wells is scanty, such spots are selected as can be irrigated by rain-torrents during the rainy
season.
A plot of ground is selected according to the number of palms which it is intended to
plant in a grove, which may consist of 80 to 150 or 200 palms, planted in regular rows, with
a distance of 12 to 15 feet between them. The grove is surrounded by a high " bund " for
purposes of admitting and retaining water in the grove, and generally regulating its irrigation,
being provided with inlets and outlets to admit and get rid of excess of water, especially that
from rain-torrents.
For the first two or three months, after the offshoots have been planted, they are watered,
each separately, by water carried to them in pots ; great care is taken that no mud gets into the
heart, or crown of the young plant, as it proves destructive to it. After the plants have struck
root they are watered once a week, a fortnight, or a longer interval is allowed to elapse, but
it is essential that they must be well watered once a month. When they have grown up
and have attained some age, they are watered once a month during the hot months only. At
Busrah, where water is abundant from the river, deep and wide trenches are dug between the
rows of the palms, and filled with water. But where water is scanty it is allowed to run down
in small channels to the foot of each palm, the ground being previously well dug up, loosened,
and turned over to allow of its thorough saturation.
Vegetables, lucerne, &c., are grown, as at Bahrain, in these groves, such a cultivation being
considered highly beneficial in improving the soil. With this object also the soil is ploughed
and turned over once a year to render it soft, porous, and permeable to ai/moisture.
In places which border the sea, fins of Awal or Lookhm, a species of Ray-fish, are used
for purposes of manuring the palm j two or three bits are buried at the foot of each palm, and
it is regularly watered once or twice a week until the whole is absorbed and disappears; or

About this item

Content

The volume contains printed copies of Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Administration Reports. The Reports are incomplete (according to the introductory letters and lists of contents). Some of the Reports bear manuscript corrections. The following Reports are represented :

The Reports include a general summary by the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. (covering the constituent agencies and consulates that made up the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , and topics such as the slave trade, piracy, the movements of Royal Navy ships, official appointments, and the weather); meteorological tables; separate reports on Muscat (also referred to as Maskat); reports on trade and commerce; and a number of appendices on special topics, such as supplementary notes on the care and culture of date trees and fruit (Report, 1883-84), historical sketch of the Portuguese in eastern Arabia (Report, 1884-85), notes on a tour through Oman and El-Dhahireh [Al Dhahirah] by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles (Report, 1885-86), notes on cholera in Persia (Report, 1889-90), report on the cholera epidemic in Maskat, Matrah, and Oman (Report, 1899-1900), and information on individuals and tribes.

Extent and format
1 volume (299 folios)
Arrangement

The Reports are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume. There is an introductory letter/table of contents at the front of each Report, but these show that the Reports are not complete.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation system in use commences at 3 on the second folio after the front cover, and continues through to 299 on the back cover. The sequence is written in pencil, enclosed in a circle, and appears in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Persian Gulf Administration Reports 1883/84 - 1904/05 [‎22v] (49/602), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/709, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023373225.0x000032> [accessed 1 December 2024]

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