'Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1877-78.' [260r] (65/165)
The record is made up of 1 volume (81 folios). It was created in 1878. 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. .
Transcription
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43
AND MUSCAT POLITICAL
AGENCY
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
FOR THE YEAR 1877-78.
Appendix B to Part II.
Memorandum on the system of cultivating the date palm in the vicinity of
Bushire, with some information connected with its growth, produce,
price, fyc., fyc., hy Mr. J. C. Edwards, %nd Assistant Resident.
Offshoots which sprout around the foot of the female tree are
procured from Busreh, Kateef or Bahrein, and transplanted to wherever
the cultivator may desire to have a date grove. These offshoots may
be procured of all sizes, hut the smaller ones—say one foot high—are
preferred, as the chances of injury from transplanting are less than to
those of a larger size. After being transplanted they require to be
watered daily for two or three years. The soil in which they are planted
should be soft, and the base of the plant surrounded with manure. The
manure used in these parts "for this purpose is horse-dung mixed with
earth, and allow’ed to decompose for a year before being used.
Where water is very plentiful these offshoots are known to have
sprung up rapidly and borne fruit within four or five years. But where
water is scarce, and the soil hard, ten or twelve years elapse before any^
signs of fruit are visible.
Opinions differ in regard to the rearing of date trees from seed.
Some aver that the trees thus reared never come to perfection; others
that theytdo and bear fruit, but are generally weak and never satisfactory.
It has also been suggested that if the date seed be planted with the fruit
it would germinate sooner and thrive better than if the seed were sown
alone. But all agree that offshoots are the best, inasmuch as they take
less time to grow, and are by far more strong and productive than the
trees reared from seed. These offshoots “ are extremely hardy, and may
remain for eight or ten weeks exposed without injury. Their average
weight is about six pounds.”
The date tree first shows its blossom in February; these sprout
around the heart of the tree in strong covers very much resembling sword
scabbards in shape. They split about March and show a bunch of
blossoms milky white in colour. The cultivator has now to decide what
number of bunches he should leave on the tree, and withdraws the
superabundance. The number of bunch blossoms on each tree varies
from 12 to 24, but it is seldom that more than 12 are allowed to remain
for fruit.
At this period also the cultivator has to impregnate the blossoms of
the female tree hy joining thereto some portion of the blossom of the
male tree. This is done by simply depositing a sprig or two from the
male into a bunch of the female blossom and lightly binding it up with
a sprio-. The male tree is distinguishable by its blossom, which is of a
reddish tinge, while that of the female is milky white. The blossom of
the male tree is only used for impregnating, and does not turn into fruit.
It is averred that in places where the date palm grows thick together,
the wind scatters the pollen of the male blossom, and that the female
trees thus become impregnated with it, saving the cultivator further
trouble on this head.
About this item
- Content
Administration report of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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 Muscat Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1877-78, published by Authority at the Foreign Department Press, Calcutta [Kolkata], 1878. The report is based on reports sent by the Officiating 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Charles Ross) and the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Muscat (Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Barrett Miles) to the Government of India. The report is preceded by a copy of a letter sent by Ross to Alfred Comyn Lyall, Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department, dated 8 July 1878, which enclosed the submission of the original reports.
The report is organised in a number of sections and subsections, as follows:
Part I: General Report, signed by Ross, and arranged under subheadings as follows: Oman; Arab Coast; Bahrein [Bahrain]; Nejd [Najd]; Province of Fars and the Persian Coast and Islands; Bushire; Coast from Bushire to Lingah [Bandar Lengeh]; Lingah; Bunder Abbass [Bandar Abbas]; Persian-Baloochistan [Baluchistan] Coast; Bassidore [Bāsaʻīdū]; Establishments; Slave-Trade; Appendices (including meteorological tables, notes on the Kara Aghach River by Dr Friedrich Carl Andreas*, the route from Bushire to Lar and Shiraz, and the route from Lar to Shiraz, the Persian Post Office and Foreign Postage, and tables of Persian money and measurements).
Part II: Report on trade of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. for the year 1877, signed by Ross and arranged under subheadings, as follows: Effects of late war on the trade; Steam communication; Grain harvest; Scarcity of coin; Opium; Pearl fisheries; Impediments to development of trade in Persia; and appendices (including notes on the pearling industry by Captain Edward Law Durand, notes on date palm cultivation by James Charles Edwards, and 31 tables of trade statistics covering imports/exports from/to the various ports and settlements of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and between the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and India).
Part III: Administration report of the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Muscat, for the year 1877-78, prepared by Miles and arranged under the following subheadings: Political; Official changes; Slave Traffic.
Part IV: Trade statistics for Muscat, prepared by Miles, and comprising of six tables covering imports, exports, and number and tonnage of vessels entering and leaving the port.
* Folio 246 - a map has been temporarily removed and replaced with a green sheet of paper noting its removal.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (81 folios)
- Arrangement
The report is arranged into four parts (I-IV).
- Physical characteristics
Pagination: The report has a pagination system which uses numbers printed in the top-left corner of versos and top-right corner of rectos.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/V/23/32, No 152
- Title
- 'Report on the Administration of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1877-78.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, 2r:2v, 232r:310r
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence