In Chaldaea, however, it was increased sometimes from suckers or offshoots thrown up from the stem of the old tree; at other times by a species of cutting, the entire head being struck off with about three feet of stem, notched, and then planted in moist ground.
Several varieties of the tree were cultivated; but one was esteemed above all the rest, both for the size and flavor of the fruit.

It bore the name of "Royal," and grew only in one place near Babylon.
Beside these two precious products, Chaldaea produced excellent barley, millet, sesame, vetches and fruits of all kinds.

It was, however, deficient in variety of trees, possessing scarcely any but the palm and the cypress.

Pomegranates, tamarisks, poplars, and acacias are even now almost the only trees besides the two above mentioned, to be found between Samarah and the Persian Gulf.

The tamarisk grows chiefly as a shrub along the rivers, but sometimes attains the dimensions of a tree, as in the case of the "solitary tree" still growing upon the ruins of Babylon.