180 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



As a result of the use of this method tlie i)ercentiipe of fancy dates 

 of the Deglet Noor variety as grown in the Coachelhi ^'alley of 

 California has been more than donl)]o(l and tlie number of pickings 

 reduced from 12 to 2. In addition, the linal curing of the fruit is 

 greatly simplified, being accomplished by proper handling in a 

 moist, warm room for only a few hours. As a result of this method, 

 it is believed that date culture will be extended from the Coachella 

 Valk\y, where it is now centered, to the Imperial, Yuma, and Palo 

 \erde Valleys in California, the Salt and (iila River Valleys in 

 Arizona, and to some parts of the Rio (irande Valley in Texas. 



OHgin of neio varieties of dates hy breeding. — During the past 10 

 years steady progress has been made in the breeding of new varieties 

 of dates by using the pollen of pedigreed male trees to fertilize choice 

 varieties. Probably 50,000 seedling dates have fruited in California 

 during the past 10 years, and a few of these are choice varieties 

 worthy of propagation. 



There can be no doubt at the present time that date varieties as 

 good as any that have been imported from the date gardens of the 

 Old "World are being originated in the southwestern United States. 

 Even the famous Deglet Noor, perhaps the choicest sort now grown 

 commercially, has been reproduced in seedlings, having, it is true, 

 certain slight differences from the mother variety, some of them 

 advantageous. 



Importation of date offshoots from Egypt. — In the spring of 1920 

 an expert of the Bureau of Plant Industry went to E^ypt and was 

 able to secure, with the cooperation of the Egyptian Government, a 

 large number of offshoots of tAvo Egj-ptian varieties that have proved 

 to be well adapted to cultivation in the United States. Some 2,000 

 offshoots are of the Saidy variety, which is adapted for culture in 

 the hottest valleys of the Southwest, such as the Coachella and Im- 

 perial Vallej^s of California, and some of the hotter irrigated dis- 

 tricts of Arizona. This variet}^ is noteworthy in that the fruit im- 

 proves on storage and is distincth'^ better at Easter than when picked 

 from the trees in November. The standard Deglet Noor variety, on 

 the contrary, is best when first picked and unless stored very care- 

 fully deteriorates after a few months. It is confidently believed that 

 the Saidy and Deglet Noor can be grown together advantageously in 

 the principal date regions of the Southwest. 



The Saidy also has a very great advantage in that the mother tree 

 produces a very large number of offshoots; 25 or even more may be 

 produced during the offshoot-bearing period of the mother tree, 

 whereas an average of only half this number of offshoots will be 

 produced by a Deglet Noor palm in the same period of time. Fur- 

 thermore, the Saidy offshoots are very easy to root. 



It appears certain that the Saidy, Avith its ability to produce nu- 

 merous offshoots that can easil}^ be rooted, will drive out the inferior 

 varieties Avhich might otherwise be propagated. This is a matter of 

 very great importance, since the planting of inferior varieties of the 

 date palm is more dangerous than with any other fruit tree, because 

 date palms can not be top-worked by budding or grafting to better 

 varieties. The inferior trees must be dug up aud destroyed if they 

 are to be replaced by better sorts. Because of the exi^ense of this it 

 is prolialde that in many instances an inferior sort once planted 

 would be allowed to remain, even though it yields little or no profit. 



