212 



In concluding his article, in the Yearbook ior 1900, Swingle says 



' It has been shown that there is good ground for the hope that 

 enough dates to supply our markets may be produced within our 

 boundaries, thus retaining in this country nearly half a million 

 dollars now paid annually for foreign dates. It is even possible 

 that a still larger trade may be built up by producing the choicer 

 varieties suitable for serving as table fruit, such as the " Deglet 

 Noor," now so rare on our markets and so costly as to preclude its 

 being sold in any large quantities. 



'The date palm has been shown to be adapted to special soil 

 conditions occurring only in a few areas of limited extent in the 

 south-west. It requires a long, extremely dry and hot summer in 

 order to mature its fruits properly, yet the roots demand a con- 

 stant supply of water. It is unable to endure severe cold in winter, 

 although more hardy than the orange tree. It is pre-eminently 

 suited for culture in irrigated areas in desert regions, and, fortu- 

 nately, is able to endure without injury large quantities of alkali 

 in the soil and in the water used for irrigating, conditions often 

 occurring in desert regions, and which prevent the growth of 

 most cultivated plants. There are many places in Arizona and 

 California where the culture of the date can be undertaken with a 

 good hope of success. Marketable dates of good quality have al- 

 ready been produced in considerable quantities in the Salt River 

 Valley, Arizona, and excellent fresh dates ripen every year at 

 Winters, in northern California. 



'The Department of Agriculture and the University of Arizona 

 have undertaken in co-operation the establishment and mainte- 

 nance of a special date garden at Tempe, in the Salt River Valley, 

 Arizona, and in 1899-1900 about 420 young palms, comprising 

 about twenty-seven of the best known varieties, including the 

 famous " Deglet Noor," were imported by the Department from 

 the best date regions of the western Sahara and sent to this garden, 

 where they are now growing. Some three dozen plants of the 

 " Rhars" one of the best early dates for drying, were distributed 

 at the same time in California in co-operation with the University 

 of California.' 



Three years later, in Bulletin No. 53 Swingle writes: — 



' The collection of varieties at Co-operative Date Garden at 

 Tempe is by far the most complete in the world, since it com- 

 prises the best known varieties from the Algerian Sahara, from 

 Egypt, and from the regions about Bassorah and Maskat, where 

 most of the dates imported into America are produced, as well as a 

 large collection of varieties from the Pangh Ghur region in Balu- 

 chistan. Together with the seedlings that have originated in the 

 valley and the sorts growing at the experiment station farm at 

 Phoenix, there are something over ninety named varieties now 

 on trial in the Salt River Valley. It is very probable that some 

 of these will prove to be adapted for profitable culture in this 

 valley, even if the Deglet Noor can not mature. 



