THE DATE GAEDENS. 25 



as is known, the pollination of the female flower clusters in the spring 

 is also effected in the same way as in the Oiied Rirh.'* 



YIELDS. 



It was impossible to secure verj^ reliable statements of yields from 

 the natives, but from all that could be learned these must be unusu- 

 ally large in the Souf country. The clusters of the Deglet Xoor are 

 said frequentl}^ to weigh over 55 pounds each, and to attain some- 

 times 90 pounds. Single trees of this variety, which is one of the 

 lightest bearing kinds, sometimes yield as much as 330 pounds in 

 the Oued Souf. It was estimated in 1883 that the date crop from the 

 175,000 palms (of all varieties) in full bearing then existing in the 

 Souf region was 7,000,000 pounds. This would mean an average 

 yield of 40 pounds per tree, as against an average yield of 28 pounds 

 estimated to have been produced in the Oued Rirh the same year.'' 

 A good palm in full bearing is valued at from $50 to $130, according 

 to the variety to which it belongs. 



The practice of planting the trees farther apart than in other oases 

 is perhaps one reason for the large yields. By wide planting, not 

 only do the roots of each palm have a larger feeding area, but the 

 trees do not shade each other so much and more of the fruit can 

 develop and ripen. Moreover, the climatic and topographical condi- 

 tions, as we have seen, are exceptionally favorable to the ripening of 

 dates. 



VARIETIES CHIEFLY GROWN. 



As has already been indicated in tliis paper, date palms in the 

 Oued Souf rarely, if ever, spring up from seed, as they do in other 

 oases where the conditions are more favorable to the spontaneous 

 development of the palui. They are propagated only by offshoots 

 that are taken from the parent tree and planted by the grower. 

 Consequently we do not see a multitude of seedlings, generally of 

 very inferior quality and of almost endless diversity of characters, 

 filling every Avaste corner and roadside and even crowding out good 

 trees in gardens that are not well cared for. Practically every palm 

 grown in the Souf belongs to some well-known and well-liked variety. 



The number of varieties found in this region is considerable. 

 Most of the gardens contain a mixture of several kinds, although in 

 some of the recently created ones the tendenc}^ is to plant onl}- one 



« Described in Bnl. .53, Bureau of Plant Industry, "The Date Palm," by W. T. 

 Swingle. 1004, pp. 2(i-29. 



''These estimates are quoted from Rolland (ibid.. \,. 824:). The overwhelniin.u; 

 importance of the date rvo\) in the Souf region is shown by the fact that the 

 same author states the value of the 1883 crop of dates to have been $301,730, 

 while that of all other crops combined was only $20,900 in that year. 



