6 CIRCULAR NO. 129, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



originated in the Salton Basin, and doiibtloss many more will come 

 to light within the next few years when the tens of thousands of seed- 

 ling dates now being growm come into full bearing. Another very 

 important advantage of seedling dates is that if kept properly isolated 

 from imported date palms they are absolutely free from the Parla- 

 toria and Phoenicococcus scales that infest most, if not all, the imported 



palms. 



Seedling dates, however, are very poorly adapted to famUiaming 

 the grower with tlie best methods of curing, ])acking, and marketing. 

 As every tree is different, the crop varies givatly in quality and time 

 of ripening and it is practically impossible to put any standard 

 brands on the market. The proper marketing of dates can be 

 learned much more easily by the giower of standard varieties propa- 

 gated from offshoots. Every seedling date gi-ower should plant as 

 soon as possible an orchard with offshoots of Deglet Noor or other 

 standard variety adapted to his conditions, so he can familiarize 

 himself with the vitally important processes of curing, packing, and 

 marketing dates. 



On the other hand, every gi'ower of imported dates should plant a 

 seedlmg date orchard in the hope of originating valuable new 

 varieties, to secure a supply of male trees to supply pollen, and to 

 have plants upon which to experiment in transplantmg, cutting off- 

 shoots, etc. Any proposal to grow seedling dates alone on a com- 

 mercial scale as a source of profit is, to say the least, prematuer. - 



It must be said that any form of date culture is at present a risky 

 business to the man who is not himseK thoroughly acquainted with 

 the local conditions and experienced m date culture as well. Non- 

 resident owners, even though they plant oft"slK)ots of the best 

 tested varieties, are at the mercy of their managers, and, as stated 

 before, there are at present very few experienced managers who under- 

 stand date culture well enough to be able to manage a commercial 

 date plantation successfully. 



To summarize, date growuig is a new and promising but unusually 

 difficult branch of fruit culture. It is most promismg to the small 

 resident owner who, by experimenting wdth seedlmg dates and a 

 small planting of offshoots, has acquired the necessary experience to 

 enable him to care for young date palms efficiently. Commercial 

 plantings should be made only of tested standard varieties, such as 

 the Deglet Noor, Tazizaoot, Bhket el Haggi, and possibly one or two 

 other varieties. If a wTong variety is planted gi-eat loss is entailed, 

 as the trees can not be budded or gi-afted over into better varieties, 

 "but must be dug up and destroyed. 



Seedlhig dates are useful to the begmner in givuig him experience 

 in handlmg date palms, in furnisnhig nuxlo trees for pollinating the 



[Cir. 129] 



