440 



Thirtieth Annual Re;port 



duced. Even in the Yuma Valley, however, there is too much 

 moisture present to- produce ideal dates of this variety. The 

 Hayany maintained its established record for withstanding ad- 

 verse weather conditions ; also Bentkabala, Nesheem, Nazi al Bacha, 

 Tennessim, and Tadala suffered very little damage. 



In this connection it is believed that other districts of the State 

 having less rainfall and lower humidity would prove better adapted 

 to date production. For further experimentation along this line 

 plantings will be made on the Yuma Mesa (w^here the relative 

 humidity is probably lower than in any other part of the State) and 

 in portions of the Salt River Valley next to the foothills. 



In view of the detailed statement in the Twenty-ninth Annual 

 Report of yields at the Tempe and Yuma Orchards, it is thought 

 that this feature might be eliminated and only the total number of 

 trees, yields and returns given, as indicated in Table VIII. 



TABLE VIII. YIELDS AND RETURNS FROM THE TEMPE AND YUMA DATE 



ORCHARDS 



In the case of rooted palms used in filling vacancies at the 

 Tempe Orchard last year, a rather large percentage have started 

 into growth. This is interesting from the fact that the soil here 

 is extremely alkaline and it was feared that the young offshoots 

 could not survive such a condition. As a precaution against the 

 action of salts, however, about a cubic yard of sweet soil was 

 placed in the tree holes at the time of planting and a heavy straw 

 mulch applied on the surface to prevent the rise of alkali. It is 

 believed that the entire setting of offshoots would otherwise have 

 been lost. 



The results in propagating the date have not been as satisfac- 

 tory as was anticipated, but it is thought that the difficulty has been 

 located and that future efforts will be atended with greater success. 

 It is planned to propagate the present available offshoot crop from 

 both the Tempe and Yuma Orchards on the Yuma Mesa, where the 

 conditions of climate and soil are most favorable for such work. 



CITRUS 



Citrus investigations in methods of culture, including fertilizer 

 and orchard cover crop tests, have been conducted as outlined in 



