212 DATE GROWING 



when grown in Upper Egypt, where it is dried (turning 

 dark brown) and exported in bags made of palm 

 leaves. The flesh is pulpy and syrupy, sometimes 

 mucilaginous; when grown in moist localities it 

 does not keep well. The palm is highly productive 

 but does not flourish near the seacoast; its center is 

 at Badrashin in the province of Gizeh, where it has a 

 sandy soil and is often not inundated. American 

 missionaries in the Faytim consider it the best date 

 they get. 



Amir Hajj, Mirhage, Commander of the 

 Pilgrimage Caravan (so named, it is said, because 

 the owner of the original tree held this important 

 position), an attractive soft date which is confined 

 to the oasis of Mandall, three days' journey east of 

 Baghdad on the frontier between Persia and 

 Mesopotamia. The variety is rare even in its own 

 home, and is jealously guarded by its owners, wealthy, 

 aristocratic, and fanatical Muslim heretics, who 

 refuse to part with offshoots, so that not even their 

 neighbors and friends in the surrounding region have 

 been able to secure this palm, and several attempts to 

 secure offshoots for importation to America have 

 likewise failed. As many seeds of the variety have 

 been planted in California, it merits description. 



The palm is tall and graceful, but delicate, 

 requiring a great deal of cultivation and water; even 

 then it is a shy bearer. It grows in a sandy and 

 alkaline soil. The fruit matures in midseason — 

 probably about October 1st. It is indisputably a 

 good date, but owes its reputation partly to the 

 jealous care with which the owners guard it, and to 

 its attractive appearance and unusual translucence. 



