274 DATEGROWING 



ventral channel almost closed, germ pore nearer apex 

 than base. Flavor exceptionally rich and pleasant. 



Qurn al Ghazal, Qern el R'azal, Guern el Rhezal, 

 The Gazelle's Horn, a name descriptive of the pe- 

 culiar appearance of this long, slender and curved 

 date from Algeria and Tunisia. It is found in very 

 limited numbers in all the oases, and is said to be one 

 of the principal varieties at Gabes, Tunisia, and on 

 the island of Jerba.* The palm, which is tall and 

 slender, bears heavily ; the date is described as reddish 

 brown in color, with thin flesh which is firm, or even 

 dry, but not hard or brittle. It ripens in October. 



Qushf Batash, The Sweetmeat (Pers.), one of the 

 earliest dates of Oman, ripening in June, sometimes 

 even in the first half of May, according to Arabs — 

 but it should be remembered that an Arab's idea of 

 ripeness is not that of an American, and that for an 



*The island of Jerba, on the coast of Tunisia, is thought by 

 many to have been the one described by Homer as the residence of 

 the Lotus Eaters. In that case the fruit which so attracted them 

 may have been dates, and not the worthless jujube {Zizyphus lotus) 

 which the old botanists identified as the object of the description 

 in the Odyssey. 



fThis word is used in Oman as Degal is in other regions, or as 

 Khalt is used in Tunisia, to designate a date of adventitious origin, 

 ordinarily a seedling; and often, but by no means always, it indicates 

 a date of inferior quality, just as the two other words do. Qush 

 Batash would, therefore, be called Degla Batash in Algeria or at 

 Baghdad, and Khalt Batash in Tunisia. For strict accuracy, it 

 should be transliterated Qushsh or Qashsh. The etymology is dis- 

 puted; many authorities relate it to Kushsh, a word which designates 

 the pollen of the male palm; others see in it a Persian root. In 

 general the classical lexicographers define it in the same way that 

 they do the word Degal. The word Khalt is, I believe, not used 

 classically in the sense which it carries in Tunisia: it means "of 

 mixed blood; of uncertain origin." It does not, as has been said, 

 mean a dry date, any more than Degal means a soft date, as has 

 sometimes been supposed by date students. 



