104 THE DATE PALM. 



small packets are usually further packed in large wooden cases 

 for shipment. 



The world's dates of lower quality are usually sold retail 

 unpacked. They are transported to the markets in bulk in large 

 boxes ; in mats of date leaves, in skins, etc. (see page 142, para. 97). 

 A large number of other methods of preserving and packing dates 

 are practised by date-growers and traders in various parts of the 

 world, but the preparations are chiefly for home consumption, 

 and are met with in the markets on a comparatively small scale. 

 Perhaps some of the Baluchistan methods are the most famous 

 of these. I give below a few notes about some of them.* These 

 dates are preserved in date syrup in unglazed red clay vessels 

 called " Humbs." Three sizes of humbs are used ; the largest 

 resembles a large pitcher in shape. It is difficult to transport 

 with safety and is only kept for home use. The middle sized 

 and the smallest " Humbs " are more vase-shaped (see illustration 

 No. 35 opposite). As a rule dates to be preserved in this way 

 are harvested when fully ripe, but in some cases the immature 

 fruit is gathered and put in the sun for four to eight days and then 

 preserved. In Kech the process of extracting the juice to be 

 used as the syrup is as follows : A space of ground is cleared 

 about four by two feet, hollowed towards the centre, and carefully 

 plastered. In the centre an earthen basin is fixed. Baskets 

 of dates are laid over this space and the juice is pressed out of 

 the fruits by placing one or more heavy date tree trunks over the 

 baskets. The juice collects in the basin. The " humbs " are 

 then filled with unpressed fruits and a sufficient amount oi 

 the syrup is added to cover them. The syrup is so thick that 

 its upper layer soon crystallises and forms a sugary plug to 

 the humb. They are stored or come into the market in this 

 state. 



In Panjgur the famous Muzati date is preserved in this way 

 in the syrup made from a variety of date known as the Kahsuba. 



* Note Practically all the subject-matter for the descriptions of these Baluchistan 

 methods of curing dates has been taken from the Baluchistan Gazetteer, Volumes VII 

 and VIII, published by Times Press, Bombay, 1907. 



