200 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



that centering at Basrah, on the conjoined Tigris and Euphrates 

 rivers, a region which contains not less than 8,000,000 palms 

 and supplies most of the American market. 



The region around Baghdad, while less important commer- 

 cially, contains a larger number of good varieties than any other 

 locality known. Date cultivation by Arabs is most scientifi- 

 cally carried on in the Samail Valley of Oman (eastern Arabia), 

 where alone the Fardh dates of commerce are produced. 



Serious attempts to put the date industry of northwestern 

 India on a sound basis are being made, and with good prospects 

 of success. Western Persia and Baluchistan produce some poor 

 dates and incidentally a few good ones. 



In Egypt there are nearly 10,000,000 palms, of which seven- 

 tenths are widely scattered over Upper Egypt. Most of them 

 are seedlings and practically all are of the "dry" varieties. On 

 the whole, the Egyptian sorts are inferior. 



The Saharan oases of Tripoli, Tunisia, and Algeria contain 

 many varieties, of which one (Deglet Nur) is as good as any in 

 the world, and is largely exported not only to Europe but to the 

 United States, where it is marketed under the name of " Dattes 

 Muscades du Sahara." Morocco grows good dates in the Tafila- 

 let oases only, whence the huge fruits of one variety (Majhul) 

 are shipped to Spain, England, and other countries. The date 

 palms of southern Spain are seedlings and bear inferior fruit. 

 Elsewhere about the Mediterranean the palm is grown mainly 

 as an ornamental plant. 



Intelligent culture of the date palm is now being attempted 

 in some of the dry parts of Brazil, where it promises to attain 

 commercial importance. It is doubtful whether the date will 

 succeed commercially in any moist tropical region, although in 

 isolated instances successful ripening of fruit has been reported 

 in southern India, Dominica (British West Indies), Zanzibar, 

 and southern Florida. 



A large area in northern Mexico, not yet developed, is un- 



