30 THE BATE PALM. 



repacked in smaller boxes, holding from two-thirds of a pound to 10 

 pounds. (Fig. 5, p. 34, and PL X.) The methods above outlined apply 

 to the Deglet Noor, which is the variety chiefly exported from Algeria 

 and Tunis to Europe. Other varieties, such as the Rhars, which are 

 full of sugary juice when ripe, are not so easily handled. The Arabs 

 usually hang up the bunches and allow the juice to drain off into jars. 

 This juice, which they call date honey, is preserved and used, and the 

 fruit, when it has become somewhat dry, is then packed in boxes or 

 more often in skins. Dates of this class are usually packed tightly, 

 and may keep for many years without deteriorating. Somewhat the 

 same style of packing is practiced at Bassorah and Maskat in Arabia, 

 whence come most of the dates received in American markets. There 

 the dates are packed tightly in layers in wooden boxes for export to 

 America and Europe. The dates containing an abundance of sugary 

 juice have the disadvantage of being sticky when unpacked, and are 

 not suitable to serve as a dessert fruit. As before mentioned, the 

 Deglet Noor does not have this drawback if properly handled. It has, 

 however, the defect of drying rather rapidly, and from the very fact 

 that it is not tightly packed in boxes it doubtless dries all the quicker. 

 With reasonable care, however, it can be kept for some months in a 

 cool, dry, well-ventilated storeroom, and probabty no other dried fruit 

 having a value comparable to the Deglet Noor date can be put on the 

 market with so little labor or at so little risk of loss. Practically the 

 only hand labor required is that of arranging the dates in layers in 

 the smaller boxes in which they are sent to the retail trade. 



TYPES OF DATES AND VARIETIES SUITABLE FOB CULTURE IN 

 THE UNITED STATES. 



THE THREE TYPES OF DATES. 



Of the three principal types of dates cultivated by the Arabs, only 

 one is exported to Europe and America. This comprises the dates, so 

 familiar to us, called by the Arabs "soft dates." They contain some- 

 times as much as 60 per cent of their weight of sugar, and are, in fact, 

 candied on the tree, being preserved from decay by the enormous 

 amount of sugar they contain. They contain more or less of a sirupy 

 juice, which is in some varieties so abundant that it must be allowed 

 to drain off before they can be packed. 



The second type comprises sorts very like those just mentioned, but 

 having a much lower percentage of sugar not enough to keep them 

 from fermenting and turning sour. They do not dry readily and are 

 usually eaten fresh from the tree as a table fruit, being more like 

 grapes than like ordinary dates. The very early sorts are of this cate- 

 gory and do not stand shipment to long distances, though they will 

 prove of great value for home consumption and may be sold on the 



