34 



THE DATE PALM. 



The fruits undergo no special preparation for the market, but are 

 simply sorted and packed carefully in boxes suitable for the retail 

 trade. Such boxes are shown in figure 5 and on Plate X. They contain 

 from two-thirds of a pound to 11 pounds, and are especially in demand 

 in Europe for the Christmas markets. The smaller boxes usually reach 

 the larger markets of this country in January and sell at from 30 to 40 

 cents each retail, or at the rate of 45 to 60 cents a pound for the dates. 

 The writer was assured by some* of the largest producers in Algeria 

 that the supply did not equal the European demand and that large 

 American orders were refused, while, on the other hand, at one of the 



FIG. 5. Deglet Noor dates from the Algerian Sahara, showing methods of packing for retail trade. 



largest wholesale and retail groceries at San Francisco it was said that 

 any quantity could be sold at 35 cents a box (50 cents a pound), if they 

 could be secured before the holidays. At the same time, selected 

 Smyrna figs were selling in 1-pound boxes for 30 cents. It is clear 

 that this date has little in common with the sorts which reach our mar- 

 kets in bulk from Basso rah, at the head of the Persian Gulf, and from 

 Maskat, Arabia. If these Deglet Noor dates could be sold for half 

 what they now bring (which would still be about five to ten times the 

 wholesale selling price of this sort in the Sahara), the consumption 

 could be enormously increased in this county, as they would not 



