40 THE DATE PALM. 



are considered by Mr. Fairchild as being very promising sorts. The 

 Maktum is u a soft, sticky date with a small stone, no fiber, and a 

 beautiful golden-brown skin which adheres closely to the golden, 

 brownish-yellow flesh. " a It matures in August. Unfortunately the 

 Mirhage could not be secured by Mr. Fairchild at the time of his visit 

 to Bagdad in 1902, though he sent the Maktum to this countiy, where 

 it is now growing. 



The dates of Bafk and Terachabad, in Persia; of Medina 6 and Tur, c 

 in western Arabia; of Kasem, in central Arabia; of Nedjed, in eastern 

 Arabia; of Say and Sukkot/ 7 in Nubia; of Dakhel, in western Egypt; 

 of Traghen, in Fezzan; and of Tafilet, Mdaghra, andTissini, in eastern 

 Morocco, have been lauded by experienced travelers, and if possible 

 these oases should be visited and offshoots secured of the best sorts, 

 since it is now possible to bring even the latest varieties to full maturity 

 by planting in the Salton Basin. Heretofore the uncertainty as to the 

 possibility of growing the best late sorts has discouraged any attempt 

 to obtain the varieties from the more remote regions; but now, when 

 date culture is still in its infancy, is just the time when these sorts 

 should be secured and tested, in order that no mistakes be made and so 

 that only the best sorts be planted out. Once planted, a date palm can 

 not be changed to another variety, as can all other ordinary fruit trees, 

 for palms can not be grafted or budded. To change the variety it is 

 necessary to dig up the old trees and plant young offshoots of the sort 

 desired; in other words, to destroy the old orchard and plant a new one. 



In view of the fact that offshoots are now very expensive, and that 

 it costs more to plant an acre to date palms than to any other fruit tree, 

 and in view of the fact that date palms can be propagated only at a 

 slow rate by removing one or two offshoots annually and can not be 

 increased indefinitely by budding or grafting, as with other trees, it 

 becomes very important to secure a collection of the best sorts of date 

 palms as soon as possible, in order that all the best varieties may be 



Fairchild, D. G. Persian Gulf Dates and Their Introduction into America. 

 Bui. 54, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1903, p. 23. 



& "The best kind [of Medina dates] is Al Shelebi; it is packed in skins or in flat, 

 round boxes, covered with paper, somewhat in the manner of French prunes, and 

 sent as presents to the remotest parts of the Moslem world. The fruit is about 2 

 , inches long, with a small stone, and is seldom eaten by the citizens, on account of 

 the price, which varies from 2 to 10 piasters [about 9 to 43 cents] the pound. The 

 tree, moreover, is rare, and is said not to be so productive as the other species." 

 (Burton, Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca, vol. 1, pp. 400-401.) 



c "The small, yellow dates of Tur * * * are delicious, melting like honey in 

 the mouth, and leaving a surpassing arrtire gotit." (Burton, Narrative of a Pilgrimage 

 to Mecca, vol. 1. p. 204.) 



d '"In Nubia the dates of Ibrim are celebrated, but still more so those of Sukkot 

 and Say, the sweet aromatic Sultani, which attain a length of 3 inches." (Fischer, 

 Die Dattelpalme, p. 25. ) 



