EFFECTS OF WIND. 7l 



Such winds have no bad influence on the date palm, but on the con- 

 trary favor the proper maturing of the fruit in regions where the sea- 

 son is short and some oases in northern latitudes fail to produce a crop 

 if the hot winds do not blow frequently. a The date trunk is so strong 

 and elastic and so firmly attached by the cord-like roots that it is an 

 extremely rare occurrence for a palm to be broken or blown over 1>\ 

 the heaviest gales, although the crown of leaves at the top of the slen- 

 der stem exposes the trunk to the greatest possible strain. The loaves 

 are very tough and strong and are very seldom torn by the wind or 

 bruised by sand. The on\y harm heavy windstorms do is to interfere 

 with the setting of the fruit by blowing the pollen away. This injury 

 can usually be remedied by repollination after the storm is over. In 

 the Salt River Valley, at Tucson, and at many other points in southern 

 Arizona, the average wind velocity is low and wind storms are infre- 

 quent, so the date palm has in these regions no particular advantage 

 over other plants because of its ability to support wind and sand storms. 

 In the Salton Basin, however, the case is different, as rather heavy 

 winds are not uncommon, and dust and sand are often carried in consid- 

 erable amounts. These winds are, however, certainly not so severe as 

 in the Sahara and will in no way interfere with successful date culture. 



It seems, however, that in the great date region about Bassorah, at 

 the head of the Persian Gulf, the "shamel," or hot wind laden with 

 dust, may do great damage. Mr. Fairchild states b that ' ' if this (shamel) 

 occurs before the dates have sufficiently matured it dries them up and 

 covers them with dust, checking their development and soiling them 

 so that they are refused by the European and American importers. 

 Last year's crop (1901) was seriously injured in this way, and the 

 export was reduced from nearly 2,000,000 cases to about 1,000,000." 



It is conceivable that the enormous losses occasioned in the Bassorah 

 region by hot, dust-laden winds, which are nowhere else reported to 

 have so deleterious an action, may be due to the peculiar character of 

 the climate at the head of the Persian Gulf. The proximity of the sea 

 causes the humidity to be much greater here than in most date-growing 

 regions, and this unusual humidity may perhaps render the develop- 

 ing dates peculiarly susceptible to injury by desert winds, possibly by 

 rendering their surface sticky and thereby causing the dust carried 

 by the wind to adhere to them. 



The cold northwest winds which often blow for several days at a 

 time during the winter and spring in the Algerian Sahara c and the 



At the oasis of Khabis in Persia dates do not ripen well unless the hot, dry, desert 

 wind blows at least forty days during the summer. Abbot, cited by Fischer, Die 

 Dattelpalme, p. 55. 



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

 Bui. 54, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, p. 28, 1903. 



c Holland, Georges. Hydrologie du Sahara algerien, p. 416. 



