PROFITS OF DATE CULTURE. 137 



tree, bearing profitable crops even when a century or more old. No 

 expensive pruning is required by this fruit tree, and it is remarkably 

 free from diseases and injurious insect pests. The amount of labor 

 required in a date plantation is very much less than for most other 

 fruit culture, and this constitutes a great advantage in its culture, 

 especially in desert regions, where labor is scarce and high priced. 

 The fruit does not ripen suddenly and need immediate care, but may 

 often be left on the tree for a week or two after it matures without 

 being injured. 



It would be difficult to imagine a fruit better adapted for growing 

 in the Salton Basin than the choice late varieties of the date, and at 

 the same time a culture better suited to the needs of the country. 



Although not offering promise of being so unusually lucrative as the 

 culture of the Deglet Noor dates, the production of good second-class 

 dates, comparable with the best grades of so-called Persian dates, may 

 nevertheless prove to be a paying industry, yielding profits equal to 

 those given by other fruit cultures. The Salt River Valley in Ari- 

 zona, which may be warm enough to permit the culture of even the 

 Deglet Noor dates, can certainly produce the best grade of second-class 

 dates, suitable for household use and serving as a substitute for Deglet 

 Noor dates for dessert fruit or for use in confectionery. The American 

 growers will have the great advantage over their rivals in the Persian 

 Gulf region of much greater proximity to the centers of consumption, 

 which will enable them to put their crop on the market earlier in the 

 season and in fresher condition. a 



Even the growing of ordinary dates, like those sold in bulk at the 

 fruit stands, may prove a paying culture if carried on on an extensive 

 scale where land and irrigation water are cheap. Being packed 

 tightly together in boxes holding a hundred pounds or so, the labor of 

 preparing them for market is much less than for the finer dates, 

 which must be arranged carefully in small boxes to prevent the fruit 

 from being crushed or deformed by mutual pressure. The flood-plain 

 of the Colorado River in California and Arizona, where land that is 

 naturally irrigated arid fertilized by the annual overflow of the river 

 can be had cheaply, offers promise of being suited for the profitable 

 culture of such ordinary dates. 



Another great advantage of American-grown dates will be their superior clean- 

 liness. Fairchild says (Persian Gulf Dates, p. 29), in regard to the ordinary Persian 

 dates of our fruit stands, "the stories which one hears in the region of the conditions 

 in the packing sheds and the personal uncleanliness of the men, women, and children 

 who put up the dates are enough to disgust a sensitive person and to prevent his 

 ever eating packed dates again without having them washed. No old inhabitant 

 thinks of eating a date without first thoroughly washing it in a glass of water, unless 

 the cook has prepared it beforehand, and the sale of dates in America might fall off 

 decidedly were it generally known how intimately the unwashed hands, bodies, and 

 teeth of the notably filthy Arabs often come in contact with the dates which are sold 

 by every confectioner." 



