64 PATE VARIETIES AND- DATE CULTURE IN TUNIS. 



Deglet Noor presents a combination of characters fine flavor, sweet- 

 ness, attractive appearance, cleanliness, good keeping quality that 

 can be rivaled by no other variety that is widely grown in Algeria 

 and Tunis. Only among very rare sorts, such as the Menakher (see 

 p. 60), is there any possibility of its meeting a competitor. Even in 

 the oases themselves it is the only kind that is found on the tables of 

 Europeans or that is served by the more wealthy natives to their Eu- 

 ropean guests. The general recognition of the superior quality and the 

 commercial importance of the Deglet Noor is shown by the fact that 

 the " kanoon " tax levied by the Tunisian government upon date 

 palms in full bearing amounts to 1J. francs (25J cents) for each 

 Deglet Noor tree, and only two-thirds of a franc per tree for all 

 other varieties. 



The Deglet Noor ripens its fruit to perfection in the oases of the 

 Jerid, and the government is attempting to establish it in the Nef- 

 zaoua region. Elsewhere in Tunis the climatic conditions are un- 

 favorable to this variety, which is one of the latest sorts to ripen and 

 requires a high sum total of mean temperatures above 64.4 F. a to 

 bring it to perfect maturity. The maj-itime climate of Gabos is 

 particularly ill adapted to the Deglet Noor, and the trials that have 

 been made of it there have been unsuccessful. 



First introduced into Tunis from the Oued Rirh, in Algeria, 

 some 200 or 250 years ago, there are said to be now some 50,000 trees 

 of this variety in the Jerid oases, in which case it constitutes 7 to 8 

 per cent of the total number of palms of all varieties/ The devel- 

 opment of a very respectable export trade in Deglet Noor dates dur- 

 ing the past ten or fifteen years c has stimulated the natives to plant 

 trees of this variety, and the proportion of Deglet Noor to other 

 palms will doubtless steadily increase from this time forward. As 

 sufficient offshoots of this variety are not produced in their own gar- 

 dens, the inhabitants of the Jerid have secured a modification of the 

 Tunisian law against the importation of living plants,^ thus allowing 

 them to bring offshoots from the Oued Rirh oases in Algeria. 



a Estimated by W. T. Swingle (Bui. 53, Bureau of Plant Industry, p. 67) to 

 aggregate 3,600 F. 



6 The total number of productive date palms in the Jerid in generally placed 

 at from 600,000 to 700,000, although some authorities estimate as high as 

 1,000,000 trees. 



Estimated in 1893 to amount to 660,000 pounds, while in 1904 more than 

 four times that quantity (2,860,000 pounds) is said to have been purchased for 

 export 550,000 pounds by a single French firm. The annual exports of 

 Deglet Noor dates from the ports of Tunis are said to have averaged in recent 

 years 1,175,000 to 2,200,000 pounds, all of this quantity having been grown in 

 the Jerid oases. 



& Designed to prevent the introduction of phylloxera. 

 92 



