70 DATE VARIETIES AND DATE CULTURE IN TUNIS. 



quantity, however, without cloying. A further disadvantage is that 

 owing to the excess of sirup it contains, it becomes very sticky, and 

 is therefore less satisfactory as a dessert fruit than the Deglet Noor. 

 It is said to be easily preserved, and the Fteemy was enumerated at 

 Kebili among the seven best-keeping sorts. Fteemy dates sold at 

 Tozer in 1904 for about $1 per hundred pounds on the tree, which 

 was about two-fifths of the price then being paid for Deglet Noor 

 dates. The offshoots are cheaper than those of the Deglet Noor, 

 48 cents being the average price of a good offshoot. 



The offshoots of this variety are frequently allowed to grow up 

 around the parent stem, so that at length it is often hard to distin- 

 guish the original trunk. This is never permitted in the case of the 

 Deglet Noor, the offshoots of that variety being always removed for 

 planting while still quite small. 



The habit of blossoming a second time, generally in July, is more 

 characteristic of this than of any other Tunisian variety. The sec- 

 ond-crop dates, being unpollinated, are seedless and remain small and 

 green. In the autumn it is not uncommon to see large clusters of 

 them overtopping the bunches of highly colored ripe dates. They 

 remain upon the trees throughout the winter, and are said to become 

 soft and edible in May. 



The Fteemy variety is considered one of the most productive, giv- 

 ing a good crop every year. Trees bearing 15 to 20 well-filled 

 clusters are frequently seen, and 200 pounds is by no means an un- 

 usual yield. The trees begin to bear a considerable amount of fruit 

 when only five years old, so that this variety comes into bearing about 

 twice as rapidly as the Deglet Noor. 



Fteemy is a late-ripening variety, its fruit beginning to mature 

 in quantity at the same time as the Deglet Noor (about October 20). 

 As the dates can be left on the trees a long time after they are ripe 

 without deterioration, unless much rain falls, the harvest of this 

 variety is generally postponed until after that of the Deglet Noor. 

 Fteemy dates are generally the last to be gathered, often remaining 

 on the palms until the end of January. 



In respect to ability to withstand " alkali " in the soil, the pro- 

 prietor of a garden in the saline part of the oasis of Tozer told the 

 writer that he considers this the most resistant variety, more so even 

 than Kenteeshy. At Nefta the amins and other agricultural experts 

 ranked it among the four most alkali-resistant varieties of the oasis. 

 At El Hamma also it is regarded as one of the three or four most 

 resistant kinds, provided it is abundantly irrigated. Of this variety 

 25 offshoots were imported. 



ARESHTY (p. 101). (Name spelled Arichti by French writers.) A 

 soft date, 1 to 2J inches long, one-half to two-thirds as wide, slightly 



92 



