74 DATE VARIETIES AND DATE CULTURE IN TUNIS. 



In the Jerid, Kenta is said to be the most salt-resistant variety in 

 high-lying, well-drained land. At Gabes, on the other hand, it is 

 cited as the only variety that is not salt resistant; but this may be 

 because most of the saline land of the oases is low and badly drained. 



Forty-three offshoots of this variety were imported, the great major- 

 ity of which were obtained in the Nefzaoua oases. 



VARIETIES OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE. 



DRY DATES. 



ANGOO (p. 97). Fruit barely 1 inch long, about seven-tenths as 

 wide, sometimes broadest below, sometimes above the middle, bright 

 bay colored when ripe, much of the skin becoming loosened in large 

 blisters, the flesh a little more than 1 line thick, becoming firm and 

 dry, the white central portion thicker than the dark-colored outer 

 zone, the seed about two-thirds as long as the fruit, about one-half 

 as wide as long, light (drab) brown. (Fig. 16.) 

 The stalks of the fruit clusters are lemon yellow 

 (not orange). The branches of the clusters are 

 very densely crowded with the small fruits, which 

 hang on persistently after ripening instead of be- 

 coming easily detached. 



This, the smallest fruited of the Tunisian vari- 

 eties, is found apparently only in the Jerid, and is 



Fl Ang 1 oo~ se t ed ne8 and best known as E1 Hamma. It appears to be no- 

 fruit. (Natural where common. Despite its diminutive size and thin 

 flesh, this little date is one of the most attractive of 

 the dry type. Because of its moderately sweet, nutty, wholesome 

 flavor it can be eaten in large quantity without cloying, and should 

 be a healthful food. Like Kenta (see p. 72), it is exceptional among 

 the dry dates, because its skin becomes loosened into blisters over 

 much of the surface of the fruit. The fruits are said to be little in- 

 jured by autumn rains. They ripen in midautumn, keep well, and 

 are much sought by the nomads of other parts of Tunis and Algeria. 

 Of this variety ten offshoots were imported. 



THABY (p. 98). The name, which means " golden," is also written 

 " Dzhabi," and is sometimes pronounced as if spelled Derby. Fruit 

 1J inches or slightty longer, about one-half as wide, oblong, often 

 slightly constricted a little above the base, somewhat pointed at 

 apex, bright reddish brown when ripe; the flesh 1 to 1J lines thick, 

 rather tough, the dark-colored outer zone apparently much thicker 



a A variety called El Darbia, described as having a " green, dry fruit of 

 medium size," occurs in Algeria. 

 02 



