28 DATE GROWING 



may be classed with these two, physical conditions 

 being much the same. 



In Arizona, where date culture in a scientific 

 way was carried on earlier than in California,* condi- 

 tions are quite different, particularly in the Salt River 

 Valley, where a large part of the rainfall comes in 

 midsummer, at a time which proves fatal to success 

 with many African dates. Profitable date growing is 

 entirely possible here, as also in the Gila and Casa 

 Grande Valleys and probably several parts of the 

 mesa in Arizona; but not with all the varieties which 

 succeed in the adjoining state. Dates must be chosen 

 which do not ripen too late, and which are unaffected 

 by summer humidity. This eliminates most North 

 African dates and leaves Egyptian and Persian Gulf 

 varieties as most desirable. 



Within these two states, California and Arizona, 

 are the only regions where it can be said, at present, 

 with confidence and on the basis of real evidence, that 

 date culture is profitable in the United States. There 

 are some other regions where it is possible, and where it 

 may be and probably will be proved to be profitable, 

 but where data have not yet been accumulated which 

 enable one to speak with certainty. 



In this class may be put a large part of the 

 interior valley of California, the northern half of 

 which is named Sacramento and the southern San 

 Joaquin. Around its outlet to San Francisco Bay there 

 is a region where the climate is probably ill suited to 

 the date, but farther north and south it should be 

 well adapted to hardy, early ripening sorts. Scattered 

 experiments in the past have shown that good dates 



*For its history see Toumey, J. W., The Date Palm. Ariz. 

 Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. No. 29, Tucson, June, 1898 



