THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 
29? 
the maternal spirit of arbitration ex- 
tended to the community which will 
make woman the beneficent and peaceful 
power welcomed by men to help solve 
the world problems of today. 
This is no surrender of rights already 
achieved by woman, but a pledge that the 
old-time woman, whom through genera- 
tions you have learned to rely upon and 
love, shall not be lost to you, but shall 
return to you glorified in the dignity of 
h.er new strength. 
the: toast master^ dr. bell 
The best of meetings must come to an 
end and friends must part as well as 
meet. Success to the National Geo- 
graphic Society, and may we all be 
spared to meet here again another year. 
A STORY OE EXPLORATION 
The dates which were tested by the 
members and guests of the National 
Geographic Society were grown in the 
Federal and State Co-operative Date 
Garden at Mecca, California, and were 
the first American dates ever served at 
a great public function. 
The dates represented a story of ex- 
ploration and agricultural investigation 
by our government as full of fascinat- 
ing detail and as thorough from a scien- 
tific standpoint as any explorations ever 
conducted by any government. 
They were American-grown dates of 
a variety which has become the most 
famous date of North Africa — the Deg- 
let Noor — and they represent one of the 
more than 200 varieties now growing in 
the deserts of our Southwest. We have 
in Arizona and California more differ- 
ent varieties of dates than there are in 
any other one region in the world — dates 
tan, brown, purple, and black ; dates 
small and dates large ; dates dry enough 
to be carried in the pocket like nuts, 
dates so soft and syrupy that they must 
be eaten on the spot, and even dates for 
cooking. 
The foreign-grown dates on sale in 
our shops are, for the most part, the 
soft, sticky varieties — just the kinds best 
adapted to catch and hold the flying dust 
and dirt of the Arabian villages where 
they are packed, and our cleaner meth- 
ods of handling will undoubtedly aid the 
popularity of American-grown dates. 
To get these dates into the country it- 
has taken three expeditions to the Sa- 
hara, two expeditions up the Nile, one 
to the oases of Tunis, one to the oasis- 
of Siwa — for 25 years unvisited by a 
white man — one to Bagdad, and one to- 
Baluchistan; while to get them estab- 
lished in Arizona and California has- 
meant years more of careful scientific 
work. 
Not only the soils of the various- 
countries from which the dates came,- 
but the soils in which it was proposed 
to grow them, had to be studied that 
they might be compared. Temperature 
comparisons were necessary; experi- 
ments had to be made to see how much 
salt the date palms could stand in their 
irrigating water. So much of the detail 
of cultivation had to be studied among 
the Arabs that one of the explorers of 
the Department of Agriculture studied' 
Arabic to facilitate his work. 
Date-growing is an industry adapted 
to the small grower and homemaker 
rather than to the operations of stock 
companies or capitalists, because the 
palms are rather slow to propagate, and 
need a good deal of personal attention. 
The localities where the cultivation can 
be successfully carried on are limited in 
extent and scattered over southern Cali- 
fornia, parts of Arizona, and possibly 
Texas. 
In an average year one tree will pro- 
duce 40 pounds of commercial dates,, 
which bring a wholesale price of 25 
cents a pound. As one acre contains 50- 
trees, the average product will probably 
be worth $500 an acre. Trees in Africa 
often bear for a century. 
MEMBERS AND GUESTS PRESENT 
Mr. C. F. Adams. 
Representative and Mrs. Wyatt Aiken, of South 
Carolina. 
Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Altcmus. 
Mr. and Mrs. George C. Altemus. 
Judge Thos. H. Anderson, Supreme Court of 
District of Columbia. 
Mrs. Anderson. 
Representative and Mrs. D. R. Anthony, Jr., of 
Kansas. 
Hon. Allison V. Armour, of Chicago. 
Mrs. E. T. Atwell. 
