720 



" Deglet-nour " or " Daglat-nur " and " Tafilat " are good 

 commercial varieties of Xorth Africa. The former has beeit. 

 introduced into Arizona and California (1900), beginning to 

 bear fruit in 1903; but the fruit has not been found to ripen 

 without artificial methods — incubation in a moist atmosphere 

 at a temperature of 43^ — 49° C. has proved successful, and slow 

 ripening at a low temperature is under experiment — owing to* 

 the extreme dryness of the autumn in the deserts of the South 

 Eastern United States ; although it can be ripened on the trees 

 in many of the oases of the Algerian and Tunisian Sahara (Compter 

 Rendus, 155 (1912), p. 549; Bull. Bur. Agric. Int. Rome, iii. 

 1912, p. 2452). 



In Nigeria the varieties grown are '' Zabiya " or " Jan 

 dabino " — ^a long red sweet variety, and ** Maga " or " Dan- 

 damana " — a stoneless date (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. Voc, p. 19). 

 More than 50 years ago the palm was reported, in Azbeu 

 [Sahara — beyond the confines in the North of Nigeria] northern 

 parts of Hausa, in Kabi [Kabba], etc., but a few are found in 

 South Hausa, in Nupe, where they bear fruit, at Ilorin and 

 Lokoja (Baikie, at Bida, Feb. 18th, 1862, Technologist, iii. 1863^ 

 p. 104). It is fairly common in the town of Zaria and plentifully 

 distributed along the rivers in the district (Parsons, 1. c.) and 

 fruits are sometimes sold in the markets towards the south,, 

 being commonly seen in Kano (Dudgeon, Agric. & For, Prod. 

 W. Air. p. 156). The cultivation in the Northern Provinces, 

 especially at the liigher altitudes, might be extended with 

 advantage by introducing some of the good sorts referred to, 



Hef. — " Central- Afrikanische Datteln," Vogel (signed afc 

 Murzuk, 1st Oct. 1853), in Bonplandia, ii. 1854, pp. 74-75 



list of 37 varieties.^ '^'^ Phoenix dactylifera ; the Edible Date 



Palm," in Diet. Econ. Prod. India, Watt, vi. part 1 A, 1892,. 



pp. 199-206. " Date Production in Bussorah," in Kew Bull. 



1898, pp, 46-50, '^The Date Palm," Toumey, University 



of Arizona, Agric. Exp. Station Bull. No. 29, 1898, pp. 102-150 



illust. (Tucson, Arizona, June 1898). *' Sur la Culture du 



Palmier Dattier," Schweinfurth, in Revue des Cult. Col. x, 1902,, 



pp. 83-88; 175-178; 244^247; 299-303. Persian Gulf Dates 



and Their Introduction into America, Fairchild, U.S. Dept. 

 Agric, Bureau of PL Industry, Bull. No. 54, 1903, pp. 1-32; 



pis. i.-iv. The Date Palm and Its Utilization in the S.W 



States, Swingle, U.S. Dept. Agric, Bureau of PL Industry,, 



Bull. No. 53, 1904, pp. 1-155, pis. i.-xxii. " The Common 



Date Palm {Phoenix dactylifera),'" Johnston, in Journ. of the 



African Soc, Jan. 1904, pp. 177-182. Phoenix dactylifera 



(The Date Palm) ; Notes on Date Palm Cultivation in Countries 

 other than India, Fletcher, in Agric Ledger, No. 1, 1906, pp. 1-17, 

 with Table i. " Approx. Number of Trees in Date-growing 

 Centres " ; ii. " Humidity and Rainfall " ; iii. '' Temperature " ; 

 iv. *' Some well-known Varieties of Dates *' ; Cultivation • 

 Soil, ^.c " Phoenix dactylifera,'' in the Commercial Products 



