DATES OF EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 13 



p. 8), where that variety is at its best, though probably the air at 

 Da khl eh is much drier. 



This comparison throws light on the heat requirements of the off- 

 shoots of the Saidy, which we are now importing, and suggests that 

 the Coachella and Imperial Valleys of California will probably prove 

 best adapted to its culture. As seen by the writer at Khargeh and 

 Dakhleh, and after arrival at Fayum by camel from Baharieh, these 

 dates are packed in solid masses in flattened baskets of braided date- 

 leaf pinnse, holding 80 or 160 rotls each; that is, either four or two 

 of them make an ardeb weight of about 320 pounds, the usual camel 

 load. At Dakhleh the usual price is about 50 piasters, or $2.50, for 

 an ardeb, but in years of crop shortage the price advances sometimes 

 to 70 piasters, or about $3.50 per ardeb, even this being but a frac- 

 tion over a cent a pound. The best information available shows that 

 they bring wholesale about 3| cents a pound in the valley and retail 

 in the stalls at 1 piaster per rotl, or about 5 cents a pound. 



The Corporation of Western Egypt, an English syndicate which 

 formerly operated a series of trading stores in Dakhleh, tried the 

 experiment of packing these dates in attractive cartons for the Eng- 

 lish market, but, while they found a ready sale, the extra cost of camel 

 transportation to the railroad necessitated by the improved pack, 

 left very little margin for profit. With rail and steamer transporta- 

 tion at the door, so to speak, in Nile Valley towns, this excellent oasis 

 variety ought to be a very profitable one to plant in the portions of 

 Upper Egypt having temperatures most nearly corresponding with 

 the oases, probably Girgeh and Keneh Provinces, which are now 

 taxed on 1,250,000 unprofitable balady trees. 



THE DESERT TROPICAL ZONE. 



The desert tropical zone is marked by a decided increase in tem- 

 perature over the lower portion of the Nile Valley and a lowering of 

 the relative humidity to below even that of Dakhleh, in the heart of 

 the Libyan Desert. Perhaps, owing to local conditions at the observ- 

 ing station, the weather records for Aswan (lat. N. 24° 2' 25") show 

 higher monthly means for July, August, and September than Wadi 

 Haifa (fig. 2), just within the Tropics (lat. 21° 54' 49 // ). These 

 temperatures would doubtless be too high for the upper portion of 

 the desert subtropical /one from Luxor to Aswan, where the date 

 culture of this zone, practically ends, on account of the submergence 

 of the narrow valley lands by the Aswan reservoir. 



There is a decided step in temperature conditions between this 

 region and the northern portion of the desert tropical zone repre- 

 sented by [brim. Scattered groves of dates appear shortly south of 

 the Tropic of Cancer, but the heaviest culturo begins about Korosko 



