DATES OF EGYPT AXD THE SUDAN. 



19 



The ripe fruits are 2 to 2^ inches long, 1 inch to 1J inches broad, nearly oblong 

 (fig. 3), sometimes a little the broadest at slightly above the middle, rounding to a 

 blunt and often oblique apex, with a short awnlike point. The color is ' ' liver brown " 

 (R. XIV) or "Hessian brown" (R. XIII), the skin thick, often loose from the flesh 

 and thrown in coarse wrinkles. The flesh is three-eighths to five-eighths of an inch 

 thick, coarse fibrous, with some stickiness, and with a zone of tough "rag" one- 

 sixteenth of an inch thick next to the seed. 



The seeds are large and often rough and corrugated, 1J to 1J inches long, three- 

 eighths of an inch broad, often poorly filled out at the base; the germ pore placed 

 rather toward the base, the ventral furrow broad and shallow. The color of the seed 

 is as near "Mars brown" (R. XV) as can be selected. 



At the time of the writer's visit to Salihieh, November 8, the bulk of this crop had 

 gone out, so the date of ripening may be set at about November 1. 



This date has considerable sweetness, but the flavor is coarse and common. Its 

 large size and fine appearance, along with its good packing qualities, can alone account 

 for the popularity of the variety. 



The production of the Amri is brought to the greatest perfection in the regions of 

 Korain and Salihieh, on the sandy borderland between the delta and the desert, 

 and is grown in small numbers 

 under similar conditions about 

 Mergand Birket el Hadji, which 

 seems to be about its southern 

 range. It probably ranks as the 

 most important export variety of 

 Egypt) though data in this regard 

 are very meager. The best packs 

 seen by the writer were in the 

 regions above mentioned, Avhere 

 the pebble-floored drying yards 

 secured some degree of cleanli- 

 ness, and where the reflected heat insured a more nearly perfect curing of the dates 

 than is obtained under other conditions. 



In the gardens of this section the dates are packed in boxes of light pine boards, 

 which are cut and put together in small factories in the villages. These boxes were 

 not exactly uniform in size, but bold from 40 to 50 pounds each, according to how 

 closely they are packed. The most that could be learned about the market was that 

 the bulk of the crop is shipped from Alexandria to points in southern Europe. This 

 date is found rather rarely in the market stalls of Cairo. 



Fig. 3. — Outlines of the Amri date from the ornda's garden, 

 Salihieh, Lower Egypt. (Natural size.) 



BARAKAWI.t 



(Sukkoti, llirimi. Ibrihimi. 2 ) 



The leaves of the BarakawJ variety are 9 to L0 Eeet long, with a graceful feathery 

 taper. The spine area is L8to24 inches, the spines slender and acute, the lower ones' 

 weak and short, bu1 the higher oik--: I. <■.-,, mo 2.1 lol inches long, passing into ribbon 



i I In- original nameol this variety,asol>i:iin<d from Sukkot by the Dongola people, is undoubtedly Bara- 

 in ihf- Arabic of thai province ignifle " ble i ed," as ascertained by Mr. Thomas W. Brown, 

 of Ola the chief men of the prei Ince, however, write the name In a form which must be trans- 



literated '• Birkawi," adjective for the noun "blrl ' a pond or pool. Originating In Sukkot, offshoots of 

 •l"' varietj d down the river to bekrw Wadi Haifa, where they were given the name Sukkoti. 



After a hipping ti ids In the e dates from the rbrim region below rjalfa was carried on to points down the 



rfver,theyi I riml and now thi Barakawl dates going to Cairo from Dongola Provinceare 



■old under the name rbrirai. 



■ Popenoe, in "Dab i i Old and '■<■'. World," gl • thl irietj as "Ibrihimi, vulgarly 



H.rimi, Abraham' i date," being e Identlj unacquainted ■■•■ Itfc the geographic origin of the name ibrimi. 



