20 BULLETIN 271, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



pinnae 10 to 15 inches long, only three-eighths to one-half an inch broad, soft, thin, 

 and acute. 



The normal pinnae are 12 to 16 inches long, three-fourths of an inch to 1 inch 

 broad, but the blade tapers with a feathery grace toward the apex where the pinnse 

 are but 6 to 9 inches long and one-half to five-eighths- of an inch wide. The pinnae 

 are very smooth in their arrangement, falling nearly into two ranks, with a diver- 

 gence from the plane of only 10° to 30°, and from the axis of 30° to 45°. The groups 

 fall into twos, threes, and fours, but the difference in the angles formed by the 

 antrorse, introrse, and retrorse pinnae is not very pronounced, and toward the apex 

 many of the pinnae are difficult to place. 



The pulvini are inconspicuous and none caudate. 



The fruits are of the dry type, 2 to 2\ inches long, three-fourths of an inch broad at 

 the base, tapering acuminately to a small obtuse apex. They are usually oblique 

 and unsymmetrical, often slightly curved (PI. V). The surface is broken by fine, 

 branching, longitudinal furrows, but is more nearly smooth toward. the base. The 

 color of the apical half or two-thirds is "chestnut brown" (R. XIV) or in some cases 

 more nearly "bay" (R. II). There is a faint lavender bloom. The basal portion of 

 the fruit is usually a shade between "honey yellow" and "Isabella color " (R. XXX). 



The firm dry flesh is three-sixteenths of an inch thick, having an outer zone some- 

 times the color of the exterior, the inner portion being pale "cream color" (R. XVI) 

 or "cartridge buff" (R. XXX). The flavor is moderately sweet, wheaty, with a 

 suggestion of a fruity acid, and no hint of astringency. With those who are fond of 

 the appetizing flavor of the best dry dates without the cloying richness of the sirupy 

 type, this will find a place among the three or four best varieties. The seeds are small 

 for the size of the fruit, about \\ inches long, one-fourth to five-sixteenths of an inch 

 broad, nearly oblong, smooth, with a broadly rounded apex. The small germ pore is 

 placed at about three-fifths of the seed length from the base, the ventral furrow being 

 narrow but rather deep. In color they are "snuff brown" (R. XXIX) in the darker 

 parts, fading toward "cream buff" (R. XXX) in the lighter portions. 



This is the great commercial date of the Dongola Province, and it is claimed, as for 

 the three other varieties, that it was brought from the Sukkot country many years 

 ago, a claim fully sustained by Burckhardt's account. 



The fruit is reputed to possess the best keeping qualities of any variety known in 

 Nubia or the Sudan. The natives say that it will keep for two years, and that it is 

 so hard that the weevils do not get into it. It is in great demand among the nomads, 

 who come in from as far as Kordofan to purchase these dates at the Dongola market 

 towns. The price as given by Davie x is 72 to 96 piasters per ardeb of 320 pounds, 

 equivalent to $1.12J to $1.50 per 100 pounds. 



Col. H. W. Jackson, Governor of Dongola Province, states that about one-third of the 

 output of this date now goes to Egypt; also that they are much sought after by the 

 pilgrims to Mecca, their fine keeping and transporting qualities, as well as their 

 excellence as a food, making them very desirable for such a long journey. One of 

 the prominent sheiks told the writer that these dates are sold in Egypt under the 

 name Ibrimi. 



The region of the chief production of this date is the great bend of the Nile, a stretch 

 of about 150 miles lying between the third and fourth cataracts. For the greater part 

 the bottoms are very narrow, scarcely more than garden patches, and often the rugged 

 sandstone bluffs, crowned with the ruins of ancient Roman fortresses or the more 

 recenit native retreats in time of river raids, rise abruptly from the river bank. There 

 are no irrigation canals in the entire province, and with the exception of some small 

 flood areas and the infiltration received by trees near the river banks, the date trees 

 are all irrigated by means of rude geared wheels of acacia wood (sakieh) turned by 



1 Unpublished manuscript, "The Date Palm," by W. A. Davie, Inspector of Agriculture, Khartum, 

 May, 1911; courtesy of the Director of Agriculture and Forestry, Sudan Government. 



