DATES OF EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



27 



resemblance to their Hayany parent, along with their offshoots, have been incorporated 

 under the name of Hayany and that now it would be impossible to always distinguish 

 the original type from them. 



The earliest introduction of this variety into the United States was through Mr. 

 David Fairchild. The shipment was from Alexandria in the spring of 1901. Two 

 offshoots with this name, under S. P. I. No. 6438, were planted in the Cooperative 

 Date Garden at Tempe, Ariz. Of the same shipment one tree, labeled "Dakar 

 Majahel, " S. P. I. No. 6442, was very tardy in flowering, but finally proved to be 

 Hayany or a near equivalent. Of a shipment of offshoots secured through Mr. Fair- 

 child from Mr. Em. C. Zervudachi, in October, 1901, six trees were labeled ' 'Birket 

 el Haggi' ' and were planted at Tempe, under S. P. I. No. 7635. Three other trees of 

 the same lot, from which the labels had been lost, were planted without S. P. I. 

 numbers and as soon as they fruited were identified by the writer as being the same 

 as those under No. 7635. 



Studies made by the writer from 1909 to 1912 established clearly the identity of 

 these ' : Birket el Haggi ' ' trees with the trees labeled Hayany, and probably also of 

 the No. 6442, though its very tardy fruiting is not characteristic of the variety. As the 

 variety 



lific in 



offshoots, and productive of a fruit 

 which, if not of the highest qual- 

 ity, contains more sugar than it 

 develops in Egypt, it has been 

 very popular with the people of 

 the Salt River Valley. It soon 

 attracted rather widespread notice 

 and has been more highly indorsed 

 by the staff of the Arizona experi- 

 ment station as a variety likely to 

 be more profitable under their con- 



Fig. C— Outlines of the Hayany date in "rutab" (fresh) con- 

 dition, seen intha market of Merg, December 7, 1913; shipped 

 from Alexandria, Eg3*pt. (Natural size.) 



ditions than any other date tested in the Tempe Garden. All this exploiting has been 

 under the name of ' 'Birket el Haggi, " frequently shortened to ' 'Birket' ' as more con- 

 venient and euphonious. It was natural, then, to wish to learn not only the correct name 

 of this date, butits home in Egypt and under what conditions it grows to the best advan- 

 tage. The only published reference to the ' ' Birket el Haggi " as an Egyptian variety 

 is in the paper by Delchevalerie, 1 a former gardener of the khedive, who described itas 

 a very rare variei y ' 'sweet and sugary and of a reddish color, ' ' and called it ' 'the earliest 

 fruiting date tree in all Egypt," giving fruits from the second year of planting. 

 Repeated visits by the writer to the villages of Merg and Birket el Hadji, near the 

 shores of ill'- old ' ' Pool of I Ik- Pilgrims," brought out the fact that they have no date 

 variety called ' ' Birket el Haggi. " but that the early-ripening Hayany reach the Cairo 

 market under this local name, ae we in America speak of "Chautauqua grapes" or 

 "Biverside oranges." That in a foreign country and with a foreign tongue such a 

 local t»ii should ho mistaken I'm- ;> varietal name is easily understood. 

 bevalerie'i de i ription of " Birket <-l Eaggi" is meager in details, but corresponds 

 Well with Hayany, tl gh bis account of Hayany in the same publication is wholly 



1 D«Ichevalerie, 0. L'arbreUfltlanaldci KcypUnn . l,«i.IaUi«r. N:wl«:;cripUon,souhUoini, saciilluro, 

 sa multiplication et son emploi d;m !■■ . art , I'induatrte, la mcdeclno ot l'economio domestlque. In Bui. 

 F&l. Soc. Hort. Ilelgique, 1871, p. 170, 1872. 



