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



A very interesting bit of exploration history attaches to the procuring of this variety. 

 Mr. David Fairchild, in an agricultural exploration of Egypt in 1901, purchased in 

 Fayum a quantity of dates which he regarded as the finest he had seen in Egypt and 

 which he was told were "Wahi" from the village of Siwah in the oasis of Baharieh. 

 Though it was known to Mr. Fairchild that the term "Wahi" had reference to the 

 oasis, it was supposed for many years that this was the varietal name of the date, and 

 three different men had been dispatched with commissions from tne Office of Foreign 

 Seed and Plant Introduction to procure offshoots of this desirable variety. During 

 the writer's trip to Dakhleh Oasis he learned from Sheik Abu Bakr that Saidy, the 

 export date of the Libyan oases, is sold by the Bedouin traders when they reach the 

 Nile Valley as "Wahi," the date from "el Wah," or the oasis. Samples of the fruit, 

 purchased in the markets of Wasta, in Fayum, and directly from the tradeis undei 

 the name of "Wahi," proved perfectly identical with samples of Saidy brought from 

 Dakhleh and Khargeh, establishing beyond question the Saidy as the long sought 

 "Wahi." Though 108 Saidy offshoota were purchased in Khargeh on this trip, the 

 first introduction of Saidy offshoots dates from the purchase through Mr. H. A. Rankin, 

 S. P. I. No. 11485, in 1904, said to be " from Fayum. ' ' As this variety is not known in 

 the Fayum country, it is probable that Mr. Rankin secured the offshoots through 

 Bedouin traders from the oasis of Baharieh, between which points there is constant 

 traffic. 



Another interesting phase of the whole discussion is the very close resemblance, 

 if not the absolute identity, of the Saidy with the Siwah grown in the upper sections 

 of Gizeh Province. 



SAMANY, SAMIANI, OR RASHEDI. 



(Trees noted in the Gizeh Garden; fruit in Cairo markets from Edku.) 



The Samany date is one of the most striking and characteristic varieties of Lower 

 Egypt, and, by the natives, it is counted one of the best. 



The trees are very heavy bodied, not as tall as Zagloul, and have longer leaves 

 than any variety the writer has ever measured— 16J feet being the length of one 

 specimen, seemingly not above the average. The ribs are very heavy and strongly 

 rounded at the base, sometimes 12 to 14 inches broad at the attachment with the 

 trunk, and taper to the apex so as to give a heavy but graceful curve to these immense 

 leaves, which are rather wide apart, forming an open crown. There are 12 to 16 inches oi 

 clear petiole below the spines. The long, slender, acute spines occupy about 3 feet of 

 the rib; the long, rather soft pinnae are arranged quite evenly, giving a broad, nearly 

 smooth open blade with the breadth carried well out to the soft, flexible tip. In the 

 group arrangement of the pinnae the antrorse class disappear at about the middle of the 

 blade, leaving the outer portion largely dominated by the introrse pinnae, which 

 form angles of 40° to 58° with the axis. As a variety to afford an imposing ornamental 

 tree, in addition to producing a desirable fruit, nothing finer than this can be selected 

 from the Egyptian list. 



In fruit this variety is easily the most striking and peculiar of all the delta varieties. 

 The heavy compact bunches are borne unevenly on coarse, strong strands, or " sham- 

 rokh." The fruits are about 2 to 2J- inches long, 1J inches broad, rather oblique, and 

 inclined to be oblong for about two-thirds of the length, when the diameter is reduced 

 so abruptly as to form a sort of shoulder on the outer side, and it narrows to an obtuse, 

 unsymmetrical apex (fig. 8). 



The ground color of the fruit is close to "orange-buff" (R. Ill) or "Capucine orange" 

 (R. Ill), shaded, mottled, and streaked longitudinally with a color for which "pome- 

 granate purple" (R. XII) is the nearest definition, yet hardly satisfactory. This 

 describes the hard, half-ripe, or "rutab," state in which this date is always marketed. 

 The flesh is then firm to brittleness, white, fine grained, juicy, mildly sweet, with 

 scarcely a trace of astringency or tannic-acid flavor. In this stage it is greatly relished 



