34 BULLETI1ST 271/ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the antrorse and retrorse classes in the paired antrorse-retrorse groups, above which 

 the introrse pinnae appear, and also the triple (antrorse-introrse-retrorse) groups 

 with a few quadruple (antrorse-introrse-introrse-retrorse) groups. In the outer 2 feet 

 of the blade the introrse class predominates, or all classes become merged. The 

 4-ranked arrangement of the pinnae in the blade is strongly maintained, but is espe- 

 cially pronounced in the lower portion, where the bristling ranks of the antrorse pinnae 

 vary strongly from those of the retrorse and give to the leaf a strong attitude of defense. 

 The remarkably long and heavy orange-colored fruitstalks of this variety are almost 

 identifying in their character. They may be 2\ inches in diameter and 50 to 60 

 inches long to the fruiting head, or portion bearing the strands, or "shamrokb." The 

 fruiting head is 16 to 24 inches long, bearing strands 24 to 40 inches long upon only 

 the outer 12 to 18 inches of which the fruit is borne, the basal portion being straight 

 and irregularly four sided. 



The fruit is If to \\ inches long, 1 inch broad, oblong or slightly broadest a little 

 beyond the middle, with a rather square blocky base and obtusely rounded apex. 

 The color of tbe fruit on the tree is a brilliant yellow, not far from "wax yellow" 

 (R. XVI) or "light cadmium" (R. IV). The fruits are picked before they are fully 

 ripe and are dried in the sun on a hard earthen floor, or the floor may be spread with a 

 thin layer of date leaves. The first quality of fruit ripens to a color near "hazel" 

 (R. XIV) or "tawny" (R. XV), but it is semitransparent except the basal portion, 

 which is often opaque and of a "honey yellow" or "chamois" color (R. XXX). 

 Fruits of a very good quality may be considerably darker, close to "bay" or "chest- 

 nut" (R. II), but either class held against the light will show the seed through the 

 flesh quite plainly. The skin is very thin and transparent, and the outer portion of 

 the flesh is of the same shades given for the outside appearance, while the inner flesh 

 is considerably lighter. In good " agwa" that has been packed several months the 

 outside of the fruit is shiny, as though dipped in a sugar sirup, and is a little sticky. 



The flesh is less sticky than the outside and a good deal granular. The flavor is a 

 rich sugary sweet, with a suggestion of caramel, and very agreeable. 



The seeds, large for the size of the fruit, are about three-fourths of an inch to 1 inch 

 long, three-eighths of an inch broad, roundish in cross section, and may be called oblong 

 oval in form, a little broader in the middle and with broadly rounded ends. The germ 

 pore is about central, the ventral surface a little corrugated, the furrow narrow and 

 shallow. The color is close to "wood brown " (R. XL). 



When sufficiently cured the dates are packed solidly into strong, deep, circular 

 baskets made from the braid of date-leaf pinnae sewed spirally, and a cover of the same 

 material is stitched closely on. The whole mass thus inclosed becomes sealed with the 

 exuding sirup of the sticky dates and is practically air-tight. If cleanly and sanitary 

 methods could be followed, there is no doubt that this method of packing is an excel- 

 lent one, and there is reason to believe that a curing process goes on in the mass which 

 gives a flavor and texture of flesh not secured when the individual dates are packed in 

 their natural shape in paper cartons without compressing and so exposed to the air. 



The rather large seed is all that prevents this date from being classed as a strictly 

 first-class variety, judged by its actual merits as a date. That the product that goes 

 on the market is not above third class needs only a view of it in the market stalls to 

 prove. One has but to see the yards and the curing and packing in progress to be 

 convinced that such a product is the only possible result of the antiquated and filthy, 

 not to mention insanitary, methods employed. Dried on the bare, dust-covered 

 grotmd or on a floor thinly spread with date leaves, covered with flies, swept with the 

 dust of passing traffic, finally tramped with the naked feet into the huge date-leaf 

 sacks, the writer was not surprised to learn that the wholesale price realized for 

 these dates by the grower is only about 4 or 5 milliemes to the rotl, the equivalent 

 of 2 or 2 J cents per pound. 



