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



name. But unlike Dongola Province, where they preserve a distinct tradition of 

 having obtained their date varieties from the Sukkot country, these people have no 

 record of the introduction of the Siwah into their country, and they insist that it 

 originated there. 



The situation is further complicated by the fact that there is an exceedingly close 

 resemblance between the Siwah and the Saidy, the great export date common to the 

 entire chain of oases of Western Egypt, from Siwah at the northwest, to Baharieh,_ 

 Farafreh, Dakhleh, and around to Khargeh. A most careful comparison of all the 

 characters of trunk, leaf, and fruiting stalk fails to show points of constant difference 

 between these varieties, unless it is in the thickness of the fruiting stalk, which, on 

 the whole, seems to be lighter in weight in the Saidy than in the Siwah. How grow- 

 ing in the same soil conditions would affect them in this respect can only be deter- 

 mined by trial. The fruits are so closely related in character that the oasis Saidy 

 variety, as packed and brought to the Nile Valley, shows no constant differences 

 that will distinguish them from the Siwah of Bedrashen, though individual lots may 

 vary considerably. The question again arises of how the varieties would behave if 

 grown side by side, in identical soil conditions. The rich soil of Bedrashen and 

 Hauamdiyeh might produce somewhat different results in a variety than would be 

 produced in the rather poor, sandy soils of Khargeh and Dakhleh Oases, in which 

 the writer studied the Saidy. Trees of "Saydy," S. P. I. No. 11485, fruited in 1912 

 in a very sandy soil at the Mecca Date Garden in California, and were considered by 

 Mr. Bruce Drummond, in charge of the Indio and Mecca Date Gardens, to be identical 

 with the "Oga de Bedrichen" (Siwah) of Tempe. The writer at first concurred in 

 this opinion, but with a more detailed examination of the Mecca plants concluded 

 that they were distinct. After seeing both varieties, as grown in Egypt, to still regard 

 them as distinct, with so many points of identity, can only be accounted for in one 

 way. The Siwah, from its narrow dissemination, is possibly the younger variety 

 and a seedling springing from the Saidy, the fruit of which has found its market in 

 the valley for many years. Analogy for an even closer resemblance of a seedling to 

 its parent is found in Mr. James Reed's "Pioneer" seedling of the Deglet Noor, pro- 

 duced at Thermal, Cal. 



There is another point that makes it of importance that the Saidy and the Siwah 

 should be tested in identical situations. The ripening of the two varieties is about 

 simultaneous, in spite of the remoteness of the localities and marked difference in 

 the temperature. At Dakhleh the mean temperature for the nine months of the 

 growing period, from flowering to date harvest, February to October, inclusive, is 

 78.40 °F. That of Heluan, the nearest record point to the Siwah date field, for the 

 same period is 72.54° F., or 5.86 degrees lower. As shown in Table I, the summation 

 of heat units from May to October, inclusive, is 1.079 higher at Dakhleh than at 

 Heluan. These figures, showing so many more available heat units for the Saidy 

 than for the Siwah, would lead us to expect it to ripen earlier, provided the varieties 

 are identical, and they offer the strongest argument presented in support of a varie- 

 tal difference between the two. 



The maximum yield of Siwah at Bedrashen is given as 100 kantars of 320 pounds 

 to the feddan, practically 1 acre, or often only 60 or 70 kantars. The maximum yield 

 would then be 32,000 pounds to the feddan, which, allowing 100 trees to the feddan, 

 would give a yield of 320 pounds to the tree. At 80 piasters per kantar the money 

 return would be £80, or $400. Placing the yield at 60 kantars, the more probable 

 average, the crop would be 19,200 pounds, or 192 pounds to the tree. At the minimum 

 price of 60 piasters per kantar the return would be £36 to the feddan, or $180 per 

 acre; 70 kantars, a medium yield reported, would equal 22,400 pounds, or 224 pounds 

 to the tree, a not unreasonable yield. This, at 80 piasters, would give £56, or $280 

 to the feddan or acre. This, it should be remembered, is on land valued at the rate 

 of £100 to £200 per feddan. 



