26 BULLETIN 223, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the greater heat at Mecca or the difference in the soil is the cause of 

 this difference in growth is not easy to say. The Tempe garden is 

 located in a strip of land having a heavy adobe soil and so high a 

 percentage of alkali that ordinary grain and forage crops can not be 

 grown upon it. By the underflow of ground water from irrigated 

 districts above, the water table has not been below 4 feet for a number 

 of years and stands near the surface in the winter months. 



The conditions at the Mecca garden are in strongest contrast with 

 these. The soil is a fine sand, the bed of the old Salton fresh-water 

 lake, having a considerable percentage of calcareous material in the 

 form of partially decayed small fresh-water shells, and underlain 

 with a few shallow strata of blue clay or silt. The only organic matter 

 has been supplied by cover crops and the liberal application of stable 

 manure around the roots of individual trees. 



There is but a slight trace of alkali, and irrigation with very pure 

 water from an artesian well has been abundant. While too positive 

 conclusions should not be drawn from the behavior of a single tree in 

 each locality, a similar slowness of growth has been noted in several 

 trees of Thoory at Tempe, as contrasted with a very vigorous and 

 rapid growth of that variety at Mecca and Indio. At the same time a 

 number of varieties, such as Deglet Noor, Rhars, Itima, and Tadala, 

 under Tempe conditions have made a rather better growth than in the 

 sandy soil and greater heat of Mecca. 



The presumption is strong that the Menakher variety finds both the 

 temperature and the sandy soil, with the absence of the alkali of the 

 Mecca garden, the more congenial. In fruiting, both trees have been 

 slow to develop fruit of normal quality, but have improved from year 

 to year. At Tempe, however, it hardly seems likely that this variety 

 has heat enough to perfect its fruit. While a good crop was set in 

 1912, it was found still immature on November 10. Some fruits were 

 coloring properly on one side and had ripened a portion of the flesh 

 which was of excellent flavor, but the most of them were tough 

 and ■ 'cottony," and a good sample box could not have been collected. 

 At Mecca a good deal of fruit developed sufficiently to be finished by 

 "slow maturation" into a very excellent product. The rarity of this 

 variety in Tunis and the consequent scarcity of offshoots that may be 

 purchased will probably prevent its assuming commercial importance 

 in the Salton Basin for many years to come. 



Yet, considering the past year's performance of the Mecca tree, 

 the writer feels that the Menakher should be regarded as promising 

 to become one of the great commercial dates of the Salton Basin 

 when it can be propagated in sufficient numbers. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE THOORY VARIETY. 



The trees of the Thoory variety are of very robust growth, with 

 short heavy trunks. The long, heavy, rather yellowish green leaves 



