2 BULX.ETIN 1125, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



of western Egypt agree in reporting the Saidy as the most abundant 

 date variety in the five Libyan oases — Siwa, Baharia (1)^. Farafra, 

 Dakhla (^), and Kharga (^).2 



In Gizeh Province of Egypt, within sight of the great Pyramids 

 and on the very site of the ancient city of Memphis, are growing 

 many thousands of trees of this variety under the name of " Sewi " 

 (2£) , undoubtedly due to an early importation of offshoots from the 

 Oasis of Siwa. 



ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS OF A GREAT COMMERCIAL VARIETY. 



The important commercial varieties of dates all agree in possessing 

 certain characters essential to securing a market among European 

 or American peoples. They are attractive in size and appearance, 

 soft and luscious in texture, and of sufficiently high sugar content 

 and pleasing flavor to appeal to the palate of the large class of 

 customers who regard the date as a confection and as yet do not 

 appreciate the qualities of the dry or bread dates which are most 

 sought by the desert dwellers. 



From the grower's viewpoint a great commercial date variety must 

 be highly productive, and the fruit must have a sufficiently high sugar 

 content to be self-preserving and to keep without fermentation dur- 

 ing a long transportation by land or sea, plus a reasonable period of 

 storage before marketing. Added to these qualities the successful 

 commercial A^ariety must be fairly prolific in the production of off- 

 shoots, by which alone its true type can be multiplied. 



THE PRINCIPAL COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF DATES. 



Among the few varieties of dates with the requisite characters to 

 assure them places in the commercial list the Deglet Noor takes the 

 lead, its exquisite flavor and attractive appearance having long ago 

 caused it to reach the top of the market in continental Europe and 

 to be sold also for the fancy holiday trade in England. 



Next to the Deglet Noor, the " Tafilet," or Medjhool, from the Tafil- 

 alet Valley of southeastern Morocco, since the occupation of Spain by 

 the Arabs has held a high reputation in that country and almost as 

 high in England. Sometimes this variety, in spite of its unattractive 

 appearance and notwithstanding the fact that it is sold almost 

 entirely in bulk instead of in attractive packages, brings high prices. 



The third date of high market quality is, perhaps, the Fard, of 

 the Semail Valley in the Sultanate of Maskat in southeastern Arabia. 

 This is a small dark-colored date, but of attractive appearance, and 

 the flavor is evidently appreciated by the American consumers, since 

 it brings the highest price of all the varieties brought to this country 

 from the Persian Gulf region. 



The fourth of the great commercial dates of the world is doubtless 

 the Halawi, from the lower Euphrates Valley in Mesopotamia. This 

 variety has the highest output of all commercial dates grown and is 

 sold in enormous quantities in the English and especially in the Amer- 



1 Serial numbers (italic) in parentheses refer to " Literature cited' at the end of this 

 tnillotin. 



- The spelling of these oasis names, except where quoted, follows that used by the sur- 

 veys department of the Public Works Ministry of Egypt. 



