SAIDY DATE OF EGYPT. 19 



with 65,521, or a total of nearly 271,000 trees. Siwah and Farafreh are not 

 reported. 



From observations in Khargeh and Dakhleh and from the crop seen coming in 

 from Baharieh, the writer is satisfied that considerably more than half of the 

 trees in these three oases are of the Saidy variety, so that a low estimate would 

 give 150,000 or 200,000 of these without including Siwah Oasis, where it is 

 known to be the chief tree. 



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

 variety. 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 Egji)t 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 the 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, pur- 

 chased in the markets of Wasta, in Fayum, and directly from the traders under 

 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 lOS Saidy offshoots 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. 



.Viiother interesting phase of the whole discussion is the very close re- 

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

 upper sections of Gizeh Province. 



SIWAH (SIWI). 



(Notes made near Hauamdiyeh, Novemt>ei' 5 and 17, 1913.) 



Trees of the Siwah date have large heavy trunks with coarse scales from the 

 leaf bases and heavy, stiffly spreading tops. The leaves are 14 to 154 feet long, 

 with very heavy bases, strongly rounded lower rib, which tapers gradually but 

 still remains stiff and heavy at the apex. The spine area is from 2J to 4 feet, 

 the spines very strong and heavy, bluntly acute, from 2 to 8 or 9 inches long. 

 The stiff, coarse pinnte following these are 24 to 29 inches long and 1 to li 

 Inches broad. They diminish regularly in length toward the apex and increase 

 in breadth up to 10 or even 11 feet from the base, being usually 17 to 20 inches 

 long and If to 2 inches broad at 8 to 10 feet from the base and 11 to 14 inches 

 long and I5 to li inches broad at the apex. Many of the upper pinnae have 

 the proximal fold broadened into a wing and are decurrent. The pulvini on 

 the spines are unusually heavy and dark cream colored, being somewhat lighter 

 on the less exposed pinnfe. For the first 6 feet of the blade the pinnss comprise 

 only 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 pinnse in the blade 

 is strongly maintained, but is especially pronounced in the lower portion, where 

 the bristling ranks of the antrorse pinnre 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 2J inches in diameter and 50 to 60 inches long 

 to the fruiting head, or portion bearing the strands, or " shamrokh." 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 li 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 the fruit on the tree is a brilliant yellow, not 

 far from "wax yellow" (R. XVI) or "light cadmium" (R. IV). The fruits 



