22 BULLETIN 1125, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ties is about simultaneous, in spite of the remoteness of ttie localities and 

 marked difference in the temperature. At Dakhleh the mean temperature for 

 the nine months of tlie 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, in- 

 clusive, 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 varietal difference be- 

 tween 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. Tlie 

 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. 



T. W. Brown (6) , whose valuable paper, published in 1916, is the 

 most reliable and technical study of the date culture of Egypt yet 

 made, considers the " Saidi " and " Siwi " as separate varieties, 

 though admitting that they are " very closely allied." He says, " It 

 has been suggested that the difference of the fruit of the two kinds 

 is due to differences of climate. Is it not more probable that the 

 Siwi has originated from seed of the Saidi ? " However, no constant 

 differences in botanical characters can be found to support the idea 

 that the " Sewi " of Gizeh is a seedling of the Saidy of the oasis. 

 In the writer's judgment the migration by offshoots of Saidy from 

 Siwa Oasis is the more probable explanation. Culturally and com- 

 mercially there seems to be no discernible difference. The young 

 Saidy trees from the importations of 1904 and 1905, now growing in 

 the Cooperative Date Garden, at Tempe, Ariz., are in no way to be 

 distinguished from the trees of " Oga de Bedrichen " imported in 

 1901. The " Oga de Bedrichen " trees have been identified with the 

 " Sewi " of Bedrachen and Hawamdieh. There can be no doubt, 

 therefore, that the Saidy variety of . the Libyan oases and the 

 " Sewi " of Gizeh Province are one and the same. Any slight dif- 

 ferences can be explained by difference in soil, water supply, and 

 atmospheric temperature and humidity. Their positive identity un- 

 der similar environment in Arizona and California seems to be no 

 longer in question. The name " Sewi," indicating its origin in the 

 Siwa Oasis, is no more than must be expected. With the bringing 

 into the Nile Valley perhaps of caravan loads of Saidy dates from 

 the oasis of Siwa for centuries past, what could be more natural than 

 the desire to possess and cultivate this excellent and celebrated date 

 in the Nile Valley? Merchant caravans made their headquarters 

 at Kerdaseh and other villages along the desert border of the Nile 

 bottoms opposite Cairo. Twelve days from Siwa in February, their 

 favorite month for moving offshoots, would put a camel load of 

 Saidy offshoots from Siwa into the rich bottom lands of Gizeh. 



In November, 1921, the writer visited the little Bedouin village of 

 Abu Eoash, a mile beyond the ruined pyramid of that name. It is 

 built against the rocky base of Gebel Abu Roash, by some ancient 



