CHAPTER IX 



HANDLING THE CROP 



A few dates — Persian Gulf varieties — ripen during 

 the last week of July in California, under favorable 

 conditions, but August is as early as one can expect 

 any of the sorts which have so far been tried out here, 

 and a much larger number still will come on in 

 Septenaber, which is the month of principal harvest, 

 unless the summer has been abnormal. In October 

 the late dates, and particularly those from Algeria, 

 mature, finishing in November, the first half of 

 which should see the wind-up of the entire harvest, 

 unless it be for some particular variety like Shitwi or 

 — in Arizona — Badrashin. 



This crop season corresponds with the season in 

 all other date growing countries, except India, where 

 the advent of the monsoon in summer forces the dates 

 in many districts to complete their maturity before 

 July. At Baghdad the first dates ripen in August and 

 the last in November. At Busreh the same is the case ; 

 the height of the season is mid-September, when 

 Halawi, Khadhrawi and Sayir, the three great com- 

 mercial varieties, are simultaneously on the market. 

 Oman has the earliest dates I know; they are to be 

 found in the market from May 15th to November 

 15th, in a fresh state. Some of the Egyptian dates 

 are said to ripen in June, but the bulk of the crop does 

 not appear before August 1st. In Arabia proper — 

 at Madina, for example — the first dates appear 

 June 1st, and the main harvest a month later. In 



