144 DATEGROWING 



good results when picked early and allowed to ripen 

 indoors. There is no secret about the method, and 

 anyone who has a warm storehouse can utilize it 

 for that purpose. The dates are picked when the 

 first soft spots appear, and packed loosely in boxes 

 which will hold thirty or forty pounds — cracker 

 boxes are convenient and cheap. Whole clusters 

 may be put in if they ripen evenly; otherwise the first 

 dates to mature will have to be picked by hand, and 

 the rest of the cluster left until a few days or a week 

 later. The boxes are then tightly covered and placed 

 in the storehouse, which at sundown is closed to 

 prevent the entrance of night air; by this means the 

 temperature in Coachella Valley will not fall much 

 below 80° Under favorable conditions three or four 

 days sufiice to ripen the dates perfectly; furthermore, 

 they ripen evenly and the loss on a bunch need not 

 exceed five per cent. They can then be packed in the 

 usual way and shipped. Pasteurization is desirable in 

 order to prevent the ravages of worms. 



Commercial growers could well afford to build 

 packing houses, tightly constructed and with double 

 walls to retain the heat at night. 



Artificial ripening, then, far from being a costly 

 and delicate process to worry the grower and eat 

 into his profits, is a simple and natural operation 

 which will save him many cents on the dollar. For 

 most date-growing regions, including California, 

 dates can conveniently and economically be ripened 

 with the slow method, which requires them merely 

 to be picked at the right time and held for a few days 

 in a storehouse. But to save the crop if it is hit by 

 a rain, or to meet any sudden demand, the commercial 

 grower should have the means of ripening his dates 



