162 DATEGROWING 



dates known, and no early ones are to be found there, 

 as compared with Arabia or Egypt. In some ways, 

 then, Algeria and Tunisia are the least promising of 

 any of the great date growing regions, as a source of 

 choice varieties for the United States. 



Egypt contains more than 10,000,000 palms, but 

 seven-tenths of them are in Upper Egypt, where 

 they are scattered over so much territory that they 

 are difficult of access. Furthermore, these upper 

 Nile dates are practically all dry, a fact that was 

 noted even by Pliny,* who ascribes it to the climate. 

 Schweinfurth says,t "In the north Nubian Nile 

 valley from Berber to Aswan there are only dry 

 dates which, however, in flavor, aroma, and sugar 

 content, as well as in size, seem to surpass those of 

 all other regions." These Nubian dates have not 

 yet fruited in the United States. 



In the Egyptian delta, on the other hand, the 

 dates are large, soft, and dark in color, while rather 

 coarse in flavor. They offer great commercial 

 possibilities, and some of them have made excellent 

 records in the United States. 



Dates of Oman, on the eastern coast of Arabia, 

 are earlier than those of any other region I know; 

 half a dozen varieties can be found which ripen in the 

 latter half of May, and as many more in June, while 

 the principal crop is in August. They are pre- 

 vailingly soft. 



To the north of this, from the province of Hasa, 

 formerly called Hajar, come some of the best dates of 

 Arabia, including the famous Khalaseh. Palgrave, 

 the only traveler who has given us a careful account of 



*Hist. Nat., Bk. Xm, ch. 9. 

 fGartenflora, loc. cit. 



