DATE VARIETIES 269 



well as Arabs consider it superior. It has the ad- 

 vantage of being larger, and possibly of keeping 

 better; the flesh remains soft and firm, the skin dry 

 and clean. It has a considerable amount of fibre 

 in the seed cavity, however, particularly if it be picked 

 before it is fully ripe. American experience has 

 shown this characteristic to be most fully developed 

 while the palms are still young; those in California 

 produced inferior fruit during their first few years, 

 but have been improving each year. The date in 

 Arizona seems to be of second quality. 



The fruit is late, ripening toward the first of 

 November. The yield is small during the first few 

 years, but when adult the palm is said to bear as 

 much as 220 pounds, single clusters sometimes being 

 heavier than a strong man can carry. 



The palm is formidable in appearance, leaves 

 being long, broad, and rather stiff and heavy, crowded 

 with very numerous long leaflets, and their stalks 

 armed throughout with long, stout spines. Fruit 

 clusters are short and dense, their stalks bright 

 yellow, rather short, stout and only moderately 

 curved, so that the dates do not hang down below 

 the leaves as with Deglet Niir and many other va- 

 rieties, but are almost hidden by the foliage. It 

 proved sensitive to frost last winter. 



Fruit from two to two and one-third inches long, 

 about one-half as wide, oblong, broad and rounded at 

 both ends, dull orange yellow before maturity, 

 brownish maroon when ripe, with a purplish bloom. 

 Flesh one-fourth inch thick, the white, fibrous lining 

 to the seed cavity well developed. Seed one inch long, 

 two-fifths to one-half as wide, russet to chestnut 

 colored, its surface uniformly roughened with small 



