290 DATEGROWING 



depressed. Color very dark brown or purple, almost 

 black. Skin thin and tender, adhering closely to 

 flesh but wrinkled indiscriminately; when long dried 

 the fruit often shows light-colored scars, short and 

 usually longitudinal, but sometimes making almost a 

 net work over limited areas of the surface. Flesh one- 

 fourth inch thick, golden brown in color with a lighter 

 layer toward center; soft and syrupy, becoming 

 granular after the lapse of a year. Seed five-eighths 

 inch long, three-eighths wide, loose in cavity, mummy 

 brown to russet in color, usually smooth but some- 

 times quite rough, ventral channel closed except for 

 a noticeable opening near apex, germ pore nearer 

 base than apex. Flavor remarkably sweet, like 

 molasses in a well-cured fruit; sometimes a slight 

 astringent taste. Ripens midseason but irregularly 

 on bunch, if left on palm. Arabs usually pick an 

 entire cluster when the dates begin to soften, and hang 

 it indoors; they state that in a week or ten days the 

 fruits will all ripen together. 



Thiiri, Theory, Tsuri, The Bull's Date, an 

 Algerian dry date which has proved one of the most 

 satisfactory in California. It is large, not hard, and 

 of excellent flavor; the palm bears heavily and the 

 clusters are of exceptional size. For this reason 

 Arabs usually remove three-fifths of all the spathes 

 after pollination. Rather late in ripening (about 

 November 1). Hangs on the clusters well, so is 

 often sold in that condition. The date is classed by 

 Arabs as "hot," and not suitable for a prolonged and 

 exclusive diet. 



The fruit is one and three-quarters inch long, 

 three-quarters inch wide, broadest in middle or 



