20 PERSIAN GULF DATES. 



bud 2 or 3 inches above the surface of the soil, and for the first month 

 are watered every four days, and later at longer intervals, as the season 

 may demand. 



There are thousands of seedlings called "degal," but these form a 

 small proportion of the plantations and are recognized as bearing infe- 

 rior dates. The market demand is for special uniform qualities, and 

 these seedling dates are excluded because of their variability. A curi- 

 ous belief exists that date seeds, if immersed for a few seconds in 

 water heated to nearly the boiling point before planting, will produce 

 a much larger percentage of female trees than when planted in the 

 ordinaiw way. 



POLLINATION. 



The dates were in flower in the middle of March at Mohammerah, 



and at Bahrein hundreds of female blossoms which had been already 

 tied up with the sprig of male inflorescence inside were seen. Instead 

 of tying about the female inflorescence a thin strip of palm leaf, as is 

 done in Egypt and Algiers, the upper part was wrapped with a piece 

 of the brown fibrous material which grows between the leaf and the 

 trunk of the date palm. A single male tree 3 7 ields sufficient pollen to 

 fertilize the flowers of one hundred female trees, but there are espe- 

 ciall} 7 productive male varieties whose pollen is more abundant, power- 

 ful, and has better keeping qualities than others. The names of three 

 of these, as given by Mr. Raphael Sayegh, of Bassorah, to whom the 

 writer is indebted for some valuable information, are: "Gunnami" 

 (S. P. I. 8749 a ), " Wardi," and " Semaismi." Of these three, the first, 

 " Gunnami," is considered the best, and is the only one which the old 

 veteran date grower and buyer, Hadji Abdulla Negem, of Abu Kassib, 

 would recommend for planting. At Maskat, or the date valley of 

 Semail, in the interior, a special variety of male is planted, but so far 

 as could be learned it has no name except that of "Fachl" (S, P. I. 

 8761"), which means ''male." In the region back of Guadur, called 

 Kej, the male variety in use is called "Gush" (S. P. I. 8763 «). As 

 3 7 oung male plants of the best variety in each localit} 7 have been secured 

 for introduction, it will be interesting to learn which sort will thrive 

 best in America. 



Whether or not the method of pollination which has been in practice 

 for perhaps six thousand years is really the most economical one may 

 be doubted, and some more effective way will possibly be discovered 

 in the New World, which has already made so many improvements in 

 methods of agriculture. 



« The numbers in parentheses are those given by the Office of Seed and Plant Intro- 

 duction and Distribution, U. S. Department of Agriculture, to the specimens sent to 

 America. 



