462 Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



others I have mentioned as second choice, with the incomparabh* Khalaseh 

 always in a special place of honor. 



As for the worst ones, the two Saadas, Sharisi, Ja'afari, Hainrawi, Ilalawi 

 and Asshag will have to fight for the leather medal among themselves. One 

 sometimes finds in the bazars worse dates than any of those, but they are 

 merely seedling fruit. The varieties named are as bad as any one would care 

 to perpetuate. 



Methods of culture differ little in Babylonia from those in other Arab 

 countries, and I therefore omit any description of it, particularly since it 

 has been treated by Fairchild* fully and satisfactorily. 



In transliterating the Arabic names of date varieties, I have followed the 

 system now universally adopted by scientific men — namely, that consonants 

 should be pronounced as in English and vowels as in the continental languages 

 — e. g., Spanish. This system, which was elaborated by the International 

 Congress of Orientalists at Geneva in 1894, has the merit of being both 

 uniform and simple. 



The following list, arranged in alphabetical order, contains the varieties 

 which I was able to list in Babylonia, either from my own observations, or 

 from the descriptions of native acquaintances ; but as I have recently pub- 

 lishedt descriptions of most of the varieties now in California, at some length, 

 I omit these in order to save duplication. For the following Babylonian 

 varieties the student should, therefore, consult my book on Date Growing : 



Anjast, "The Pyriform." 



Asibi' al 'Arus, "The Bride's Fingers." 



Asharasi, "The Tall Growing." 



'Aivaydi, "The Little Big One." 



Bajldni, named after a tribe of noted date-growers. 



Badinjdnt, "The Egg-Plant Date." 



Bdrbdn, "The Fair Persian." 



Barhi, named after a hot wind supposed to ripen it. 

 By-'im, (origin of name disputed). 



Duha'im, named after the oasis of Dubai, near Baghdad. 

 Fursi, "The Persian." 



Guntdr, properly Qintdr, "The Hundredweight." 

 Haldun, "The Sweet." 



Haldxvi Makkdwi, "The Sweet Date of Mecca." 

 Hasan (or Husain) Effendi, (a man's name). 

 Hasdwt, from Hasa. 

 Ibrdhimi, "Abraham's Date." 

 Khadhrdivt, "The Verdant." 

 Khustdun, "The Date of the Grandees." 



* Fairchild, David. Persian Gulf Dates and their Introduction to America. Bui. No. 

 54, Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C, 1903. 



t Date Growing in the Old and New Worlds, by Paul B. Popenoe. West India Gardens, 

 Altadena, Gal., 1913. 



