254 PROCEEDINGS OP THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



we believe that the earlier, quicker ripening dates may be grown. If 

 the number of heat units runs up to 5,000 or so quite a large number 

 of varieties will be perfected; but only in a reading of 6,000 or 7,000 

 units above the zero point can the very finest of Sahara dates be pro- 

 duced. Those conditions exist in the Coahuila and Imperial deserts 

 of southern California, in the Pala Verde country and around Yuma, 

 and to a limited extent in the lower Gila country. Throughout the 

 lower Salt River and Gila River countries about Maricopa, Phoenix and 

 Tempe, and perhaps up into the Pala Verde country, the medium 

 quality dates could be grown to perfection in most years. There are 

 already some fine old seedling date trees in the neighborhood of Phoe- 

 nix. One interesting case is that of Mrs. Lount there, who says: "The 

 first dates that grew on the ranch, my husband brought me the seeds 

 in his vest pocket. He had been to town and eaten the dates and when 

 he came home he gave me the seeds." She planted the seeds and quite 

 a number of trees grew, and contrary to the usual rule, which is that 

 the trees will come about half and half female, the majority of her 

 trees proved to be male, but out of that number she secured one very 

 fine sort, indeed, and others of fair quality and they are growing to- 

 day in her yard in Phoenix. She said to me that the best date ever 

 grown in Arizona was planted by a Mexican, and when that place was 

 leased by a family and they began taking offshoots from that tree she 

 wanted one and they would not give it to her. She says: "One night, 

 when I knew they would all be away, I took my Mexican man, a lan- 

 tern, and an irrigation shovel and went over there and stole one and 

 brought it home and planted it. And it was a good thing I did, because 

 they tried afterwards to move the old tree and it died, and the offshoots 

 died, and that is all I have to represent that splendid variety. I have 

 one old tree and six offshoots from it." 



Now, this illustrates the way in which the date tree is propagated. 

 In California it is an easy matter to take off a slip and graft it or root 

 it; any single bud of these varieties of exogenous fruits is good; but in 

 the case of the date there is only one bud, and that is at the top of the 

 tree. 



The date trunk makes no initial expansion in diameter except 

 through the first month, because it has no growing, living layer, but the 

 living cells are all through the trunk, so we depend on offshoots, and 

 after fifteen or twenty years the date tree ceases to bear these offshoots. 

 There are to-day very choice varieties of dates growing in the Gulf 

 region and Florida from which we have no means of getting any more 

 trees because they have passed the offshoot-bearing stage. 



At the present time we are distributing a large quantity of date seeds 

 of the choicest varieties to the settlers in that district which I have 

 named, with the idea that from these seedlings may be secured, by 



