2 BULLETIN 1125, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of western Egypt agree in reporting the Saidy as the most abundant 
date variety in the five Libvan oases — Siwa, Baharia (l) 1 , Farafra, 
Dakhla (#), and Kharga (3). 2 
In Gizeh Province of Egypt, within sight of the great Pyramids 
and on the very site of the ancient city of Memphis, are growing 
many thousands of trees of this variety under the name of "Sewi" 
(22), undoubtedly due to an early importation of offshoots from the 
Oasis of Siwa. 
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS OF A GREAT COMMERCIAL VARIETY. 
The important commercial varieties of dates all agree in possessing 
certain characters essential to securing a market among European 
or American peoples. They are attractive in size and appearance, 
soft and luscious in texture, and of sufficiently high sugar content 
and pleasing flavor to appeal to the palate of the large class of 
customers who regard the date as a confection and as yet do not 
appreciate the qualities of the dry or bread dates which are most 
sought by the desert dwellers. 
From the grower's viewpoint a great commercial date variety must 
be highly productive, and the fruit must have a sufficiently high sugar 
content to be self-preserving and to keep without fermentation dur- 
ing a long transportation by land or sea, plus a reasonable period of 
storage before marketing. Added to these qualities the successful 
commercial variety must be fairly prolific in the production of off- 
shoots, by which alone its true typecan be multiplied. 
THE PRINCIPAL COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF DATES. 
Among the few varieties of dates with the requisite characters to 
assure them places in the commercial list the Deglet Noor takes the 
lead, its exquisite flavor and attractive appearance having long ago 
caused it to reach the top of the market in continental Europe and 
to be sold also for the fancy holiday trade in England. 
Next to the Deglet Noor, the " Tafilet," or Medjhool, f rom the Tafil- 
alet Valley of southeastern Morocco, since the occupation of Spain by 
the Arabs has held a high reputation in that country and almost as 
high in England. Sometimes this variety, in spite of its unattractive 
appearance and notwithstanding the fact that it is sold almost 
entirely in bulk instead of in attractive packages, brings high prices. 
The third date of high market quality is, perhaps, the Fard, of 
the Semail Valley in the Sultanate of Maskat in southeastern Arabia. 
This is a small dark-colored date, but of attractive appearance, and 
the flavor is evidently appreciated by the American consumers, since 
it brings the highest price of all the varieties brought to this country 
from the Persian Gulf region. 
The fourth of the great commercial dates of the world is doubtless 
the Halawi, from the lower Euphrates Valley in Mesopotamia. This 
variety has the highest output of all commercial dates grown and is 
sold in enormous quantities in the English and especially in the Amer- 
1 Serial numbers (italic) in parentheses refer to "Literature cited' at the end of this 
bulletin. 
- The spelling of these oasis names, except where quoted, follows that used by the sur- 
veys department of the Public Works Ministry of Egypt. 
