DATE CULTURE IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN 
61 
THE AMHAT AND SAIDY GROWTH CURVES 
The Amhat date palm is found reaching great heights in larger 
numbers than any other variety in Egypt, and it may be questioned 
whether there is another variety that will equal it in the date-palm 
world. Plantations of several acres in extent were noted which from 
sample trees measured averaged 75 feet high, while 10 trees were 
found measuring 80 feet or over, figured at the top of the last sheath, 
considered to represent the tip of the bud and hence the top of the 
trunk. Two trees near a stone mill back of El Hawamdiya measured 
90 feet 7 inches and 92 feet 5 inches, respectively, and another 82 feet 
10 inches. These trees were famous throughout the upper Giza 
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Fig. 8. — Diagram showing the comparative rate of growth in height of Amhat (%) 
and Saidy (o) dates in upper Giza Province: A-B=Theoretical growth of 1 foot 
a year ; A-X=average growth of Amhat, often associated with the Saidy in the 
same gardens : A-S=average growth of Saidy under best conditions ; A— S'=average 
growth of Saidy in rather poor sandy or salty soil ; S=sandy soil ; St=salty 
soil ; *=bad alkali. Each circle or cross represents a tree measured. The ages 
of the trees shown in 10-year periods at the bottom are the closest approxima- 
tion to the ages of the trees measured that could be obtained from the owners 
country, and the first two are probably the tallest palms in Egypt. 
Figure 8, A-X, shows that up to 40 years of age the growth rate of 
the Amhat date is considerably more than a foot a year, that the 
rate at 55 years is a foot a year, and that the curve advances at more 
than three-fourths of a foot a year up to 100 years and is still going 
strong at 120 years. 
When it is understood that these palms have an average trunk 
diameter of only 18 or 20 inches, the grace and beauty of these old 
Amhat groves can be more fully appreciated. (PL 12, A.) It should 
be mentioned also that the wood of the Amhat trunks is of unusual 
hardness and strength, which explains their being able to attain such 
great heights. 
