36 BULLETIN 1457, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The treatment of offshoots will necessarily vary much with local 
conditions. In Dongola Province, for example, the records show the 
1 r^esr relative humidity of any date-growing country that has come 
under observation. In Department Bulletin No. 271 (12, p. 5) it is 
shown that the relative humidity for the year, on the basis of records 
:c vexing 15 years, is .only 22 per cent, with March, April, May, and 
J^m falling to 14, 14, 12, and 13 per cent, respectively, while the 
mean monthly temperatures ranged from 77° to 92° F., from March 
to June. Under such conditions the constant watering of newly set 
offshoots assumes the greatest importance. 
In the date-growing Provinces of the Sudan — Berber, Dongola, 
and Haifa — August is preferred over all other months for trans- 
planting offshoots. At ;; the rise of the Nile " is their way of ex- 
pressing the choice of season, This involves not only the rise of 
:he_:iver. sometimes as much as 30 feet, culminating about the middle 
of September, but a lowering of the temperature several degrees dur- 
ing July and August and an increase in relative humidity; both are 
lue to the advent of the tropical rains, only rare showers of which 
reach this far north. The rise of the river causes the saturation of 
the subsoil of all the lands adjacent, as well as the flooding of low 
lands and side channels. The water lift for the sakiehs is but a 
slight one at this stage. 
On a date plantation under English control near Korti, in Dongola 
Province, of 300 offshoots set in August, 1924, fully 90 per cent were 
making a good start as seen by the writer in the following December. 
The Mohammedan month comprising the latter part of February 
ana early March is called " the growing month " by the natives of 
the Sudan, and they have certain wise sayings about the success 
of things planted at this season, which would about correspond to 
April and early May in southern California. 
The low stage of the river, with the consequent difficult water 
lift and the approaching season of heat and dry air, are the points 
against this season for transplanting offshoots. 
The omda of Barkel, a district comprising the sacred mountain 
of " Gebel Barkel " with its various pyramids, the owner of many 
date gardens, was very pronounced in favor of June as the most 
favorable month for moving date-palm offshoots. Though this is 
perhaps the most successful month for this work in the Coachella 
ley of California, it seems to have few advocates in the Sudan. 
Several of the chief men of the vicinity of Merowe, in con- 
ference with the governor of the Province, made the following 
recommendations : 
(1) The offshoots, when possible, should be taken from "thirsty" trees; that 
is :ee< with dry, hard tissues, because of the lack of a liberal supply of 
water. 
(2) They should be set two-thirds of their length in the soil and one-third 
above, with a covering of matting or some such protecting material over the 
exposed portion. 
(3) During the first season the offshoots should receive a little water morn- 
ing and night during the first 40 days, water once a day for the next 40 
days and water every two or three days for the rest of the year. 
In purchasing offshoots for shipment to the United States it has 
] pretty well demonstrated that July and August shipments do 
not tear transportation; but for immediate planting the time-tested 
