TATE GUI/TUBE IH EGYPT AND THE SUDAN 33 
Beside the Hayany, the Amhat of Giza Province is becoming a 
strong second in the rutab trade. This variety, although a ii ■:*. 
packing date when allowed to ripen, is so popular in the fres] 
dition that its culture for that purpose is being considerably ex- 
panded in districts within easy reach of Cairo and its suburbs. 
The trees are found in but small numbers outside of Giza Pro' 
and scarcely at all across the Nile to the eastward. 
Along the Mediterranean coast the Zagloul, Samany, and Bint 
Aischa, with a few Kobi, follow the Hayany variety in maturing 
serve to prolong the rutab season well into the winter. The Samany 
is increasingly used for cooking in sugar sirup and stuffing with 
almond or pistache kernels, after which it is given a sugar coating. 
It is an interesting feature of the development of the rutab- date 
trade that occasional lots of the " Sewi " are brought in for sale in 
this hard-ripe stage, but the variety is not likely to become a popular 
rutab date. 
SHIPPING AND HANDLING RUTAB DATES 
The hard-ripe Hayany dates are sometimes cut from the ti 
the entire bunch, but generally they are stripped from the strands 
or shamrokh, those nearest to maturity being taken first. L:gh: 
crates made from the date-leaf ribs holding about a bushel are 
mon package's, but a greater favorite is a coiled basket sewed from 
rough braid made from the pinnae, with a bushel or so of dates over 
which is a round cover of the same material quickly stitched on with 
a hand-twisted thread of finely shredded pinnae. The date palms 
thus supply their own shipping packages. 
Large snippers may take a rail-truck load on a fast train, but fche 
local passenger trains carry a sort of accommodation express jar 
with compartments opening on the side. In one of these com- 
partments may be shipped an officer's saddle horse, a cow and her 
calf that a trader has picked up, crates of eggs packed in sugar-cane 
leaves, and in their season the various parcels of dates from the 
villages along the route. Such fruit is claimed at the end of the 
journey like baggage, and in a few minutes arrives at the bazaars 
or is taken directly by one of the innumerable small shopkeepers 
in the native quarters. Quick transit and quick distribution is the 
rule, though there is a little loss if a lot holds over a bit too long. 
The unfastidious fellah will take them at a bargain that will at least 
pay expenses. 
Aside from railways, both standard and light, owned by the Gov- 
ernment, there are scores of keen traders. One of these perhaps has 
a donkey or two with crates or baskets balanced over the -a idle. 
Another, more prosperous, has a two-wheeled donkey cart with a 
platform on which he can stack a good many crates and baskets 
dates. Either of these traders will range out of the city for sev 
miles in search of the best bargains, and he knows just where to lis- 
pose of his purchases before there is danger of spoiling. 
Under American conditions the hard-ripe dates probably would 
have to sustain a longer haul and would be packed in such wooden 
baskets as are mow used for plums, apricots, or grapes, these again in 
crates. The crates, at least, could be machine-made from the leaf 
ribs. A system of quick disposal would have to be worked out. 
soured dates mean a soured customer in this country. 
10344—27 5 
