DATE CULTURE IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN 7 
any trees of the Delta — the presence of numerous satellite seedlings, 
near enough to the parent type to be classed and sold with it com- 
mercially, yet showing distinct characters under close analysis. 
Another of the Sukkot seedlings introduced into Dongola Province 
a century ago was the Bartamoda, or " Bentamoda,'' 5 in the ver- 
nacular of the region, the "new date" — producing a semidry, rich, 
luscious fruit, but with a rather delicate habit of tree growth and 
propagation. 
After more than a century it is still the " new date,*" of which a 
wealthy man may have perhaps two or three trees in his private 
garden from which to send presents of fruit to his most esteemed 
friends. The gift of an offshoot from it is worthy the gracious 
acceptance of one of the chief men of the Sudan. Found occasion- 
ally in gardens of the wealthy in the neighborhood of Aswan or 
Luxor, it is one of the choicest dates of Egypt, but commercially 
it has attained little importance. 
In the foregoing examples it is seen how the selected and proved 
seedling dates of one generation become the commercial foundation 
of the next. The iron rule of commercial profitableness is sure to 
work out in the end. A variety which yields abundantly what 
people want, with long-keeping and good transportation qualities, 
if it propagates freely and is sturdy and vigorous under cultivation, 
eventually wins. These are apparently simple requirements, yet 
the small total number of high-class commercial dates known to-day 
testifies to how rarely such a combination is found. 
SEEDLING DATES IN THE NILE VALLEY FROM GIZA TO THE FIRST CATARACT 
In the great region of seedling-date supremacy lying between 
Giza on the north and the First Cataract of the Nile economic 
conditions differ in an important way from those of the Delta. 
Although densely populated, it yet lacks the large cities which afford 
the stable date markets of the Delta. 
The 3,500,000 date trees are relatively but a fringe to the vast acre- 
age of rich bottom lands devoted to sugar cane and cereals. The 
dense rural population furnishes a quick local market for all the 
dates produced, and with the insignificant exportation there has been 
little opportunity for a variety with commercial possibilities to 
gain prominence, except in a limited way about Aswan. Quantity 
rather than quality is demanded, and nothing goes to waste. There 
is rather a prevalence of the dry or bread-date type, with a resem- 
blance to the • ■ Ibrimi " from up the river. 
In the gardens of the wealthy there are frequently found a few 
trees of the choice varieties from other sections, especially the Bar- 
tamoda 7 from the Sukkot country, the date of luxury of all the 
upper Nile region. There are also a good many fine seedlings, 
the trees having often passed the offshoot-producing stage without 
being propagated. In some cases this may have been due to lack 
of offshoot production, but there are definite cases where seedling 
5 See varietal description, page 15. 
For this translation the writer is indebted to G. W. Murray, of London, who has 
spent much time in the region in geological work and has in preparation a vocabulary 
of Nubian and Sudanese words. 
7 According to Murray, this is the form which the name Bentamoda takes in Upper 
Egypt. 
