Evening star., 1911-08-20

The Persian dates are Of hundreds ot
varieties. and Mr. Fairchid heard of
some that are said 70 be ssediess. IN
this respect corresponding perhaps 70 the
navel orange which is now so common
all over our country.
Mr.. Fa:rchld sent shoots Of several
varieties Of dates to the nited states.
and has thus been instrumental! in giving
US some Of the first trees planted in our
arid west He also forwarded date trees
from the Fayoum. in Egypt. from Ara-
bia and from other places which he visit
ed during his travels.
The man who has done more for date
culture in the United States than any
other. however is Mr.. Walter I. H"in-
gle. who as a botanist and plant breeder
ranks as high as Luther Burbank. the
so-calied wizard of California. Mr.. Swim
cie has bred new dates, new figs and new
citrus fruits. including oranges which
can be grown as far north as central
Georgia He has been largely instru
mental in introducing the date and the
fig into our country. and has also given
Us the pistachio ard other valuable plants
Of the Mediterranean region. He has
been connected with the Department Of
Agriculture Tor more than twenty years
and became interested in the Introduction
Il dates and fiss during his stay p
Naples. where he went 10 study tropical
agriculture about n decade or 50 ago
He then travelled through Asia Minor and
crossed over into Africa, Goin- down into
the Sahara Prior to his visit to the date
regions there some seeding date trees
had been grown in California and Ari-
zona and there had been attempts by
the department TO import shoots or suck
erS from the date trees Of Africa.
The chief war of starting date grove
in the Sahara is to take up tie suckers,
which sprout out from about the trunk
Of the palm. and plant them. The meth
Cd of shipping them to the United States
was to set them out in tubs near the
trees from which they were taken and to
allow them to grow for one year. At the
cEd of that time the plant in the tub
was, sent 10 New York and thence to the
west This method vas costly. The
.teamships did not ike to handle the
tubs and they charged freight at the
rate of one ton per tub. The expense was
almost prohibtive.
Mr.. Swingle conceived the idea of
sending the shoots fresh from the tree.
He sent to Paris for bale of special
kind of moss. and with this after it had
been well wet he wrapped tho ends OF
the suckers He then tied each up in
straw and packed them in ordinary shoe
boxes which he able to ship at the
regular freight rates. It was found that
the shoots arrived in Arizona and Cali
fornia in excellent condition. They were
transplanted in the date gardens there
and rapidly grew.
During his second visit to Algeria Mr..
Swingle made one shipment of over four
hundred of these suckers. three-fourths
of which became trees. and since then
Ne have had other mportations made
the same way. Some of the suckers We're
set out at Tempe. Arizona. not far from
Phoenix. Theodore Roosevelt while
President feasted on dates from those
trees and thousands Of pounds were har-
rested from them this year. Others of
the suckers went TO California. and some
have been sent to extensive date
region which is now being tested near
Laredo, Texas. Not a few so imported
are growing IN the imperial valley OF
southern California. Mr.. Swingle tells
me that dates may he grown in Calfor-
MIA as far north as Sacramento. but that
the finest varieties will succeed best
about Yuma, Arizona, and on the south
ernmcst edge of California. There IS nc
use attempting to grow them where the
temperature falls below 81 Fahrenheit
and the hotter the better. There are
some regions in Nevada where dates
might grow. and this is also in New
Mexico and all along the hot Rio Grande
river in Texas with the exception Of a