'35/149 I (A 67) Batineh date trade. Dowson's reports' [‎60r] (125/164)

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I
In the Oa»iB of idlXtctah aX Aliyali *
4 In foreground#
Almost all the palme In the oasis of Miltqah
al Aliyah nave died|a great many are dead in Al Amqat and
some are dead in ^ifalsh,Ghubrah,Khunar ? AwalnsttHasas # barur f
and Miltqah al iiadariyali#
•jrjq t pfwyKine
Pleto 3CC31* Thss oasis of Miltqah al iiaciaryiaii at the juncti*
of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Samayil and the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. al Oailah where a quarter
of the palms have died of drought#
For this cause and exodus of the people to
^ansibar is said to have occurxed» their leveliaood in the Oruai
being gone#
An informant said that one male was planted to
every ten females#2from observation males would seem much less
frequent than this#One to fifty females appeared me arer the
truth#
A fexoale palm which in any one year may not b<
bearing is called Hai# In the Iraq it is either so called
or else Hail#
Bateit of ripening .
In Metrah and Masqat on tne 3rd of June then
were available and had been for some days iaaghal Uates half ||
way between Khalal and iiatab#^h»e® imd com^ feom Batahah#
Unripe dates are greenfwhsn they reach full size the green
coloiar of tii© skin changes to yel3.ow or red ov red and yellow i
The flesh is still firm#Many varieties of dates in this stage
are edibiS. though there is still so much precipitated tanin ifi
in others that they cannot be eatentuntil a later stage of
rix^ening be reached- i)at €s at this stage of ripening are
known as Khalal innthe Iraq but as Bistr in Oman and In North
Afrisa# &atsb dates are those which have developed beyond
the iShalal stage and the flesh has softened#The dates are
now syrupy end sticky#On further drying the dates become f i!amaa
firmer and darker than the Hatab#in Oman Tamarare called aar
Dates picjed up in the Katab stage go bad in a few days in
the Tamr stage they keep for ever# if protected from insects#
because of the high sugar concentration#In the ^amayil on the
7th June Khalal were common and had been so far for over a
week# but they had not become to soften into ^ a tab#Xt was not
until the first week in July that any Khalal were seen in tn
the Basrah market# f A l hesevere Hailawi selling at eight annas a
huqqah i. e# 6#4 c a lb. fht earliest dates in the ^adi ^amayi
are thus six weeka earlier than the earliest in SaaelUsi# in the
Batanah they are probably two months earlier#It is stated
that Oman has Khalal and iiatab dates for five months in the
year beginning with iJagal and -Qash Batash and ending with the
winter varieties of Khisab and Hilali#In Basrah the season i&
between four and five months long beginning with iaraim and
ending with Khasab#
Ofioked Dates #
^here is a great trade in cooked Bieir in
the Iraq called iCrialal Marbukh in Persia iOiarak the IJabasli
barietyis that which is most commonly cooked but there are mai
many other varieties amongst which are the aatni and the Umni
The export of these cooked dates is almost all t India and
they and other(Braim and Chiohh^tb) from Basrah can b. found
in most Horth Indian bazsaara#
Jftatt xxxi# ]?\imaoe for cooking Bates at Sifalah#The four
Pillars are designed to support a roof over the cooking pots
to the left is the chimney#
Diseases#
In the Batanah the majority bolls are
jliore or less scored with borer holes and in stoae cases are
half eaten away#
Xut ranychus # the wel spinning red spider wa f