OCR Text |
Show -10- Agriculture, in Washington city, under date of January 28, 1878, says: "War Office, Bureau of the General Staff, "Cairo, Egypt, January 28, 1878. "Sir: I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 3d instant, informing me of the safe arrival of the red date seed etc. "Had I known that you desired to plant the date seed in large numbers the quantity sent would have been much greater, and I have now given orders for the collection of several thousand seeds in each of the northern districts, where the best dates are grown. "The provinces of Charkieh, Gharbish, and Dahkaleeych, as well as the district of Roseta, all produce in the northern portion excellent varieties of dates, the cultivation of which is very profitable. From what I have seen of the date-producing regions of this part of the world, and from what I know of the desert of the Colorado between Carrisso Creek and Fort Yuma, I am inclined to believe that the greater portion of the latter region can be made productive and very valuable by making plantations of the date palm. "This tree not only does not require much water, but much water is prejudicial to it, and the climate of the Colorado Desert is singularly similar to that of some of the best date-producing districts here. "In any case, I feel assured that all of the New River portion of the Colorado Desert would grow the date tree without difficulty. "Such is the opinion of an able man with a world-wide reputation, who thoroughly understood the subject and whose word is authority." |