56 THE PLANT WORLD 



Notes of Current Literature. 



The Jamaica Board of Agriculture lias just issued a report by 

 Robert Thomas, formerly Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, 

 giving an exhaustive account of the manner in which various tropical or 

 semi-tropical fruits are cultivated in Florida. It is intended to supply 

 information for the use of residents of Jamaica on the improved methods 

 of culture now in force in this country, and incidentally pays a high 

 comj>liment to our students of plant-breeding. 



The U. S. Department of Agriculture has in press and will soon 

 issue Bulletin No. 9, Division of Pomology, entitled " The Fig : Its 

 History, Culture, and Curing." It was prepared by Gustav Eisen, Ph. 

 D., and the earliest observations on which the bulletin is based were 

 begun many years ago during a visit of the author to the fig districts of 

 the Mediterranean countries. Later on investigations were made by Dr. 

 Eisen in Mexico, Central America, and California, principally the latter. 



The recent successful introduction of the Blastophaga into the fig- 

 growing sections of the United States by the Department of Agriculture 

 almost certainly assures the production of first-class Smyrna figs, which 

 will doubtless greatly encourage and stimulate the industry. 



The bulletin gives a complete history of the fig and describes in 

 detail the methods of culture and curing. 



The first chapter is devoted to the derivation of the name, the home 

 and distribution of the fig industry, and the botany of the fig. 



Chapter 2 describes fig culture in Smyrna and Asia Minor, Greece, 

 Northern Africa, Italy, Portugal, France, England, Spain, the Southern 

 States of North America and Mexico. 



Chapter 3 relates to fig culture in California and gives an account 

 of the importation of Smyrna fig cuttings by the Bulletin Company of 

 San Francisco in 1880, and the very important importation by the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture of the whole collection of figs grown in the 

 hothouses of the Roj^al Horticultural Society of London, the best known 

 collection of figs in the world. The efforts to obtain this collection for 

 the State of California were begun under Secretary Rusk's administra- 

 tion, but were only brought to a successful issue under the administra- 

 tion of Secretary Morton in February, 1895. A history of the importa- 

 tion of Blastophaga is also given. 



Chapter 4 is devoted to caprification of the fig. This is a practical 



