BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 289 



sonably expected to be somewhat hardier than the existing oranges 

 and grape fruits while being scarcely, if at all, inferior in flavor. 

 Other hybrids have been made between citranges on the one hand and 

 the trifoliate parent on the other, the object being to originate hardy 

 deciduous citrus fruits which can be grown beyond the northern limit 

 of cotton culture. Such hybrids would undoubtedly yield very acid 

 fruits of inferior quality which might, nevertheless, be useful for 

 home culture, where the fruits could be utilized in making ades and 

 for culinary purposes. 



In cooperation with the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Intro- 

 duction, an effort is being made to obtain new types of citrus fruits 

 and of wild species allied to the citrus fruits for use in breeding new 

 types and new stocks upon which to graft them. Some of these new 

 importations are promising for use in the breeding of hardy citrus 

 fruits. Others promise to be of value for use as stocks, permitting 

 the extension of citrus culture to soil not well adapted to the stocks 

 now in use. 



Fio ixvESTTGATTONS AND BREEDING. — Smyrna-fig culture has been 

 established in California largely as a result of the introduction of the 

 fig insect by the Department of Agriculture in the spring of 1899. 

 Smyrna-fig trees Avill not bear a crop of fruit unless the floAvers are 

 pollinated" by the minute insect which lives in the male fig, the so- 

 called caprifig. It has been found necessary to give much attention 

 to the introduction of proper varieties of caprifigs suitable for use in 

 different localities in the fig-growing States of the Southwest. Cut- 

 tings and rooted plants of good varieties of caprifigs and new varie- 

 ties of Smyrna figs are lieing distributed to cooperators on condition 

 that they will plant seedlings of the best type of Smyrna figs and 

 grow them to fruiting. In this way it is hoped to originate new 

 strains of Smyrna figs and new varieties of caprifigs adapted to the 

 local climatic and soil conditions. 



Several promising new varieties of figs have already been dis- 

 covered in the seedling fig orchard at Loomis, Cal., now under lease 

 to the Department of Agriculture. One of these varieties, which has 

 been named the Rixford, is a so-called self-sealing fig. As the fruit 

 ripens, a small drop of gum appears in the mouth of the fig; this gum 

 hardens and completely closes the fruit, preventing the access of 

 insects and at the same time enabling the fig to withstand rainstorms 

 without injury. This type of fig is likely to prove important in at- 

 tempting to extend fig culture in the foothill regions of California, 

 where it is probable that the best grade of fruit can be produced. In 

 such regions rains often occur early in autumn before the crop is ripe, 

 and ordinary varieties having a large, open eye are likely to be in- 

 jured. A self-sealing variety would be able to withstand such storms 

 without injury. Cuttings of this and other self-sealing varieties have 

 been widely distributed to cooperators in California and other South- 

 western States. 



Establishment of date culture. — In cooperation with the Office 

 of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction a large number of different 

 varieties of the date palm have been imported from Algeria, Tunis, 

 Egypt, xVrabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Beluchistan. These are 



73477°— AGB 1910 19 



