THE MONTITI>V l!i;iJ;ETIN. 



13 



At the age of fifteen veal's the tree is considered to be in its full 

 bearing stage, wlien planted at a distance of 30 by 30 feet, and the 

 ajiioiint of caprifigs to be liuiig on the trees will be from 175 to 200. 

 The above ligurcs are fur a normal sized tree; however, if the trees are 

 exceptionally large, apply a few more; if smaller than the average, 

 apply a few less. In other words, apply according to the size of the tree. 



^Tany growers have complained that the Smyrna fig does not prfjdnce 

 as heavily as other figs. 1 have investigated and found that this 

 shortage in every case is due to lack of sufficient pollination. For 

 iiislnncc. my trees are now twelve j'ears old, and I have gone over my 



Fig. 13. — Figs are dried on trays placed directly in the sun or stacked up one above 

 the other so that the air can circulate freely between them. (Original.) 



orchard eight times during the eaprification season, hanging an average 

 of 150 caprifigs to each tree, thereby giving my orchard a thorough 

 eaprification. If your caprifig supply is inadequate for your orchard, 

 I should advise you to buy a sufficient (piantity to thoroughly supply the 

 requirements. They cost only $5.00 per thousand, and I assure you it 

 will not pay to allow your figs to drop off from lack of pollination. I 

 have investigated the Smyrna figs after pollination and observed no 

 injury sustained by excessive eaprification. 



HARVESTING SMYRNA FIGS. 



The Smyrna fig ripens from the fifteenth or twentieth of August until 

 the first of October. When the figs ripen, they shrivel up and drop 

 from the trees to the ground. Once a week they are picked up, but into 

 40- or 50-pound lug boxes and hauled to the drying yard; there they are 

 spread on trays, stacked and covered and allowed to remain in stacks a 



