WORK OF YUMA EXPERIMENT FARM IN 1912. 



23 



sufficient numbers at the right time in the spring are a serious handi- 

 cap to the rapid extension of the Smyrna fig industry. It is highly 

 desirable that a fig be originated that will have the excellent qualities 

 of the Smyrna, but which, like the common varieties of figs, will set 

 fruit without insect pollination. More than a thousand seedlings, 

 crosses between the Smyrna and common varieties of figs, have been 

 planted in orchard form (fig. 4) with the hope of securing some new 

 varieties having the above-named desirable characteristics. These 

 seedlings will begin to bear during the season of 1913. 



The minmium of 16° F. above zero during the winter of 1911-12 

 killed nearly all the seedling figs to the ground. Since equally low 

 temperatures may occur at intervals of 10 or 15 years, it is desirable 



Fig. 4.— View in the fig orchard on the Yuma Experiment Farm. More than a thousand seedlings, crosses 

 between the Smyrna and common fig varieties, are being tested. 



that the new wood on fig trees shall be well ripened before cold 

 weather sets in. This was accomplished at the experiment farm 

 during the season of 1912 by withholding imgation water from the 

 fig orchard from about the first of August and thus preventing late 

 growth. 



VEGETABLES. 



A garden for supplying the farm cooperative mess with fresh vege- 

 tables has been grown each year. ^lost of the varieties of vegetables 

 that are recommended by reliable seed houses for planting in the 

 Southwest have been successfully grown when planted during the 

 proper season. There is no good reason why a farmer on the Yuma 

 Project should not have fresh vegetables from his own garden the 

 entire year. Varieties of tomatoes, such as the Dwarf Champion, 

 that have the fruit shaded by dense foliage, are the most satisfactory. 



[Cir. 12G] 



