30 THE FIG: ITS HISTORY, CULTURE, AND CURING. 
At the end of July the figs begin to mature. The fig is never cut 
from the tree, but falls of its own accord when partially cured or 
overripe. At first the figs drop a few at a time, and but few laborers 
are required, the picker having to glean all over the ground in order ~ 
to fill a basket. In August, however, the figs fall thiek and fast, and 
the whole laboring population is required to pick and dry the crop. 
The figs are never picked up while covered with dew, but only when 
perfectly dry. The most favorable time for picking is during the 
blowing of the north wind, as the figs then dry better and assume a 
better color. The figs are picked up into wicker baskets and imme- 
diately conveyed to the drying ground near by, where they are care- 
fully spread out singly, none being allowed to overlap another, in 
order that they may receive the necessary sun and heat. 
After three to four days of exposure those figs which are dried suf- 
ficiently are taken up, divided roughly into three different grades, 
and care taken that they do not dry too much. The skin must feel 
dry, but the inside must be soft. The very choicest figs are conveyed 
to Smyrna in baskets. The general grade, or ‘‘eleme,” is dumped in 
sacks made of goat hair and camel’s hair, while for the third or poorer 
grade or ‘‘horda” common, yellow-colored sacks are used. The goat- 
hair sacks are very durable, and do not become so sticky from any 
exuding juice. They are also impervious to dust. These bags are also 
very expensive, and, indeed, are very seldom owned by the growers, 
but hired from the ‘‘devegees,” or camel men, who earry the figs to the 
railroads and to Aidin. These devegees are in reality contractors who 
haul the crop away, ship it on the railroads, accompany it to Aidin, 
and finally dispose of the figs to the traders there. They constitute a 
real corporation of middlemen, known for their honesty and capability. 
Their work for the season ends only with turning the sum received 
for the sale over to the grower. The guild of the devegees is an 
important one in Smyrna. The compensation of the devegee is 7 per 
cent of the sale. 
PACKING. 
The fig grower in Smyrna does not pack his own figs. The packing 
is done by special firms who employ skilled labor. The packing con- 
sists of two distinet operations—the assorting and the packing proper. 
The assorting is done by comparatively unskilled labor, women being 
always employed for this part of the work. The figs are dumped 
from their hair sacks on mats spread directly on the floor, and girls 
and women squat down around the piles. Each woman has in front 
of her at least three baskets, into which she assorts the fruit, in three 
grades, while the refuse remains on the floor to be packed in 40- 
pound bags, which are disposed of for home use or shipped to England 
and France for distilling, ete. The grade is determined by size, color, 
thinness of skin, ete., and is judged by both eye and hand. 
