CAPRIFICATION OF THE FIG. 15 
caprificate the regular and common kind of edible figs would, there- 
fore, be a useless waste of time and work. They would probably pro- 
duce some fertile seeds, but it is doubtful if their quantity would be 
sufficient to greatly improve the fig. It has been said that the Blas- 
tophaga produces a gall in the edible figs, and that this gall formation 
would cause the figs to set and mature, in the same way as a worm- 
eaten pear or apple ripens sooner than the uninjured fruit. But we 
have already seen that no such gall is produced in edible figs, and 
experiments in Italy have almost conclusively demonstrated that the 
entrance of the wasps does not hasten the maturity of the common fig. 
We may, therefore, with a fair degree of certainty, establish the 
following facts: 
1. The visit of the wasps to the female flowers of the Smyrna figs is 
powerless to produce fertility or maturity, except when accompanied 
by pollination. 
2. The gnawing of the wasps on the scales of the eye, or the mere 
irritation of the flowers, does not produce a flow of sap sufficient to 
stimulate the fig to set and mature. 
THE EFFECTS OF CAPRIFICATION. 
Caprification can, therefore, only be effective and profitable in 
varieties which contain a majority of developed female flowers. If 
such figs are not caprificated, they will drop off shortly after the 
receptivity of the female flowers is past. On such figs the immediate 
effect of caprification is, first, the setting and the coming to full 
maturity of the fig receptacle (the fig); second, the development and 
maturity of the female flowers and their ovaries and seeds. Another 
important effect of caprification is the dropping at full maturity of 
caprificated figs, or rather of figs in which caprification has been suc- 
cessful. All Smyrna figs drop of themselves when ripe, while all 
other fig varieties in which caprification is not an absolute necessity, 
must be cut or pulled from the tree at harvest time, as they will fall 
only when past their prime. The advantage of having figs requiring 
caprification is, therefore, evident in all districts where such figs will 
grow. 
The expense of caprification is much smaller and requires less 
labor than the pulling or cutting off of the figs when ripe; provided, of 
course, that the figs would set without being caprificated, which they 
will not do. ; 
Besides the pomological or horticultural maturity of the receptacle 
the caprification produces the botanical maturity of the female flowers, 
which, as we will see, is of great importance as determining the 
quality of the fig. 
THE IMPORTANCE OF SEEDS IN DRIED FIGS. 
The greater value of caprificated varieties over those which do not 
require the process is to be sought in the development of fertile seed. 
