130 THE FIG: ITS HISTORY, CULTURE, AND CURING. 
TEMPERATURE. 
The proper temperature for the fig varies with different varieties. 
While some figs will mature with comparatively little heat, others 
require a great deal, and can hardly be given enough. Most excel- 
lent figs for the table may be grown where the heat is moderate, while 
varieties for drying require much more heat. If we take the figs of 
Smyrna, Kabylia, and Algarve as standard dried figs, as we must cer- 
tainly do, then it is safe to say that the temperature in the shade 
during the drying, or rather during the maturing, of the figs should 
never, or seldom at least, exceed 100° F., or about 130° in the sun. 
Figs will, however, stand as much heat as the sun can give them, pro- 
vided they are not exposed to the direct rays. However, since the 
best figs for drying are produced near Smyrna, where the heat seldom 
reaches over 100° F., we must conelude that a higher temperature in 
the shade is not desirable. Too strong direct heat and light may 
burn or seald the figs, thus bleaching and hardening the skin on the 
exposed side. Excessive heat during the season when the figs ripen is 
consequently undesirable. 
In studying the effeet of excess of temperature each variety of the 
fig must be considered. Some kinds are very hardy, comparing in 
this respect with peaches, and even apricots. The tender southern 
varieties of figs should never be exposed to a colder temperature 
than 16° F., even if well matured; and if the branches are immature, 
18° F. will kill the trees to the ground. A young fig tree can endure 
much less than an old one; consequently, it often happens that trees 
during the first two or three years after planting are cut to the ground 
and killed by frosts of from 18° to 22° F., and very often the variety 
is at once condemned as unsuited to the region. As the trees grow 
older they become hardier, show less growth, and are less injured by 
frost. The first few years are therefore the most important ones, 
during which time the trees should be watched and protected in the 
winter. If brought safely over that period most varieties will be 
found hardy in the valleys of California. The writer has seen young 
Adriatic figs cut down to the soil three years in succession during 
temperatures of 18° F., and the same trees, after having sueccess- 
fully reached four years or over, were not injured«by much heavier 
freezing. In the grounds of the Department of Agriculture, Wash- 
ington, D. C., may be seen a real Smyrna fig tree which must have 
grown there a great many years, as it is 12 to 14 feet high and has 
never been protected. Similarly in the streets and yards of Wash- 
ington there are quite a number of seedlings 2 or 3 feet and upward 
in height, which have sprung up from Smyrna fig seed. In order to 
facilitate the proper ripening of the figs it is necessary that the nights 
should be warm or moderately warm. Cold and chilly nights, even 
if the days are warm, will cause the figs to dry or remain hard, with 
little sugar. 
