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CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. tor 
RAINFALL AND MOISTURE. 
Few fruit trees enjoy moisture as much as does the fig. In very 
moist or even wet soil the fig tree grows most luxuriantly and attains 
a high degree of development; but in such localities the quality of 
the fruit is inferior, being less sweet, insipid, or even sickening to the 
taste. Different varieties require different degrees of moisture in the 
soil, and in order to produce the best quality of fruit the soil should 
never be more than moist, not wet, at least not during the fruiting 
season. In Smyrna the yearly rainfall averages 25 inches, and this 
must be considered the standard rainfall required by or desirable for 
the fig designed for drying, provided the soil is of such a quality as 
will retain the moisture. With the proper cultivation of a good soil 
with the above average rainfall, even at the end of the dry season, 
moisture will be found a few inches below the surface sufficient to 
cause the soil to ecohere when pressed. If drier than this the trees 
will suffer, both as regards wood and fruit, while if more moist 
the figs will be inferior. The rainfall should be all in the rainy or 
winter season and none after the figs have begun to mature. A 
shower of rain on mature or nearly mature figs is very injurious, 
causing the figs to break open, turn sour, and rot, and the crop may 
be a total loss. Moisture in the air, such as is caused by and follow- 
ing rain and fog, is also injurious to the fruit, although it favors the 
development of the tree. The fig requires a dry, but not too dry, air, 
in order to produce superior fruit. Still, good and very superior fruit is 
grown close to the ocean, but out of reach of fogs. Some of the 
Smyrna figs are grown within the sight of the Mediterranean near 
Ephesus, and the figs of Algarve and Malaga are similarly not far 
from the sea. In California excellent figs are grown around San Fran- 
cisco Bay, though not near totheshore. But fogs are always injurious 
to figs, preventing the development of sugar and injuring the color 
of the skin. Even dew is not desirable, especially when the figs are 
ripening, and no figs should be picked before the dew is thoroughly 
evaporated. 
WINDS. 
Winds are supposed to favor the maturing of the figs, provided 
they are dry and not too warm. In Smyrna the finest figs are those 
gathered when the dry north wind is blowing. The fig can hardly be 
injured by ordinary heavy winds, as there are few trees which grow 
asevenly balanced as the fig. This fact makes the fig especially suit- 
able for wind-breaks during the summer months, while its deciduous 
character unsuits it for this purpose in the winter. 
IDEAL CLIMATIC CONDITIONS FOR FIGS. 
Summarizing the general climatic conditions favorable for the most 
perfect development of the fig, we have the following: 
(1) Two seasons, one rainy and one dry, the latter during the warm 
