156 THE FIG: ITS HISTORY; CULTURE, AND CURING. 
PREPARING THE SOIL. 
The preparation of the ground for the future fig orchard differs in 
nothing from the most approved methods used for ordinary orchard 
lands. The more thoroughly the ground is prepared the less will be 
the cost of driving stakes, digging holes, and setting the trees, as well 
as the final irrigation in dry localities. When irrigation is necessary 
the work on the ground begins with leveling the land. It will greatly 
cheapen after-culture if this leveling is carefully done. In order to 
ascertain that this has been done there is no better test than to irri- 
gate the ground before the trees are planted. The soft places will 
then settle and may be filled in again. Even if irrigation in furrows is 
contemplated, the surface should be level enough for flooding, in order 
to insure an equal quantity of water to every tree and to save water 
and economize labor. After the trees are planted no leveling of the 
soil can be properly done. Ten dollars more per acre spent in leveling 
before planting will save perhaps $10 to $20 yearly afterwards, besides 
insuring an even growth to all the trees. In places where no irriga- 
tion is needed some attention should still be given to the preparation 
of the surface, both to prevent stagnant water during the rainy season 
and to cheapen and facilitate the yearly working of the soil. 
After leveling is done the plowing should begin as soon as the sur- 
face is properly dry. On no account attempt to plow when too wet 
or when too dry. The dry soil when turned under is liable to come 
in direct contact with the roots of the trees and cause them to dry 
out. The soil when turned over should break up finely, neither form- 
ing dry clods nor wet cakes. The soil when turned up must be moist, 
and the soil immediately below the plow should be yet moister, but 
not soggy. 
In plowing, the team should not be made to go all around the field, 
plowing toward the center, as this will leave two streaks of hard soil 
diagonally across the field in the shape of a Greek cross. The proper 
way is to plow the field in separate lands, from one boundary line to 
the other, making the turning always in the road which surrounds the 
land or field, and not in the land. In this way no hard soil will be 
left unplowed, and when the plowing is over the whole ground will 
be found plowed in parallel furrows. The harrowing should be 
done in the same way, but in the opposite direction, and the turning 
should be made on the land. Two or three harrowings will not be too 
much, as the more the surface is harrowed and pulverized the better 
will its condition, be for receiving the trees and the cheaper will be 
the final operations of the planting. 
In districts where the fig flourishes most and gives the best fruit 
no irrigation is needed, and consequently the surface of the ground 
does not need to be level. Stillit is of great importance that it should 
be sufficiently level to shed all water that may come by rain or flood. 
