242 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



in the hard-trampecl, clean-swept dooryarcl, where 

 they receive no cultivation whatever, but where no 

 grass or weeds are allowed to grow and where they 

 are constantly enriched by ashes, soapsuds, etc. 

 Figs always thrive admirably in dooryards, but 

 there have been many failures when the attempt 

 has been made to grow them under orchard con- 

 ditions. 



The fig, while widely grown at the South for family 

 use, has never gained much commercial importance. 

 The fresh fruit, ripening as it does during the period 

 of midsummer rains, is too delicate for shipment 

 under ordinary methods. Experiments have shown 

 that with very careful handling it can be successfully 

 shipped under refrigeration, but fresh figs are practi- 

 cally unknown in the Northern markets, and there is 

 consequently no pressing demand for them. By proper 

 effort a profitable trade in them could unquestionably 

 be established, for no fruit is more keenly relished by 

 those who have learned to know it. There is a lim- 

 ited industry in canning and preserving figs at a few 

 points in the South. So far, very high prices have 

 been maintained for these goods, and the demand for 

 them is, consequently, not as great as it would other- 

 wise be. It is an industry that is capable of very 

 considerable extension. No commercial dried figs are 

 made at the South, since climatic conditions are unfa- 

 vorable and the varieties best adapted to drying do 

 not thrive well. 



The number of varieties known in different coun- 

 tries is very large, but only a few seem to succeed 

 well at the South. Of these Celeste and Green 



