SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE FIG 325 



Selections of varieties adapted to particular situations has much to 

 do with the success of the fig, as with other fruits, and, therefore, a 

 broad statement of adaptability must be received with such an under- 

 standing*. The intrusion of the coast influences borne eastward by the 

 winds of summer, as described in Chapter I, gives a night temperature 

 too low for ripening of some varieties, which turn sour upon the trees. 

 Present indications are that the finest dried figs, having the thinnest 

 skin and the nearest approach generally to the fig of Smyrna, the com- 

 mercial standard for dried figs, will be produced in the drier portions 

 of the valleys and foothills. Even in Southern California fig-souring is 

 quite prevalent, and selection of locations must be circumspectly made. 

 More time is requisite for the final demonstration of these matters, 

 although years have already been devoted to the problem. 



SOILS FOR THE FIG 



As it must be left with the future to determine the mooted point as 

 to the influence of special situations upon the bearing of the fig, and 

 the more minute characteristics of the fruit, so more experience is 

 needed to deconstrate the comparative effects of different soils. It 

 might seem, from the fact of the age of our trees in different parts of 

 the State, that time enough had elapsed to determine these points, but 

 it must be remembered that all our oldest trees are of the very hardy 

 variety found at the missions, and conclusions drawn from them as to 

 all varieties are unsafe. 



The fig will thrive in any soil that one would think of selecting for 

 any of our common orchard trees, and, in fact, the fig succeeds on a 

 wider range of soils than any one of them. One is safe in planting figs 

 for family use, or for marketing, wherever the summer temperature is 

 high enough to ripen the fruit well, and the winter temperature high 

 enough to preserve the life of the tree. This applies merely to the 

 successful growth of the fig ; to secure ripening at a time when the fruit 

 can be profitably sold for table use, is another question. 



The selection of soils especially suitable to the production of the 

 best figs for drying involves more considerations than rule in the growth 

 of table fruit. For drying, the fig should attain a good size, but should 

 not contain excess of moisture. In some parts of the State the first 

 crop of figs in the season has been found unfit for drying. The second, 

 and, in some localities, the third crop, appearing later in the season, 

 when the moisture supply of the soil is reduced, dry well. This condi- 

 tion of the first crop is, however, affected by local conditions, for there 

 are places in the Sierra foothills where the soil moisture has to be re- 

 plenished early in the season by irrigation to prevent even the first crop 

 from falling prematurely, and subsequent irrigation brings to perfec- 

 tion the second and third crops. The fig tree needs plenty of moisture 

 in the soil, but not too much. As with other fruits, if the soil does not 

 retain the needed amount naturally, it must be supplied by irrigation 

 wisely administered. 



