M o rthe rn California 25 



Corning, is a young man, almost a native of the county, who 

 has made horticuhure a study for the past ten years, and it 

 is to his efforts of patient research and experiment that 

 the Smyrna fig mystery of this county has at last been re- 

 vealed. As a result it is confidently believed that the grow- 

 ing of this splendid fruit will become one of our leading in- 

 dustries at no distant day. An account of the discovery and 

 revelations made by Mr. Samson, concerning the successful 

 propagation and growing of Smyrna figs in this county, 

 will not be out of place here, and will give information to 

 those of our orchardists who desire to grow a delicious and 

 highly merchantable fruit. 



The trees imported by Senator Stanford some years ago 

 were the genuine commercial Smyrna fig, but all of the 

 "female" kind, whose bloom and bud would put forth regu- 

 larly each season, and the young fig Avould form and bid fair 

 to do well, but owing to the lack of certain fertilization for 

 the bloom and young fruit, it would wither and fall from 

 the tree. This fertilization consists of the pollen from the 

 flowers or fruit of another or male tree, which is trans- 

 mitted by a peculiar insect technically known as blasto- 

 phaga. This insect germinates in the fruit of the male 

 trees, which is known as the wild or Capri fig. It is said to 

 grow wild in the mountain regions of Smyrna, and is of no 

 value only to furnish fertility for the edible Smyrna fig, 

 which, without it, would not mature. The Capri, or wild 

 fig. was also imported to this State, and while visiting some 

 of the nurseries in the southern part of the State, Mr. Sam- 

 son procured several cuttings of the Capri fig besides some 

 of the figs grown on Capri trees which had the live insects 

 m them. He at once began experimenting with this insect 

 fruit on the Smyrna trees of the Stanford Ranch, by con- 

 fining the insect figs in the branches of the edible fig trees. 

 The result was all that he could hope for, and he at once 

 secured the exclusive right to take cuttings from the Stan- 

 ford trees and place them in his nursery, thereby giving him 

 the only Smyrna tree plants in Northern California, and 

 having the insect fruit cuttings also, he is prepared to fur- 



