FIG 



FIG 



1235 



ribbed, light yellowish green; stem short, stout; flesh 

 white, sweet, rather soft; quality fair to good. Vigorous 

 and prolific. Early. 



Magnolia. Fruit of large size; amber-colored; flesh 

 pinkish amber, handsome. Vigorous grower; prolific; 

 excellent for canning. Midseason and late. 



Turkey (Brown Turkey). Size medium to large; 

 broadly pear-shaped, with short, thick stalk; ribs few 

 in number; color coppery brown; flesh white, or slightly 

 amber-colored, shading to pink about the seeds; flesh 

 solid, excellent quality. It is very hardy and prolific. 

 Midseason and late. 



Of the varieties just described, the more important 

 commercial sorts are Celeste, Turkey, Brunswick 

 and Magnolia. 



Magnolia is the favorite variety along the coast in 

 Texas from Beaumont southward. In the eastern 

 Atlantic states it is not so favorably regarded, as the 

 fruit splits and sours on the trees during the rainy 

 weather which so often comes when the crop is matur- 

 ing. It is entirely distinct from the Turkey fig. Turkey 

 or Brown Turkey is very hardy, of dwarf growth and 

 therefore a favorite in the colder sections in which the 

 trees must be protected during winter. Celeste equals 

 Turkey in hardiness, but it is a more robust grower. 

 It is the most commonly planted variety from Beau- 

 mont, Texas, eastward, and in the southeastern states 

 should generally be given preference for orchard plant- 

 ing. Brunswick, on account of its large handsome 

 appearance is a desirable variety for the production 

 of fresh fruit for market. 



General cultivation. 



In setting the fig in orchard, the trees are com- 

 monly placed 10 by 15 feet or 12 by 20 feet in thor- 

 oughly plowed and pulverized soil. January and 

 February in the lower South are favorite months for 

 planting, but in the colder sections it is usually better 

 to delay planting until after spring opens. While 

 setting the trees, great care should be taken to prevent 

 the roots from becoming dried out. This point must 

 be strongly emphasized, as the character of fig roots is 

 such that they will not stand drying. 



It is not best to attempt to train the figs to tree form, 

 but to allow them to develop with three or four trunks. 

 To start them in bush form it is necessary to cut the 

 plants back hard at time of planting. In case of severe 

 weather during winter there is much less danger of 

 losing whole trees if grown with several stems or trunks 

 than if grown with single trunks. Subsequent pruning 

 should be done to remove any sprouts or suckers that 

 come up from the ground, to remove dead or injured 

 branches, and to shape the form of the trees during the 

 first few seasons. Branches that have to be removed 

 for any cause should be cut back entirely rather than 

 to stubs. The fig will not stand severe pruning year 

 after year, such as has sometimes been attempted, and 

 it is best to prune as little as. possible to keep the trees 

 in good shape. 



As the fig is a shallow-rooted tree, deep tillage is 

 impossible. The orchard should not be plowed and 

 implements for shallow cultivation only should be 

 used. There is no better tillage tool than an ordinary 

 hoe, but its use is too expensive on large plantings. It 

 may, however, be used in the garden plot. Cultivation 

 should begin in spring just in advance of the starting 

 of growth and should continue at weekly or ten-day 

 intervals until about July 1. Cover-crops of cowpeas 

 or beggarweed should then cover the ground until 

 autumn. In the handling of plantings of the later- 

 ripening sorts, cultivation should be continued later 

 in the season, and a winter cover-crop used instead of a 

 summer one. Stable manure and commercial fertilizer 

 should be used liberally to supply the necessary plant- 

 food. 



A considerable amount of fruit can be and is handled 



in the markets as fresh fruit. It should be carefully 

 cut from the trees early in the morning, selecting only 

 well-colored but firm fruit, packed in strawberry carriers 

 and shipped by express. When the work is properly 

 handled in this way, its marketing presents no serious 

 difficulties within a radius of 100 miles or so in the 

 lower South and even greater distances in the northern 

 area of its possible culture. By far the greater quantity 

 of fruit is used by the canneries in the manufacture of 

 preserved figs. A very delicious product is manufac- 

 tured in the lower South, and meets with a ready sale. 



H. HAROLD HUME. 



The fig in California. 



The fig, as grown in California at the present time, 

 illustrates, perhaps more than any other fruit, the 

 difficulties that arise in the course of the introduction of 

 any new and highly specialized industry. Years of 

 time and the united labors 

 of many persons have at 

 last resulted in the perma- 

 nent establishment of fig- 

 culture on a large scale in 

 some parts of California. 

 The successive steps by 

 which this has been accom- 

 plished form one of the 

 most remarkable chapters 

 in our horticultural history. 



The edible cultivated fig 

 is a native of southwestern 

 Asia and undoubtedly ranks 

 as one of the most ancient, 

 beautiful and valuable of 

 all fruit trees, forming a 

 large part of the daily food 

 of the people in those coun- 

 tries in which it thrives. 

 The common name fig comes 

 from Ficus, and that from 

 the Hebrew "feg." The importation of figs, dried, 

 canned or preserved, into regions unsuited to their 

 growth, forms an immense and increasing group of 

 industries. The literature of the fig, always very large, 

 is receiving continual additions, as new varieties are 

 introduced, as new values are found for the varied 

 products and as its culture is being extended far 

 beyond what were thought, twenty years ago, to be its 

 inflexible climatic limitations. 



The botanical varieties of the edible fig (Ficus 

 Carica) as generally recognized include the following: 

 (1) Ficus Carica var. sylvestris, the all-important wild 

 fig of Asia Minor; (2) Ficus Carica var. smyrniaca; 

 (3) Ficus Carica var. hortensis; (4) Ficus Carica var. 

 intermedia. 



The first of these, commonly known as the Capri 

 fig, is not edible, but it was discovered ages ago that 

 the famous little fig-wasp, formerly called Blastophaga 

 psenes but now determined as Blastophaga grossorum, 

 breeds within it and is able to cross-pollinate the 

 flowers of the invaluable Smyrna fig which otherwise 

 will not perfect fruit. This process is termed "caprifica- 

 tion" and is absolutely necessary for the maintenance 

 of the highest grades of commercial orchards. The 

 third of these groups includes all the self-fertilizing 

 table and preserving varieties of the common fig. The 

 fourth variety (intermedia) has the ability to mature 

 one crop without cross-pollination, but not a second. 

 The best figs for drying are all of the second class 

 (var. smyrniaca) and three crops are the usual thing in 

 average seasons. In fact, nearly all the cultivated figs 

 bear three more or less distinct crops; in many orchards 

 and gardens of California one may gather ripe figs 

 every day from late July until frost and rains destroy 

 the very perishable fruits. 



3JV 



1505. White Adriatic fig. 



