No. 4.] FIl^TIETH ANNIVERSARY. 29 



cessful introduction of the date palm will add greatly to 

 the agrieultuial value of the regions where it is made to 

 grow. We are encouraged to believe that before long 

 the south-Avest will furnish dates in sufficient quantities to 

 make importation unnecessary. 



Figs. 



The i)roduction of figs is another enterprise that has been 

 given a start in the United States through the assistance of 

 the department. Although numbers of Smyrna fig trees 

 have been growing in California, they were until recently of 

 little commercial value, owing to the absence of the peculiar 

 insect that in the ModiteiTanean countries completes the 

 fertilization of the fig, and thereby renders it an article of 

 commerce. Several years ago the department's entomolo- 

 gists procured from Algeria wild figs containing this insect, 

 and sent them to California. In due course the insects 

 issued from the fruit and proceeded to fertilize many of the 

 SmjTna figs growing in the neighborhood. The insects 

 were successfully propagated, and, having now been carried 

 safely through two winters, can be regarded as practically 

 established in that region. Since the introduction of this 

 necessary fertilizing agency Smyrna figs have been produced 

 in increasing quantities, until the industry has assumed such 

 proportions in California as to suggest great possibilities for 

 the future. It is reported that last year a crop of from 50 

 to 75 tons was gathered, and careful tests of these figs 

 seemed to show that they are in no wise inferior to im- 

 ported fruit. 



San Jose Scale. 



In this connection, as an additional feature of the valu- 

 able work performed by our entomologists, reference can be 

 made to the discovery of what appears to be an eff"ective 

 natural enemy of the San Jose scale. In view of the great 

 losses this pest has entailed upon the fruit industry of the 

 United States, and especially some of our eastern States, 

 the importance of the discovery is apparent. 



From the time the San Jose scale first appeared in our 

 orchards there has been a controversy as regards its probable 



