ROEDING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



39 



and washed, they are sulphured for about thirty min- 

 utes. After passing through this last process, they are 

 again transferred to trays, which are stacked one above 

 another, the nuts remaining on them until the moisture 

 from the processing has dried off. They are now ready 

 for market. The commercial package consists of a good 

 strong burlap sack, holding one hundred pounds. Great 

 care must be exercised in sulphuring walnuts to be sure 

 that the kernels are dry and not allow them to remain 

 in the sulphur fumes too great a length of time, other- 

 wise the kernels will taste of sulphur, which will unfit 

 then for market. In the leading walnut sections of 

 California the curing of walnuts is carried on by the use 

 of bleaching powders. The process is very much 

 quicker and eliminates all danger of having the kernels 

 contaminated. On groves of some size, graders, dippers, 

 sulphuring and bleaching contrivances are constructed 

 to facilitate all the operations referred to, with a view 

 of not only holding down the expense of handling but 

 also to turn out a more uniform product. 



COMMERCIAL VARIETIES 



Concord, Eureka, Franquette, Mayette, Placentia 

 Perfection, Santa Barbara Soft Shell. 



VARIETIES WORTHY OF TRIAL 



A'Bijou, Chaberte, Cut-leaved, Mayette Rouge, 

 Monstreuse, Neff's Prolific, Parisienne, Praeparturiens, 

 Vourey, Willson Wonder. 



TIMBER TREES 



American Black, California Black, Paradox, Royal. 



THE FIG 



Figs grown in the United States either for eating 

 fresh or for drying are of one species, viz.: Ficus 

 carica. There are an endless number of varieties of 

 figs. In many instances, on account of the wide dis- 

 tribution of this fruit throughout the world, the same 

 variety may be blessed with any number of synonyms. 

 This is the case with many sorts grown in California 

 today. Not over six varieties comprise the list of com- 

 mercial varieties for all purposes in California. 



LOCALITIES FAVORABLE FOR THE FIG 



It is safe to say that no deciduous tree grown in the 

 semi-tropic and temperate zones will adapt itself to a 

 wider range of climates and soils than the fig. Figs can 

 be used for such a variety of purposes, namely: drying, 

 canning, preserving, shipping in the fresh state and for 

 home use, that a wide range is open for their successful 

 exploitation. To produce the finest dried figs, with the 

 thinnest skin and rich in sugar, a warm, dry climate is 

 an important factor. They will withstand a tempera- 

 ture of 18 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months 

 without being injured; hence their geographical dis- 

 tribution is very wide. 



BRIEF HISTORY 



Many of the countries whose shores are -washed by 

 the Mediterranean sea are producers of figs commer- 

 cially, but the recognized fig center of the world today 



* ft." 



A Fig tree as it conies from the nursery. The one to the 

 left shows the method of cutting back and root-pruning 

 before planting. 



is in the Meander valley about forty miles distant from 

 Smyrna, Asia Minor. It is here that the Smyrna fig 

 of commerce has been grown for centuries, and the 

 secret of their culture was so closely guarded. It was 

 only after fourteen years of constant and persistent 

 effort on my part that I succeeded in 1890 in producing 

 the first Smyrna figs in the United States by artificial 

 pollination, and ten years later, having succeeded in 

 establishing the Blastophaga grossorum, with the 

 assistance of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, the first Smyrna figs were produced in a com- 

 mercial way. 



The first figs introduced in the United States were 

 brought, as nearly as can be determined, by the Spanish 

 Padres from Mexico in 1769. They were planted at the 

 San Diego Mission. This fig is still a standard in Cali- 

 fornia. The tree is a great grower and produces an 

 abundance of what is known as the Breba, or first crop, 

 maturing in late June, and the second crop ripening 

 from August to October. The very fact that this and 

 other varieties of figs were grown in California, from 

 which abundant crops were being gathered annually, 

 caused the whole subject of caprification to be branded 

 as an idle dream. It is now conceded that the Smyrna, 

 type of figs are in a class by themselves, and unless the 

 pollen is conveyed by the Blastophaga to the edible fig, 

 all the figs drop off prematurely when about the size of 

 marbles. I knew this to be a fact, for in my orchard of 

 sixty acres of Smyrna figs, which I cared for over a 

 period of fourteen years, all the figs dropped off until 

 the Blastophaga was established in the caprifig trees. 



The fundamental difference between the Adriatic and 

 Smyrna class of figs is that the former matures its fig 

 without the fig wasp, while the latter does not. The 

 Adriatic figs seem to possess all the qualities of the 



