MISCELLANEOUS FRUITS 211 



promise of becoming a profitable export crop 

 in the districts mentioned. Just now the 

 knowledge of both these species is too meager 

 ever to have received systematic study. 



The fig has long been the delight of the 

 amateur fruit grower, and has been brought 

 to fruiting size in the open ground, by means 

 of much winter protection, as far north as 

 New York and Connecticut. In the northern 

 states, however, it seems to be less prized as 

 a curiosity than formerly, and one seldom 

 hears of its being tried north of Georgia. In 

 the Gulf states fig culture on a commercial 

 scale has been somewhat frequently tried, but 

 never with marked success. The fig is a 

 commercial fruit only in California, and even 

 there it is of quite minor importance com- 

 pared with such fruits as apricots, plums 

 (called prunes in that country), and peaches. 

 There are a large number of varieties known 

 and propagated, and one may find descrip- 

 tions in all the more complete works 

 on pomology. These descriptions, for the 

 greater part, however, are not models for the 

 diligent pomologist. Indeed, the writer has 

 been unable to find a single work in which 

 the varieties of figs are described with the 



