16 THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 



rainy season starts in in October and continues until May. The climate of the valley 

 is similar to that of Smyrna, except that it is somewhat warmer and the atmosphere 

 does not cool off so quickly not being so close to the sea. The railroad which passes 

 through the villages of Blachik, Deirmenjik, Herbeyli, and Karaboimar, derives 

 an immense annual revenue from the transporting of the fig crop. 



After leaving Denizli, the railroad makes a rapid ascent, and no more fig 

 orchards are to be seen. In recent years, the finest figs have come from Balachik 

 and the small district just above Ephesus. The railroad runs through the very 

 heart of the district, and as our train sped along, I had a splendid opportunity to 

 watch the general condition of the orchards and the trees. I was particularly 

 impressed with the fact that as far as my hurried inspection went, all the trees were 

 of one variety, and this was still further confirmed when I examined the trees more 

 closely later on. Strange as it may seem, not a single tree of the commercial 

 variety is to be found growing in the outlying districts of Smyrna; the Bardajic, the 

 great table fig, an occasional Kassaba, and one or two others which I could not 

 identify and the names of which were unknown to my guide, were the only ones 

 found. These trees are caprified, but in nothing like the systematic manner in which 

 the work is carried on in the fig district. 



The principal city of the valley is Aidin, which has a population of over 25,000, 

 and is the commercial center of the fig district. It is situated on both banks of the 

 Endor, an affluent of the Maeander, at the foot of the precipitous hill on which the 

 ancient city of Tralles stood. From the higher portion of the town a grand view of 

 the valley is obtained. Similar to all Turkish towns, the streets are all paved with 

 rough stone, making walking very difficult. It is a great cotton mart, has a number 

 of tanneries, in which fine morocco is made, and the helva and other sweetmeats are 

 famous. The streets are narrow and slope to the center. The town is well supplied 

 with water from springs, a stream of which flows almost continually through the 

 streets, keeping them quite clean. Fountains are located in various- parts of the 

 town, in whose immediate vicinity there is usually a cafe, where the inhabitants 

 congregate, drink Turkish coffee, and smoke their nargilehs. This is the national 

 Turkish pipe, and is to be seen everywhere. It consists of a vase-shaped bottle, 

 partially filled with water, through which the smoke passes before it reaches the 

 mouth. A curious looking tobacco, especially prepared for this nargileh, is placed in 

 a metal cup on the top of the jar. These cafes are all well patronized, and from 

 the early morning hours until late at night they are well filled, particularly in the 

 summer months. An immense plane tree (Platanus Orientalis) as a rule spreads its 

 branches over the place in which the caf6s are located, and affords shade for the 

 easy-going and indolent inhabitants. 



Fortunately my interpreter had among his friends in Aidin, a Greek gentleman of 

 high standing, a Mr. S. G. Magnissalis. At his home I was very hospitably 

 entertained. Hotels are the bane of the traveler's life in Asia Minor, for bed bugs 

 are very much at home in all the caravansaries, and the traveler, who has an 

 opportunity to enter a home of the better classes, has good reason to congratulate 

 himself, for to sleep in any of the public hostleries is a torture not soon to be 

 forgotten. 



As has been previously stated, the object in making a trip so early in the season 

 to Smyrna, was for the purpose of clearing up certain doubtful points in connection 

 with the caprification of the Smyrna Figs. 



Murray, in his hand book of Asia Minor, says in his remarks on this fruit: "Figs, 

 a specialty of Smyrna, are grown in the Maeander Valley, and the curing of them is 

 a Smyrna mystery." Verily, he told the truth, for the inhabitants are extremely 

 ignorant of the entire subject of caprification, hence, it is not strange that the layman 

 with no previous knowledge of the matter should have been still more mystified by 



