THT SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 2H 



The bodies of the trees are made up of a number of stems of which all are more 

 or less twisted together, and in many cases they are badly sunburned and rotted. 

 Fortunately for the longevity of the tree, of the innumerable stems (although many 

 of them are dead,) there are always enough to retain vigor in the trees until about 

 fifty years old. The heart of the old trees are often badly rotted and the orchards 

 throughout show neglect and lack of knowledge in cultural directions on the part 

 of their owners. The current year's wood was found to be infested with a large 

 brown scale, and the foliage with a small white scale, but neither of the pests are of 

 a very serious nature, most of them perishing in the summer. The gardens arc sur- 

 rounded by walls, five to six feet high, made of dirt and covered on top with brush 

 and thorny branches to keep out marauders during the harvest season. The en- 

 trances are all quite ornamental, heavy adobe or stone pillars, butting up against the 

 dirt walls. To these are hung heavy wooden doors, on forged hinges. 



CLIMATE. 



The climatic conditions of the Maeander Valley are much the same as in Smyrna, 

 except that it is slightly warmer in summer and very often very much colder in 

 winter. The summer temperature varies from 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and in some 

 cases the tbemometer registers as high as 105 degrees in the shade. The rainy 

 season starts in October and ends in the latter part of May. The agents of the Otto- 

 man Railroad Company have kept statistics for a number of years as to the rain fall. 

 The agent at Denizli permitted me to examine his report, and I found that the 

 average for a period of ten years was about twenty inches annually, and in the 

 year 1901, twenty-five inches had fallen. Irrigating the orchards is never practiced, 

 and in fact is not necessary, except in starting young trees, when the water is car- 

 ried to the trees in goat skins. Extreme cold weather occurs in some seasons, and 

 the severity is evident from the manner in which the fig trees have been injured, 

 as well as oranges growing in protected places in Aidin, being full of dead wood. As 

 compared with the interior climate of California, particular reference being made 

 to the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valleys, it is very much warmer on an 

 average in these valleys than in Smyrna, and it is only on very rare occasions it 

 ever becomes equally as cold. 



NEW ORCHARDS, PLANTING, CULTIVATION, ETC. 



Before planting a new orchard, the ground is thoroughly tilled, but not very deep, 

 the crude plows built entirely of wood with a V shaped iron nose, not permitting it. 

 Two round pieces of wood extend a sort distance back from the iron point and on 

 both sides of the wooden standard, causing the plow to throw dirt both ways. Greater 

 care is exercised than in former years to have the trees set in regular rows and in 

 lines. The trees are set from 30 to 35 feet apart, and on the square system. 



Cuttings are used exclusively for starting new orchards, as well as for replant- 

 ing old ones, where the trees have died out. These are cut about twelve inches long 

 from good mature wood, the butt end having some two year wood. The cuttings 

 are taken in January, heeled in, in moist warm ground, and as soon as they com- 

 mence to callous, are planted in orchard form. Two cuttings are planted in each 

 hole a few inches apart, in a vertical position, the idea being that in case one does 

 not grow, the other will. If both of the cuttings start, they are allowed to remain. 

 Care is taken to tamp the earth firmly around the base of the cuttings, and to water 

 them to make sure of settlirg the earth well around them. Three short sticks are 

 placed above the cuttings to show where they are planted, and care is taken in 

 plowing the orchard not to disturb them in any way. The first season the trees 

 are watered only when necessary. The following year, a stake is driven down 



