AT THE OPEN DOOR. 



It is a trite saying that "Success comes to him who waits." It is now some twenty 

 >ears since I first began experimental planting of the fig, with a view to its 

 successful introduction into the Pacific States, and especially California. Conviction 

 that it was possible, never for a moment left me, and though the failures, which have 

 become history and the losses that many have sustained in planting this fruit, 

 have at times been discouraging, the predominant idea that the genuine Smyrna 

 Fig could be grown in this State and in the sheltered or thermal belt south of the 

 Oregon line, in the Gulf and South Atlantic States, as well as in Hawaii, the 

 Philippines and Australia, and the final solution of the problem, has demonstrated 

 that my faith was not without good and redeeming qualities. 



This monograph is the result of my personal experience with the fig in California, 

 and it is now published in compliance with a great demand for specific information 

 on the practical phases of the subject. My correspondence has become so voluminous 

 as to make it a physical impossibility for me to keep abreast of the inquiries that 

 keep pouring in. The aim of the book is to give the practice and methods which in 

 my judgment will lead to the greatest success in the planting and culture of a Smyrna 

 Fig orchard. The price is purely nominal, and merely covers cost of publication. 



371260 



