THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 



45 



"I will cut the figs open and place them under the Capri trees, which I have cov- 

 ered, but anticipate no results, nor do I think a success will be made of this matter 

 until fig trees with fruit on them are sent out here during the winter months. If this 

 is done, the insects will have a chance to develop in a natural way, and, being full of 

 vitality, will enter our Wild Figs, just as they do in their nativity, passing from one 

 crop of Capri figs to the following one." 



While one of my employes was engaged in artificial fertilization, in the latter part 

 of June, 1899, he informed me he had found seeds in some of the Capri figs, and to 

 him it was a singular fact, as he had performed this same work of artificial caprifica- 



Sorting and stringing the Profichi Figs preparatory to their distribution upon the Smyrna trees 

 From an original photograph 



tion before, and had never found any seeds. On making an examination of one of 

 the figs which had been left for the writer's inspection, what were apparently seeds 

 were found to be in reality galls, and the writer's elation after so many years of work 

 and experimenting can be well understood. A careful inspection of the tented tree 

 revealed that there were fully forty figs which were still green, but badly shriveled, 

 and on opening a few it was found that the female wasps had already made their 

 exit, and those that remained were the wingless males. The figs under the covered 

 tree had reached maturity much earlier than they would have done ordinarily, because 

 of the higher temperature maintained by the tree being enclosed. Fortunately, for 

 the success of the experiment, the tree adjoining was also a Capri fig tree, and some 

 of the insects having escaped through an opening in the cover, caprified about twenty- 

 five figs on this tree. These figs were picked and taken to the other Capri trees in 

 the orchard, which at that time had a few figs, most of which were so small, however, 

 that it seemed impossible for the insects to enter, none of them being larger than two 

 peas. A few figs were also taken to the foothill ranch, but no fruits were to be found 

 on the Capri trees growing there. 



