46 



THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 



During this time the writer was in active communication with Dr. Howard, and 

 an effort was made to secure the assistance of an entomologist, but all who were 

 communicated with were absent from their respective homes. All that could be done 

 now was to patiently await developments. One fact was established, and that was, that 

 it was not necessary to import trees to secure the insect, and that at least was a 

 source of gratification. 



The Capri trees in the orchard were carefully watched, and on July 19, 1899, for 

 the first time, a marked change in the development of some of the young figs was 



Distributing Profichi Figs upon the branches of the Smyrna Fig trees 

 From an original photograph 



noticed; they being of a dark green color, plump and hard, an indication that they 

 contained something; the metamorphosis in the appearance of the fruit being the 

 same as in the Smyrna Fig when artificially p&llinated. 



On August 12, the first Capri Fig matured on one of these trees, and on examina- 

 tion it was found to contain pulp, a few galls containing female insects, as well as 

 fertile seeds. This was a great disappointment, and the writer in his letter to Dr. 

 Howard said that he was convinced that if all the figs then developing in the trees 

 should, on ripening, be like the first one, a new and difficult problem had arisen, and 

 it was feared the insect would be lost, as it would be smothered in the pulp of the 

 fig before it could make its escape. Between the 20th and 26th of August, ten 

 Capri Figs came to maturity, resembling very closely the June crop, except that the 

 staminate flowers were absent, and the figs were much smaller. About the same time 

 a new crop of figs made its appearance, and the insect entered them. When this crop 

 began to mature, from the 15th of October to the 10th of November, nothing but 

 pulpy figs were to be found. On the last date named and during a visit of Mr. 

 Walter T. Swingle for the purpose of observing the workings of the insect, thousands 

 of them were found to be emerging from the figs, these again being without pulp. 



