50 



THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 



Australia, Hawaii, the South American States, and Cuba, where the thermometer 

 never goes below 18 degrees in winter, and ranges in summer from 95 to 105 degrees, 

 Fahrenheit, with prevailing dry winds and clear weather during the drying season, 

 fig culture can be safely practiced. 



When it comes to character of land, it can be specifically stated that the Smyrna 

 Fig will grow and bear crops planted in a wider diversity of soils than most any other 

 fruit. It will give satisfactory growth in soils slightly impregnated with alkali, and at 

 the same time luxuriate in a red adobe soil along the foothills; orchards of vigorous 

 constitution and yielding fine crops are features along the mesas of San Bernardino 

 and San Diego counties, while the slopes of Butte and Placer counties are dotted with 



Upper part of Capri Fig tree (Roeding's Capri No. 3) showing abundant crop of caprificated Spring 

 (Profichi) figs. Courtesy U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



fig trees calculated to satisfy the mind, the eye, and the pocketbook for results; the 

 sheltered sections of the extreme South and the valleys of Old Mexico, with their 

 varied soils and degrees of moisture, harbor fig trees that are the joy of their owners. 

 Sandy soils and the heaviest adobe soils are found to be well adapted to Smyrna 

 Fig culture; the great requisite is good drainage. In soils where the water levels 

 throughout the year stand too close to the surface, Smyrna Figs should not be 

 planted, for in such locations the tendency will be for the trees to go largely into 

 wood, and there is a possibility of some of the figs souring, should cool weather set 

 in during the drying season. Experience has shown, however, that the Smyrna 

 varieties suffer far less from this trouble than the ordinary sorts. In the orchard 

 of the Fancher Creek Nurseries, where a few of the White Adriatic figs are still grow- 

 ing, from 50 to 75 per cent, will sour on the trees, and in adjoining rows of Smyrna 

 Figs it is only occasionally that a sour fig can be found. 



