THE SMYRNA FIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 63 



CHAPTER XIV. 



HARVESTING AND DRYING CALIMYRNA (SMYRNA) FIGS. 



No proposition receives more careful thought and investigation by the fruit grower 

 before he embarks in a certain line of fruit growing than what the expense will be 

 in harvesting the crop. In California, where labor is so scarce during the summer 

 months, a grower is certainly justified in giving this subject earnest and careful con- 

 sideration. A large fig orchard can be handled at far less expense in the matter of 

 harvesting the crop, than any other variety of deciduous fruit. One advantage it has 

 over all other varieties is that all the fruit does not mature at the same time, but 

 extends over a period of about six weeks; hence a few laborers can take care of an 

 orchard. This alone is a point which appeals to all practical fruit growers. The 

 Smyrna Fig possesses an advantage over all other figs, inasmuch that its fruits 

 do not drop from the trees until they are practically dried. In the early part of the 

 season, two days' exposure, and, in some cases, when it is very dry and warm, the 

 figs will dry sufficiently in a single day. The figs commence to ripen about the 

 middle of August, and continue to mature their fruits until the latter part of Septem- 

 ber. The trees are gone over every few days. When the figs first commence to 

 ripen, the laborers simply pick the fallen figs from the ground into small buckets or 

 baskets. As the season advances, the harvesting is expedited by shaking the trees. 

 This, however, is not advisable when the figs first commence to drop, for many green 

 figs, (that is, figs which have not commenced to shrivel), would drop off. All of such 

 figs are valueless for drying purposes, for they have not a sufficient amount of sugar, 

 when dried, and have an insipid and unattractive flavor, entirely unlike the figs 

 which have reached their full maturity. It is remarkable how tenaciously the figs 

 cling to the tree, and hang limp and shriveled, with their skins seamed, until they be- 

 come dry and fully matured, before they will fall. Any attempt to pick the figs 

 before this stage is very difficult; the succulent part will tear off before the hard 

 stem can be detached from the tree. 



After the figs have commenced to ripen freely, it is advisable to divide the gath- 

 erers into two crews. One crew goes from tree to tree giving the branches a vigorous 

 shaking, causing all shriveled figs, which have not fallen of their own accord, to 

 drop, while the other follows, gathering the fruit in small galvanized iron buckets. 

 When filled, the figs are dumped into picking boxes, which have previously been 

 distributed by a truck in that part of the orchard where the crop is being gathered. 

 After a number of the picking boxes are filled, they are hauled to the drying ground. 

 In a small orchard there is no need of a special drying ground, but where a large 

 crop of figs is to be handled, a place to dry them should be selected and all arrange- 

 ments should be made to have everything in readiness to handle the figs expeditiously, 

 so there will be no hitch when harvesting actually commences. 



The drying ground in the Fancher Creek Nurseries is a large open space, sloping 

 to the south, and is admirably situated for this purpose. In the northerly end of the 

 grounds a large open shed was built 40x60 feet. In one end is a room raised 

 off the ground about a foot, enclosed throughout with tongue and grooved lumber, to 

 be used for piling up the figs after they are dried, allowing them to pass through 

 a sweat. Directly back of this room there is a large sixty-gallon cauldron set in 



