THE SMYRNA PIG AT HOME AND ABROAD 81 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



A CALIMYRNA FIG ORCHARD AS AN INVESTMENT. 



In this age of keen competition and strenuous life, the first question that will 

 suggest itself to the person investigating the fig question, with a view to planting 

 an orchard, is apt to be, "Well, what is there in it?" To fully answer this interrogation 

 means to go into the entire commercial phases of the new industry, which obviously, 

 under many and diverse conditions, is almost beyond the ken of human knowledge to 

 answer accurately and specifically. So many factors which are purely local in 

 character and environment surround and hedge about each individual orchard and 

 locality that it is out of the question to lay down hard and fast rules, or make specific 

 statements calculated to be reliable in every case, and a safe foundation on which 

 to premise the final commercial results to be anticipated from the planting and 

 development of a Calimyrna Fig orchard. Broadly speaking, however, a few basic 

 principles may be laid down, which will bear scrutiny, and are of themselves so self- 

 evident and vital in character, as to almost remove all questions of risk and doubts 

 as to the future of the fig in America, and its profitableness as an orchard crop to 

 all who may venture to plant and properly handle the trees and their product. 



Since every man is the maker of his own fortune and career, the question of 

 "What is their in it," is largely one of personal initiative, exploitation and develop- 

 ment along intelligent lines, backed by a determination to win. In lieu of this fact, 

 let us take a cursory glance at the question, carefully noting its salient features, 

 and see what the conditions really are that lead to the conviction that the Calimyrna 

 fig will not only create a revolution in fig culture in this country, but become the 

 nucleus of a new industry, calculated to add more to the horticultural wealth of 

 the sections adapted to its culture, than any other one thing that has transpired in 

 a decade, not even excepting the introduction and development of the Washington 

 Navel orange. 



The first thing to be considered is the cost of land. This again is subject to local 

 environment and personal preference. As to preference, in this respect the fig is no 

 more exacting than the olive, and much less so than the orange or the stone fruits. 

 Lands adapted to its culture in the great Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys are 

 to be had all the way from $20.00 an acre and upwards; these, for the most part, 

 are contiguous to markets. In more remote sections the cost is even less, while in 

 the southern counties it is quite apt to be a trifle higher. Where irrigation is essential 

 some allowance must be made for water advantages. For the most part lands 

 suitable to the Calimyrna Fig are apt to be had for less than those adapted to the 

 apricot, the walnut, or the citrus fruits. This fact is also emphasized by the fact 

 that it has a wider range as to climatic conditions. 



The cost of planting a Calimyrna Fig orchard need not be great; indeed, it can be 

 accomplished for about the same cost as the creation of an olive grove, or a peach 

 orchard. Figures and data on these points being so much a matter of individual 

 means of procedure and local conditions they are here purposely omitted, as 

 any reference to the subject in this direction would not apply to two orchards alike, 

 even if in the same neighborhood. 



