FIGS IN DARDANELLES. 769 



Soils, etc. All soils and position, rocky ground with sunny exposure, 

 produce the best flavored fruit. 



Alluvial, light, and stony soil in general ; hard subsoil is best suited 

 to the fig. 



Climatic influences.-* Rarely above 90 or below 5 Fahr. 



Rain-fall. Thirty inches per annum. Much rain is apt to cause the 

 fruit when ripening to split and decay. 



Irrigation. Irrigation is not practiced. 



Cultivation. No method of cultivation practiced. 



Fertilizers. No fertilizers are applied. 



Pruning. No pruning. Suckers are removed. 



Picking. When the fruit matures the early morning is the best time 

 for picking. 



Planting and propagating. Trees are planted from 15 to 30 feet. The 

 ordinary method of propagation is to take a cutting (or branch torn off 

 preferred) 3 to 4 feet in length, with terminal bud. A trench about 

 20 inches deep is made, the branch is layered with the end projecting 4 to 

 8 inches above ground. If the summer be dry, a little water is given 

 the first year. Suckers and spray- wood are not generally planted (un- 

 less to be grafted like the wild fig) as they produce fruit inferior to that 

 of the parent tree. 



Orchards. All sizes. 



Maturity. Fifty to a hundred years. Fruitful till decay. The stem, 

 when it decays, is almost always replaced by its offshoots. 



Caprification. A contested question is that of caprification. The 

 prevailing idea is, the parasite of the Ficus carica, or wild fig (called by 

 the natives the male fig), fertilizes the cultivated tree. The Blastophaga 

 grossorum and Cynips sycomori are now recognized to be the apterous 

 male and winged female of the same insect. So rooted is the idea that 

 in a year of scarcity the puff figs are sold at $2 and $3 per pound to 

 suspend on tho cultivated fig-tree. A series of observations have been 

 made to test the theory in different countries. I was requested by Sir 

 S. Saunders, of the Entomological Society of London, to contribute by 

 the examination of the fig-trees in these parts. Like all the other ob- 

 servers, I found the parasites and their ichneumonidse in abundance in 

 the wild fruit, but failed to discover any trace of these insects in the 

 cultivated fruit at any stage of its development. 



Insect pests. A kind of blow-fly attacks the fruit sometimes when 

 mature, especially when damaged by rain. 



Cuttings of best varieties can easily be secured. 



The matter relating to the parasites was published in the Entomo- 

 logical Monthly Journal (London). No Government statistics exist. 



FRANK CALVEBT, 



Consular Agent. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULAR AGENCY, 



Dardanelles, February 11, 1890. 



