SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS 203 



fruit, but the Smyrna fig does. For a long time attempts to 

 grow this type in America failed because of lack of knowl- 

 edge of the necessity of pollination and of the agency by 

 which pollen from the wild figs was introduced through the 

 small opening or eye of the Smyrna on to the stigmas within. 

 It was finally learned that the transfer of pollen was effected 

 by means of a tiny fig wasp. The insect lives its life cycle in 

 the wild or caprifigs, and three crops of the wild fruit are 

 necessary in order that there may be figs the year around so 

 that the insects may not die out. The proper kinds of capri- 

 figs must, therefore, be planted to insure fruit all year. To 

 insure pollination of the Smyrnas, caprifigs containing the 

 wasps are hung in wire baskets in the Smyrna trees when the 

 figs are quite small. The female wasps, in crawling out of 

 the caprifigs, become covered with pollen which sticks to 

 their bodies. They then enter the Smyrna figs through the 

 eye. The insects crawl around in the fruit looking for the 

 short-styled gall flowers such as are found in the caprifig in 

 which to lay their eggs, but finding nothing but the long- 

 styled female flowers they finally attempt to lay their eggs 

 in them. Meanwhile, the insects in wandering around inside 

 the fig have rubbed off a large amount of the pollen adhering 

 to their bodies upon the female flowers, and as a consequence 

 of this pollination, fruit will set. 



Smyrna figs can be grown only in hot dry climates, and 

 will sour on the tree if the atmosphere is at all humid. They 

 were formerly grown successfully only in a part of Asiatic 

 Turkey and were shipped from the port of Smyrna, but after 

 the discovery of the methods of pollination accomplished by the 

 wasps, this best of all dried figs was widely planted in Cali- 

 fornia and Arizona, where it is successfully grown in large quan- 

 tities in the hot dry portions of those states. Harvesting meth- 

 ods and preparing for market are comparatively simple. The 

 figs are allowed to fall to the ground when mature, are picked 

 up by hand, dried, pressed, and packed for the market. 



