THE KADOTA FIG 21 



the first California Smyrna figs grown and opened with jack-knife fig after 

 fig, and meditated why it was not matured. No one could help me guess, 

 and no wasp was there; the sweet old Mission was ever true and kind to boy- 

 hood appetite. The splitting and souring of Adriatic added only another 

 burden then to my struggling imagination, why such delicious products of 

 earth were not perfect. 



As a boy with pockets ever stocked with sun-dried figs, when chance or 

 season permitted, I have come down the years into the fig game proper, and 

 still the longing for a better product holds upper sway in my thoughts. Then 

 as now, I longed for a better fruit. 



The sun-dried fig must go its way. There are better and surer methods 

 yet to be practiced. Only by organization and co-operation will this desired 

 goal be reached. 



Little is it realized by the fig men of California that in their very midst 

 is that force of mind and money working day and night that will raise to the 

 very forefront the fig industry of Central California and place it in years to 

 come second to none in the wondrous products of our soil and climate. That 

 force of brains, genius and irresistible progress is now seen but not recognized 

 in the Forkner Fig Gardens Company, who slowly passed the silver wand, 

 tipped with the golden eagle, over the desert acres north of the city of Fresno, 

 and baby fig orchards spring into the warming sunshine, and far as eye can 

 reach still other gardens come. With the maturing of these wondrous acres 

 will come into existence through the ability, brains and money of those gifted 

 men, a knowledge of figs not dreamed before, and by them methods will be 

 employed that will shame our best products of today and make them seem 

 crude indeed. 



Accumulated by that body of men is knowledge of the past, all the 

 wisdom of the present, aspirations for the future and betterment of this age- 

 old but neglected industry, and sure as the passing of the seasons all fig 

 growers will benefit from the studies and experiments of those men. Quality 

 will follow production, and perfection will be their goal, that the products 

 of these fig gardens when offered to the consuming public be not alone . a 

 pleasure and a joy but a combination of food and confection. The perfection 

 in handling figs which these men will achieve will practically eliminate 

 European competition, but with the passing of that menace must also pass 

 our present crude and unsatisfactory practices. 



The dry fig of the future will be hand-picked from low-crowned 

 modern-grown orchards, the full-sugared jelly-ripe fruit, blanched and made 

 tender by super-heated steam, dehydrated by methods other than sun-heat; 

 and the finished product semi-transparent, retaining full weight, flavor and 

 delicacy, will be offered to the ever-increasing trade, in tasty, attractive forms, 

 and for distant consumption, packed in glass and tin, sterilized and sealed, 

 where deterioration cannot occur and time will occasion no loss. Such a 

 product cannot be produced in California in quantity to meet demand, and 

 over-production will be the mirage that fades into thin air. 



Improved methods in production of all commodities have always proven 

 cheaper than the crude methods employed by the pioneer in any project, and 

 the betterment of the fig product will be no exception. 



