THE KADOTA FIG 



rections permits roots a freedom of spread not enjoyed by a tree planted in a 

 dug hole, whose sides are by pressure of the spade tightly sealed against the 

 tiny rootlets. Blasted holes should invariably be filled and settled with water 

 before tree is planted. 



As fig rootings are the most delicate of all the trees planted in California, 

 the greatest care possible should be exercised in their handling. From the 

 nursery to the tree hole all speed and care should be employed. The rootings 

 should never even for sixty seconds be exposed to hot air or wind. Spotted 

 fig orchards everywhere emphasize this caution and advertise the fact that 

 some one either in ignorance or carelessness, or both, between the nursery dig- 

 ging and the planting failed to heed these well known warnings. So, learn 

 your nurseryman's habits before you secure your stock of rootings. A fig tree 

 that has been well handled and well planted is worth one dollar more than cost, 

 the moment the roots are covered. A new fig orchard one year old and 1 00 

 per cent, stand should be worth $100.00 per acre more than the land was one 

 year before. So use all care and caution in handling your rootings. 



Plant your rootings 4 inches deeper than they grow in the nursery, settle 

 the dirt with water about the roots, and if you are planting Kadotas, then cut 

 away all the tree 1 or 12 inches above the ground. 



First, this cutting away balances the top with the lacerated and reduced 

 root system occasioned by the removal of the rooting from the nursery bed. 



Second, a Kadota is a fruit which derives its greatest profit by selling as 

 fresh figs, and must be picked from the tree, and a tall tree is a very expensive 

 tree to pick, and ladders should be as low as possible to increase profit in 

 handling the fruit. 



Hence, crown your Kadota at or near the ground, induce a wide spread- 

 ing tree by top pruning and shade ground and trunk from frost and sun, and 

 double the tonnage of your fruit over any and all fig trees pruned by the old 

 obsolete methods so much in vogue in California. Forget the tillage under 

 your tree. Don't attempt to plow either deeply in a fig orchard or near to 

 the tree. The roots that make the tree are deep and out of reach of the 

 plow. The fruit rootlets are almost invisible, delicate and near the surface. 

 Plowing over 6 inches deep will probably destroy or reduce your crop. Deep 

 plowing may perhaps be practiced if from the first year planted it is always 

 done and roots always kept deeply down. 



The grass under your tree may be removed with a hoe. You grow an 

 orchard for profit, not to satisfy a vanity unfortunately found in many growers 

 regarding the appearance of their orchards. 



Irrigation 



If you are growing a Kadota orchard, keep in mind these facts: A Kadota 

 orchard in full bearing must mature a crop 4 1 /2 months each season, and a 

 tonnage practically three times that of any other fig orchard. Hence your 

 soil must either possess or be given more water than the soil of another orchard 

 to assist the tree in fulfilling her obligations. 



Another thing: Remember, you cannot in any manner, shape or form in- 

 jure the tree or the fruit with an excess of water at any stage of the fruiting 

 season. So apply the water before and between crops, increase the growth 



