BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF FIGS. 899 



fication and pollination in order to attain maturity, as its 

 flowers are all perfect female flowers. Only cultivated 

 varieties. 



CROPS OF THE FIG. 



General Remarks. — The caprifig as well as the edible fig, 

 bears several distinct crops every year. So distinct are 

 these crops, and so important does the distinction between 

 them appear to those nations which depend upon fig cul- 

 ture as an article of food and commerce that the various 

 crops have been given separate and characteristic names. 



In order to understand these names, a detailed descrip- 

 tion of the various fig crops is necessary. We must bear 

 in mind that while the fig and the caprifig crops in a gen- 

 eral way resemble each other, they still disagree in some 

 important points. This may also be said to be the case 

 with the principal types of the edible fig. In a general 

 way, it may be stated that we have three distinct crops, 

 appearing each one at a separate time, ranging from 

 spring, summer and fall, according to the season in the 

 respective countries. But each one of these crops is 

 characterized in a distinct way, and without a full knowl- 

 edge of them, a perfect understanding of caprification is 

 impossible. 



The Various Crops of the Fig. — While the edible fig tree 

 as a rule possesses three distinct crops, we do not always 

 find all these crops following each other on the same tree. 

 This may be and is often the case, but fig trees and fig 

 varieties exist in which one or more crops are wanting. 

 The first, second or third crops may be respectively sup- 

 pressed or one of these crops may be present, while the 

 other two are suppressed. 



Shortly after the fig tree begins to leaf out in the spring, 

 small button figs are seen pushing out from the wood of 

 last year, below the young leaves of the present season. 



