972 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



size in which the wasps may breed. Such plantations of 

 caprifigs should be made separately and in various local- 

 ities, in order that the supply of figs may never fail. 

 Quite frequently it also happens that the caprifig crop in 

 a certain locality fails, while in a different one, where the 

 climatic conditions have been dissimilar, the crop of cap- 

 rifigs ma}^ be abundant. This shows the necessit}^ to have 

 caprifig plantations in various localities, especially in a 

 country like California, where the caprifig trees are not 

 wild and where frequent importations of caprifigs with 

 inquilines are difficult if not impossible. When the cap- 

 rifig crop fails in Smyrna fresh caprifigs are imported by 

 the vessel load from the Grecian islands, and in all coun- 

 tries where caprification is considered necessary in order 

 to procure a crop of figs a regular and profitable trade is 

 carried on in caprifigs, which often bring much more than 

 the edible figs (80). 



.Quantities of Caprifigs Required. — The quantity of 

 caprifigs needed to caprificate a fig tree varies with the 

 size of the tree. In Smyrna soine thirty figs are required 

 to caprificate a large full-grown edible fig. If too few 

 are hung on the tree an insufficient quantity of wasps are 

 had and the edible figs are not all pollinated. If too many 

 are hung too many wasps will enter the edible figs, injure 

 their flowers, and, according to some observers, cause 

 the figs to prematurely drop and decay. 



For smaller trees a less quantity of caprifigs are re- 

 quired than for larger trees, but even the largest in 

 Smyrna are not given more than thirty figs to the tree. 

 The caprifigs are hung on the limbs of the fig trees before 

 sunrise and when the wind is not blowing. The process 

 of hanging up the profichi must be repeated several times, 

 as only those edible figs are pollinated which are of proper 

 size and receptivity. For the younger figs new profichi 



