978 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



fall only when past their prime. The advantage of having 

 figs requiring caprification is, therefore, evident in all 

 districts where such figs will grow. 



The expense of caprification is much smaller and 

 requires less labor than the pulling or cutting off of the 

 figs when ripe, provided, of course, that the figs would 

 set without being caprificated, which they will not do. 



Besides the pomological or horticultural maturity of the 

 receptacle, the caprification causes the botanical maturity 

 of the female fiowers, which, as we will see, is of great 

 importance to the cultivator. 



The Importance of Seeds in Dried Figs. — The greater 

 value of caprificated varieties over those which do not re- 

 quire the process is to be sought in the development of 

 fertile seed. The seeds in our common figs consist only 

 of empty glossy shells with no trace of kernel. All such 

 seeds have no taste and can in no way contribute to the 

 flavor of the dried fig. Not so, however, Smyrna figs 

 which have been caprificated. They all contain seed of 

 large size with a full, oily kernel, which when crushed is 

 found to be in the highest degree aromatic and " nutty." 

 Such seed when present in sufficient quantity greatly con- 

 tribute to the quality of the fig, giving them an intensely 

 aromatic flavor. It is only during the process of drying 

 that the aromatic taste of the seed is permeated through 

 the pulp of the fig in very much the same manner as al- 

 monds and other nuts communicate their flavors to pud- 

 dings, preserves, or canned fruits generall}^ Sm3^rna 

 figs when dried are therefore more highly flavored than 

 any other figs. To the fresh fig the seeds do not com- 

 municate these aroma, and fresh caprificated figs are 

 therefore not superior to other fresh figs, at least the cap- 

 rification does not produce the superiority, if there is 

 one (84). 



