28 BULLETIN 732, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



STARTING A SMYRNA FIG ORCHARD. 



In starting a fig orchard the selection of the best varieties adapted 

 to the locality is a matter of supreme importance. It can not he too 

 strongly impressed upon the beginner that his main dependence in 

 planting the orchard should be upon the Lob Ingir, the standard 

 Smyrna fig of the world and the variety universally grown commercially 

 in the Meander Valley of Asia Minor. (See fig. 1.) Sometimes 

 planters are advised to put out the Adriatic, under the mistaken idea 

 that it is a heavier bearer than the former. Experience has demon- 

 strated that if the Smyrna is liberally supplied with caprifigs the 





Fig. 11. 



-A fig tree of the Stanford variety. The fruit does not split in ripening, as in the case of 

 other figs, and it ripens about two weeks earlier than that of the Lob Ingir. 



reverse is the case. The eastern cities are flooded with the inferior 

 Adriatic figs, the repulsive acid taste of which, derived from the 

 sulphur used in bleaching, is giving California dried figs a bad repu- 

 tation. Shippers should realize that they are doing irreparable injury 

 to the fig trade by putting this inferior fruit upon the market. It 

 must be apparent to anyone who has sampled the Adriatic fruit now 

 found in quantities in the eastern cities that a great fig trade which 

 will successfully compete with the imported Smyrna fruit can not be 

 built up with this inferior Adriatic fruit. 



If the planter desires to experiment in a small way, some of the 

 varieties described in another part of this bulletin may be tried. 



