SMYRNA FIG CULTURE. 33 



will grow, while if 2-year-old wood is used and the work carefully 

 done 95 per cent of them will grow. This is the experience of A. H. 

 Brydges, a skillful horticulturist and caretaker of the demonstration 

 fig orchard of the Department of Agriculture at Loomis, Cal. 



Experienced fig growers are now thoroughly convinced of the supe- 

 riority of Smyrna figs over any other kind as a profitable crop, and in 

 many places they are grafting over their Adriatic trees to Smyrnas, 

 thus about doubling the value of the product. If the tree to be 

 changed is large, it is best to take two years for the work, as to 

 remove the whole top in one season often proves too much of a shock 

 to the parent tree. If the grafts do well, they will produce some 

 figs the second year. 



FREEDOM FROM DISEASES AND INSECT PESTS. 



The fig possesses several advantages over other deciduous fruit 

 trees. One is that little thinning is required to produce large-sized 

 fruit, as is necessary with peaches, apricots, etc., since the size of the 

 crop can be regulated by the number of caprifigs applied. The crop 

 is never cut off by late spring frosts, for the reason that it pushes 

 long after the last frosts occur. Up to the present time the fig tree 

 in California has also been virtually free from insect pests and dis- 

 eases, so that spraying has never been necessary. 



A few cases of fungus on Adriatic and Mission trees have been 

 reported, but they are not regarded as serious. A blackish smut or 

 fungus sometimes is found in dried figs. Its appearance is not unlike 

 the smut in cereals, and it can usually be detected by a discoloration 

 of the skin. It may also be detected when no outward discoloration 

 occurs by squeezing the figs, which ruptures the inclosing membrane 

 and forces out the spores in a dark dustlike powder. As the spores 

 are blown about by the wind, it is important that all affected figs be 

 immediately destroyed by burning or depositing them in a receptacle 

 containing a weak solution of formalin or corrosive sublimate, or 

 even hot water. All refuse figs and trash from the orchard should be 

 cleaned up and burned. 



Large fig-eating beetles, known as June bugs, are troublesome in 

 parts of Arizona, but have not been observed in California.' Nema- 

 todes, minute worms infesting the roots, are found in many localities, 

 but as yet they have not become a serious pest. 



A small spotted beetle (Carpophilus Tiemiplerus) works in souring 

 and fermenting figs, prunes, etc., and is really a packing-house insect. 

 The little fly which frequents souring figs is the well-known vinegar 

 fly. These insects can be abated to a considerable extent by cleaning 

 up and burning the refuse leaves and decaying fruit from the orchard. 



