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



OPPORTUNITIES IN THE INDUSTRY. 



At the present time the annual production of dried figs in Califor- 

 nia amounts to about 6,000 tons, one-third of which are of the 

 Smyrna type and the remainder chiefly Adriatic and Mission, the 

 Adriatic including by far the largest quantity. The reason for this 

 is that the Adriatic was extensively planted many years before the 

 Smyrna was introduced. In a few instances Adriatic figs are still 

 being planted under the mistaken idea that they are more prolific 

 bearers than the Smyrna variety. One prominent grower in the San 

 Joaquin Valley who has orchards of both Smyrna and Adriatic finds 

 that by a liberal supply of caprifigs he gets a ton to the acre more 

 from the Smyrna than from the Adriatic variety, while the former 

 sells for about double the price of the latter. At the present time he 

 is engaged in grafting his Adriatic trees to the Smyrna variety. The 

 fig plantings at present are confined almost entirely to the Smyrna 

 type and it is only a question of a few years before the markets of 

 this country will be supplied with home-grown Smyrna figs. 



The cutting off of the supplies of figs from Asia Minor and the 

 countries of southern Europe by the war has so raised the prices as 

 greatly to stimulate the planting of figs in this country. It is a rea- 

 sonable estimate that 10,000 acres of Smyrna fig trees have been 

 planted in the central San Joaquin Valley alone during the last two 

 years. When these large plantings come into bearing, this country 

 will be independent of importations from Smyrna, and dried figs by 

 the carload will be as evident in commercial movements as raisins 

 are at the present time. 



To show the increasing demand for the best figs, the purchasing 

 agent for the eating houses and the newsboy trade on one of the large 

 railroad systems of the country in 1913 contracted with a leading 

 packer for 80,000 half-pound cartons of California-grown Smyrna 

 figs, and the supply proved insufficient. In 1914 he contracted for 

 100,000 packages, and the supply was still insufficient. In 1915 he 

 contracted for 120,000 packages. This buyer never handles any other 

 figs as long as the California-grown Smyrna supply holds out. 



A 4-year-old Smyrna fig orchard ought to produce sufficient fruit 

 to pay all the expenses of cultivation, and from that age will yield 

 increasing crops indefinitely. The owner of one 20-acre orchard 9 

 years of age in 1914 reported a net yield of the value of $115 per 

 acre. The owner of a 40-acre orchard in the same locality, 13 years 

 old, reported an income of $250 per acre. However, it should be 

 mentioned that part of the last-mentioned crop was shipped to city 

 markets undried. Appearances at the present time indicate that 

 it will be but a few years before the 15 or 16 million pounds of figs 

 annually imported from Smyrna will be supplied by the home-grown 

 product. 



