THE PUBLICATION of a bulletin on the Smyrna fig has 

 become necessary, because recent investigations have 

 developed facts not previously noted and no literature is avail- 

 able which gives all the particulars necessary to a perfect 

 understanding of the intricacies of the industry in this country. 



It is thought important to encourage the more extensive 

 cultivation of one of the most wholesome fruit foods known to 

 agriculturists, a fruit the culture of which promises in the near 

 future to become an important industry in this country, and 

 also to correct errors into which authors have fallen for the lack 

 of the opportunities for investigation presented in California, 

 among which may be mentioned inaccuracies in relation to the 

 classification of fig flowers and the reason for the paucity of seeds 

 in caprifigs. 



The writer desires to express his obligation for valuable sug- 

 gestions to Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, the author of a valu- 

 able article on Smyrna figs. 



