30 CROPS THAT PAY. 



A failure of the crop in any locality would be a serious calamity. 

 In the Smvrna district of Asia Minor, in Greece, Italy, Algiers 

 Spain and Portugal the business of drying figs for export is one ot 

 great importance. The total yearly shipments from these countries 

 considerably exceed 100,000,000 pounds. Much of the inferior y "''• 

 such as is not suitable to dry and sell in packages, is disposed of for 

 distillation and the adulteration of coffee. An excellent brandy is 

 said to be made from figs. 



In France, as far north as Paris, the fig is successfully grown, 

 but only for consumption fresh, although the trees require much care 

 on account of the severe winters in that latitude. In the south of 

 England, however, are many large and very old trees growing in the 

 open unprotected, yielding regular and abundant crops which 

 are sold fresh at high prices in the London market. English garden- 

 ers make excellent incomes from potted figs, grown under cover, 

 finding ready sale for the fresh fruit at very remunerative prices. 



All figs may be roughly grouped as edible and inedible. The wild 

 fig, or caprifig, as it is called, is rarely edible ; but it is the ancestor 

 of a numerous and noble race of edible figs which are classified as 

 Smyrna figs and Domesticated figs. Of the latter more than 400 

 species have been described. 



The cultivation of the Smyrna fig is practically confined to Asia 

 Minor, Syria, Greece, Northern Africa and California, where it has 

 very recently been introduced. It takes its name from Smyrna, city 

 of Asia Minor, where these figs are packed in largest quantity and 

 whence they are exported to all parts of the world. This is the 

 edible fig of commerce, familiar to all in its dried form. 



Domesticated figs include all kinds except the Smyrna and the 

 caprifig. They are, with probably few exceptions, all seedlings grown 

 from the seed of the Smyrna fig. For consumption fresh or for can- 

 ning or preserving, many of the domesticated figs are fully as good 

 as the Smyrna, but the latter is the best fig for drying, superior to all 

 others in its delicious flavor when dried. The many varieties of figs 

 grown in our Gulf States belong to the domesticated class, having 

 been introduced by the early French settlers in Louisiana, just as the 

 Mission and other domesticated figs of the Pacific Slope were 

 brought to that region by the Spanish missionaries. 



The fig, as we know it, is a sac-like, fleshy receptacle, open at 

 the end opposite the stem, and bearing flowers on its inner surface. 

 These are the only flowers produced bv the fig tree, and to see them 

 It is necessary to cut open the fruit. The opening, or "eye," is some- 

 times as large as a pea ; often it is nearly closed, but enlarges some- 

 what as the fruit approaches maturity. 



The different varieties of figs are distinguished by marked dif- 

 ferences m the nature and arrangement of the flowers. Of the 

 flowers there are four kinds : 



I. Male, or staminate flowers, pollen-producing. 



^' ?^^^lf' °'' P'st'^ate, perfecting seed only when pollinated. 



3; Gall flowers, or imperfect female flowers, which have no 

 tunction other than to serve as a breeding place for the "fig-wasp" 

 (Blastophaga grossorum) . 



