34 CROPS THAT PAY. 



planation was that the Smyrna fig growers, fearing American com- 

 petition, had sent worthless varieties. 



Six years later Mr. F. Roeding, a San Francisco banker anc 

 nursery proprietor, sent his foreman to Smyrna to buy cuttings. He 

 was suspected and watched by the people there and many obstacles 

 put in his way, but he finally succeeded in securing several thousand 

 Smyrna fig cuttings, and some caprifig cuttings as well. These ar- 

 rived safely and were planted near Fresno in 1888, 1889 and 1891, 

 making about 60 acres in all. 



At this time there was a decided difference in opinion among 

 investigators on the subject of caprification. A publication of the 

 Department of Agriculture, issued in 1891, had this to say: "Now 

 that caprification, or artificial fertilization, of the fig through the 

 agency of insects has been fully investigated by the Italian Govern- 

 ment and proved to be a myth, it is plain that we have only to seek 

 the right varieties for drying to make the business a success, and no 

 doubt we already have some of these." Nevertheless, the importa- 

 tion of the wild, or caprifig, cuttings at this time was the most im- 

 portant step which had yet been taken towards the solution of the 

 problem. This importation was due to the tardy recognition of the 

 fact that the peculiar flavor of the Smyrna fig is directly caused by 

 the many ripe seeds it contains and that these ripe seeds are the 

 result of caprification. 



In 1890 there were caprifigs in bearing and Smyrna figs ready to 

 be fertilized, but no Blastophagas were available to serve as pollen 

 carriers, so at the Roeding orchard, artificial fertilization was re- 

 sorted to with the result that four Smyrna figs were produced that 

 year. To accomplish this a quill was used to draw the pollen out of 

 the caprifigs and introduce it into the young Smyrna figs. The year 

 following, by means of a specially formed glass tube, the second 

 artificial fertilizing gave a crop of just 150 fruits in the same 

 orchard. And then, we are told that Mr. Roeding, who must 

 have found something encouraging in the blowpipe method, at once 

 planted 20 acres more in 1892, making 80 acres in all. The quality of 

 the artificially caprificated figs was good and the success of the 

 process proven. In the meantime Dr. Gustav Eisen, probably the 

 best authority on fig culture among scientific men, had conclusively 

 established the importance of Blastophaga fertilization. From now 

 on it was merely a matter of importing the minute insect with 

 the big name, inducing it to breed in California caprifigs, and under- 

 take on a large scale, its wonderful service on behalf of Smyrna 

 fig growers there. This state of affairs led to the co-operation of 

 Prof. H. E. Van Deman, then Pomologist, and Prof. C. V. Riley, 

 then Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, in the im- 

 portation of cuttings of various kinds of wild and cultivated figs 

 from Turkey and elsewhere, for experimental planting in this coun- 

 try; and the practical work of introducing the Blastophaga by 

 the department was begun. 



For almost ten years the record was one of discouraging 

 failure. Nothing had been accomplished. Orchards of Smyrna 

 fig trees in California; Blastophagas still in Asia. At last, in 1899, 

 a consignment of caprifigs (the fruit) containing Blastophagas was 



