38 CROPS THAT PAY. 



during the same year, there was a total of 293,637,273 pounds worth 

 $11,311,062, of which peaches led, with 104,353,640 pounds, valued at 

 $4,283,165. , , 



The output of canned figs averages 250,000 pounds a year ana 

 during the same twelve months we consume 25,000,000 pounds ot 

 dried figs ! • if th 



Put a business proposition in the form of a question: it tne 

 consumption of canned tomatoes yearly amounts to 626,000,000 

 pounds, and the consumption of canned peaches yearly to 104,000,000 

 pounds, why should not at least too times more than the conipara- 

 tively insignificant one-quarter of a million pounds of canned hgs 

 find willing buyers in our always widening home market?^ If the 

 reply to this question should be another inquiry : Why haven t clever 

 business men gone into this seemingly attractive proposition? the 

 answer would be : Why has the South clung to cotton growing to 

 the exclusion of diversified farming with its greater safety and 

 assurance of profit and neglected those special crops of kinds so 

 well suited to her climate and soil? That the South has long 

 neglected her splendid opportunities is known to all ; and that the 

 growing of figs for canning is one of the most important of these 

 neglected opportunities is admitted by all who have given the subject 

 serious study. But why should the farmer plant fig trees without 

 someone waiting to buy his fruit? Why should the man with means 

 build a cannery to can fruit that may never be grown? Useless each 

 without the other. And so it has come to pass that few figs are 

 grown and few canned where there should be millions of pounds 

 put up and sold, as will surely be the case when this undeveloped re- 

 source of the South shall be properly exploited. 



The successful grower of figs in the South must establish his 

 orchard where soil and climate are favorable to the best growth of 

 his trees; he must plant those varieties which have been proven best 

 for canning and eating fresh ; be near good local markets and within 

 easy reach of canneries where he can cheaply deliver the bulk of his 

 product. 



A publication of the Department of Agriculture says : "In 

 Louisiana figs do especially well, requiring no care or cultivation, 

 and fruiting abundantly. In the pine lands of Mississippi, Alabama, 

 Georgia, Florida and South Carolina they require more attention in 

 the way of fertilizing to produce the best results. In Southern 

 Texas, too, they succeed admirably." All varieties do not require 

 the same kind of soil, but most do best on well-drained, very rich 

 land. Any good land capable of growing a bale of cotton to the 

 acre is well suited to the fig. 



The planting of fig trees among other orchard trees is recom- 

 mended. They might be planted along with peach, or pear trees with 

 good results. An ideal combination for the orchardist, or syndicate, 

 on a large scale, would be a combined pecan and fig orchard, with 

 cotton between the rows. The best cotton land is best suited to both 

 kinds of trees. The pecan has a long tap root which goes deep into 

 the ground, while the root system of the fig tree lies always near the 

 surface. The fig trees should be planted between the pecans in one 

 direction only, and parallel with the lines of tillage. 



