Growing Fig Cuttings. 323 
The selection of soils especially suitable to the production 
of the best figs for drying involves more considerations than 
rule in the growth of table fruit. For drying, the fig should at- 
tain a good size, but should not contain excess of moisture. In 
some parts of the State the first crop of figs in the season has 
been found unfit for drying. ‘The second, and, in some localities, 
the third crop, appearing later in the season, when the moisture 
supply of the soil is reduced, dry well. This condition of the 
first crop is, however, affected by local conditions, for there are 
places in the Sierra foot-hills where the soil moisture has to be 
replenished early in the season by irrigation to prevent even the 
first crop from falling prematurely, and subsequent irrigation 
brings to perfection the second and third crops. The fig tree 
needs plenty of moisture in the soil, but not too much. As with 
other fruits, if the soil does not retain the needed amount nat- 
urally, it must be supplied by irrigation wisely administered. 
PROPAGATION OF THE FIG. 
The fig grows very readily from cuttings, and this is the 
chief method of propagation. Cuttings should*be made while 
Fic. z. FIG. 3- Fic. 4. 
Growth of Fig from Cuttings—Lelong. 
the tree is fully dormant, in the winter, of well-matured wood 
of the previous season’s growth, giving preference to stocky, 
short-jointed shoots, and making the cuttings about six to eight 
