48 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



ceeded in establishing the little wasp, on which the whole foundation 

 of Smyrna fig culture rests, is going to give up one iota of what he has 

 achieved by his own initiative and against great odds. In the language 

 of the poet, "He ain't built that way." 



To most- of you who are familiar with our horticultural development 

 in its early history, the reason is obvious why fig culture has not kept 

 pace with our citrus and deciduous fruits. All the California figs be- 

 longing to what is known as the Adriatic type, and which are produced 

 without the agency of the fig wasp, are decidedly inferior from every 

 point of view to the Smyrna type. This is a fact well known to the 

 trade, and is really the cause for the lack of demand for our dried figs. 

 The output of California dried figs has never exceeded 2,500 tons 

 annually, while the annual output of Smyrna figs from Asia Minor 

 in the fig district of the Meander Valley (84 miles long and only a few 

 miles wide, where all the Smyrna figs are grown) amounts to 100,000 

 camel loads, or 25,000 tons — more than ten times the quantity produced 

 in this State. Do you know that thirty thousand people are engaged in 

 handling that one crop during the harvesting season, and furthermore 

 that the United States is to-day the greatest consumer of these figs, 

 and all this in spite of the duty? And do you know that California 

 is destined, by reason of climate, soil, and the establishment of the 

 Blastophaga, to wrest this trade from Asia Minor and divert it to 

 our own people? Is this not of itself an irrefutable answer in the 

 affirmative that Smyrna fig culture is not only feasible but highly profit- 

 able in this State ? 



MR. BOOTH. I would like to hear from our old friend, Mr. Maslin, 

 on this subject. 



MR. MASLIN. Mr. President, I am very happy to receive the com- 

 pliment of appearing before you. It has been over a quarter of a 

 century since I became a member and attendant of horticultural con- 

 ventions. They say that a musician may take a string of his violin 

 and if it is in accord with the bridge he may make that bridge tremble. 

 And so I feel to-day that, after twenty-five years of intercourse with 

 my fellow-horticulturists, they have struck a tone in my heart which 

 I can hardly express to you— gratification at meeting so many intel- 

 ligent men and the assurance that the horticultural interests of this 

 State are on a firm basis. 



I would like to add a little historical knowledge to the fig question. 

 In 1884 I purchased a farm from the railroad company at Loomis. 

 Mr. Rixford had introduced a large quantity of supposed Smyrna figs. 

 All over the State they had proved a failure. In 1885 I sent to Mr. 

 Thurber for a box of figs. He sent me a box and I sowed the seed in 

 twenty acres. I reduced it to about six acres. On one occasion, some 



