PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 83 



writers. About thirty are growing in the vicinity of Ripon, two near 

 Lathrop, seven at Stockton, and about a dozen near Milton. Some of 

 these trees are about as old and about as large as the Gates tree, and we 

 have positive proof have carried the blastophaga for about forty years. 

 A number of them have been traced directly to the West nursery and 

 as they are all of the same variety, there is little doubt that they all 

 came from the same source. 



It was supposed that the fig wasp was first sent to the new world from 

 Algiers by one of the writers in 1899, but the discovery of the insect on 

 the Gates and the Lathrop trees, proves that the first introduction ante- 

 dates that of 1899 by more than thirty years. A question of much 

 interest in connection with the Gates and Lathrop trees is, how did they 

 become infested with the blastophaga. W. B. West probably imported 

 more fig trees than any other man in the State. In 1865, two years 

 before the Gates tree was planted, he imported twenty-two varieties 

 from the south of Europe by way of Panama, the first overland railroad 

 not then having been completed. As it was possible only for the insect 

 to be brought over in the caprifig itself, it is reasonable to suppose that 

 the trees imported by Mr. West carried mamme figs containing the insect 

 and that it was established in the Stockton nursery before the trees were 

 distributed. As all these old trees are of the same variety and most of 

 them are known to have come from that nursery, it is a reasonable con- 

 clusion that to W. B. West belongs the credit, though probably unknown 

 to him, of having first introduced the blastophaga into America. That 

 caprifigs on trees or cuttings could retain their vitality long enough to 

 make this possible has been proven by one of the writers who took cut- 

 tings with mamme caprifigs attached from trees in the Maslin orchard 

 last December and planted them in his yard in San Francisco. In May 

 following the wasps were alive and about ready to issue, but a spell of 

 warm weather in June dried up the figs and killed the insects. This 

 shows that even on unrooted cuttings it is possible to keep the insect 

 alive for six months. This introduction by Mr. West was undoubtedly 

 accidental. The late Mr. Fred West, cashier of the Stockton Savings 

 Bank, was at the time of this importation a partner of his brother in 

 the nursery business. He said to one of the writers, just before his 

 death, less than three months ago: "If Ave imported the capri tree and 

 the blastophaga. it was purely accidental, as we knew nothing about 

 either the capri tree or the insect, but thought we were sending out a 

 choice variety of the Smyrna fig. 



CUTTINGS AND CAPRIFIGS AVAILABLE FROM THE LOOMIS ORCHARD. 



At the Maslin seedling fig orchard at Loomis, Placer County, which is 

 under lease to the United States Department of Agriculture, are several 

 very desirable capri, as well as a number of choice trees of the Smyrna 

 type. These capri trees have now been sufficiently studied to enable us 

 to select a half dozen or more of the very best. They are vigorous 

 trees, producing mamme and mammoni crops in sufficient abundance, 

 and above all enormous profichi crops of large figs, abundantly infested 

 with blastophaga and having plenty of pollen. The resources of this 

 orchard, both in caprifigs and cuttings, are placed at the disposal of all 

 who are interested in fig culture. Cuttings from the best trees without 

 cost and caprifigs at the bare cost of gathering and shipping will be 



