56 



FIG CULTURE 



goods, or for a cannery to be maintained in each 

 neighborhood, thus greatly lessening the loss of 

 raw material and improving its quality from nat- 

 ural causes, while the independence of the pro- 

 ducers will thereby be greatly aided. The commer- 

 cial value of fig preserves must finally rest quite 

 as much upon flavor as upon appearance, and 

 when the fruit is picked green enough to stand 

 transportation from orchards to canneries in cities, 

 and still maintain its natural shape, while cooking, 

 the quality is impaired and the quantity greatly re- 

 duced. Whenever quality is not up to the same 

 standard found in home-made preserves people 

 familiar with fig flavor will be disappointed and 

 the demand will be injured; but fruit ripened on 

 the trees has characteristic flavor in the final prod- 

 uct and is the agreeable and healthful article all 

 canners should attempt to produce. The best flavor 

 cannot be found in fruit picked green, and it is 

 therefore of primary importance to lessen the dis- 

 tance between the trees and the cannery so far as 

 is reasonably possible. 



