CHAPTER IV. 



THE FIG IN ASIA. 



The figs of Asia exported from Smyrna to al- 

 most every city and hamlet in the Western world 

 have so familiarized ns with the product that it is 

 a household word. Notwithstanding this industry 

 the prosperity of Smyrna is due more to its trade 

 in raisins and olives. About thirty varieties are 

 grown within one hundred miles of that town, all 

 called Smyrnas. Lob Ingir (juicy fig) is the 

 choicest. 



The Meander Valley, lying about eighty miles 

 south of Smyrna, is the principal location of this 

 culture. The fruit is packed and exported from 

 Smyrna, its familiar name coming from trade la- 

 bels. The valley has a drier climate than the town 

 of Smyrna, elevated two to six hundred feet above 

 sea level, is about fifty miles long and five wide, and 

 protected on the north by the Salatin Mountains. 

 During the last decade the cultivated area has 

 widened into the foothills, and has reached ancient 

 Ephesus on the north. 



Although located in the same latitude as TVichita. 

 Pueblo, San Francisco, Shanghai and Kabul, the 

 temperature of the Meander Valley is modified by 

 the Mediterranean Sea and the Salatin Mountains, 

 the climate being about like that of Central Florida, 



