76 



FIG CULTURE 



from ten thousand five hundred to fifteen thousand 

 dollars operating capital to handle each crop. This 

 investment is partly for glass and sugar in the 

 spring, and labor during the summer, with no re- 

 turns until fall, and is very persuasive that, ordi- 

 narily, development should be confined to limited 

 acreages until the growth of each business justifies 

 its expansion into more formidable proportions. 

 These figures will not carry weight with those who 

 have unlimited credit, or adequate capital, but are 

 suggestive to the ordinary man who is contemplat- 

 ing the culture of figs. If one has the resources, 

 the technical knowledge, the broad experience there 

 is no fundamental objection to a large farm, for its 

 profits offer attractive inducements. The financial 

 system of our country, although sufficiently devel- 

 oped to operate most enterprises on credit, where 

 they are located in cities, has not reached that 

 elasticity, and refinement, necessary to justify 

 planting fig orchards in the hope of profit without 

 substantial investment, and conservative horticul- 

 turists will be deliberate in expanding field opera- 

 tions except when placed upon rational cash bases. 



Ts fig raising on a commercial scale adapted to 

 small acreages? Can it be made a profitable occu- 

 pation for a farmer of modest means? When til- 

 lage, harvest, preserving and markets are consid- 

 ered, is it adapted to a family which owns but few 

 acres? These are questions each inquirer must de- 

 termine for himself, and if this book shall assist in 



