268 
POSSIBILITIES  OF  FIG  CULTIVATION. 
The  recently  reported  progress  towards  the  establishment 
in  Hawaii  of  the  insect  necessary  to  the  fructification  of  the 
Smyrna  fig,  raises  the  hope  that  this  fruit%nay  ere  long  be 
grown  as  an  orchard  crop  throughout  the  islands.  The  facility 
with  which  the  Smyrna  fig  can  be  propagated,  its  simple  cul- 
tivation and  abundant  yield  and  the  facility  of  preparation  of 
its  fruit  for  market  alike  recommend  its  growth  on  a large 
scale  in  Hawaii.  Although  it  is  true  that  immense  tracts  of 
land  in  California,  Australia  and  other  parts  of  the  world  are 
suitable  for  this  same  crop,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  Hawaii 
will  do  for  the  fig  what  she  has  already  done  for  the  pineapple 
and  the  orange,  and  will  produce  a grade  of  fruit  a little 
superior  to  the  best  that  can  be  marketed  from  other  countries. 
If  the  islands  can  do  this  there  is  no  fear  of  adverse  competi- 
tion, as  there  is  always  a ready  sale  for  the  choicest  varieties 
of  any  food  commodity. 
The  bulk  of  the  fig  crop  of  the  world  is  produced  in  Asia 
Minor,  which  country  exports  twenty-five  thousand  tons.  In 
spite  of  the  duty  the  United  States  imports  the  larger  part  of 
this  output,  although  there  is  little  doubt  that  in  a few  years 
the  orchards  of  California  alone  will  be  able  to  supply  the 
domestic  market.  Until  recently  the  growth  of  Smyrna  figs  has 
been  impossible  in  America  on  account  of  the  fact  that  the 
production  of  the  fruit  is  dependent  upon  a minute  insect, 
which  unfortunately  was  unknown  there.  The  operation  of 
this  insect  in  the  development  of  the  fig  may  be  briefly  de- 
scribed as  follows : 
The  flowers  of  the  commercial  or  Smyrna  fig  are  female 
only,  and  in  order  to  fertilize  them  and  make  the  development 
of  fruit  possible,  it  is  necessary  to  pollenize  them  from  the 
male  flowers  of  the  Capri  or  wild  fig.  The  process  of  fertiliza-; 
tion — known  as  caprification — is  brought  about  artificially  by 
means  of  a small  “wasp”  known  as  blastophaga.  which  deposits 
its  eggs  within  the  unopened  capri  blossoms.  The  inflor- 
escence of  the  capri  fig  is  hollow  and*  is  lined  with  “gall” 
flowers,  which  are  bordered  by  a ring  of  male  blossoms  en- 
circling the  “eye”  of  the  fig.  The  eggs  of  the  fig-wasp  are 
deposited  within  the  gall  blossoms  and  after  incubation  the 
female  insect  crawls  through  the  ring  of  male  blossoms  sur- 
rounding the  orifice  of  the  fig  and  thus  becomes  covered  with 
pollen.  She  now  enters  another  capri  fig  and  depositing  her 
eggs  produces  another  generation  of  insects.  The  fig  growers 
of  Asia  Minor,  although  thev  appear  to  know  little  of  the  life 
history  of  the  wasp,  or  indeed  to  be  ignorant  of  its  presence, 
are  accustomed  to  hang  capri  figs  among  the  Smyrna  trees  at 
