Sept. 2, 1901,] 
Supplement to the " Tropical AgricuUurisL" 
them into the branches where they remain. The in- 
sect which infects the wild tree leaves it and enters 
the domestic fruit by the orifice. This is the process 
which is called caprification, and it is undoubtedly 
this action which prevents the domestic fig 
from dropping before maturity and makes it grow 
large. There are, of course, many proofs in support 
of this theorj', but the most recent and authentic 
one which I have heard is from the lips of Sir 
Edwin Egerton, the British Minister at Athens, a 
gentleman who takes a considerable amount of 
interest in matters of this kind. Sir Edwin told 
me that there is a fig tree in the Embassy garden, 
the fruit from which always dropped prematurely. 
He procured a wild tree and planted it in the garden, 
and when it bore fruit he followed the caprification 
practice, Since then the fruit remains on the 
tree, not only until quite mature but actually until 
half dry. 
The rainfall at Aidin* for the twelve months 
from July, 1895, to June, 1896, was 21-71, and 
from July, 1896, to June, 1897, was 26-45. In 
ordinary regime July and August are rainless in 
all the country from Smyrna to Ortakchi. If 
there is rain, as I am imformed, there was this 
year, it is not seasonable for the fig, and if there 
is rain early in September it is damaging, inas- 
much as it prevents the completion of the drying 
and interferes with the despatch of the fruit in 
its best condition. 
The temperature in the shade runs freely to 90 
degrees Pahr., any time in June to August, and 
•with north-easterly winds to 95 degrees to 100 
degrees occasionally, In winter it runs as low as 
45 degrees to 50 degrees. I have not been able to 
obtain complete data as to the temperature, 
because no record is kept, but I am informed by 
the British Vice-Consul at Aidin that the above is 
a correct estimate. 
I have been informed by the Director of the 
Railways that his lines have carried this year 
to port (Smyrna) over 30,000 tons of figs ; this, 
of course, does not represent the whole production, 
•which this year was below the average owing to 
unseasonable rains, for immense quantities are 
carried by the caravans, besides the enormous 
consumption in the country. Apart from the fig, 
■which is the staple product of the country, corn, 
maize, barley, oats, millet, and all cereals are 
grown. All fruit, excepting tropical fruit, grow ; 
the date palm is grown but does not bear fruit 
owing to too much cold in winter. 
Enormous quantities of the liquorice root are 
dug out of the ground in the Aidin district. 
Messrs. McAndrews and Forbes, of London, have 
an establishment where they collect the root, pack 
it in bales, and export it chiefly to the United 
States, where the juice is usee in the preparation 
of tobacco. I see no reason why the production 
of liquorice should not be made an industry in 
Queensland. All that it requires is, after digging 
up the roots, to cut them in suitable lengths, pack 
them in a kind of wool-press, and they are 
ready for export. 
The importance of the colony entering into the 
fig cultivation cannot be over-estimated, when it 
* 81 miles from Smyrna and in the heart of the 
tig-grgwiDg diatrict. 
is remembered that the cost of experimenting is not 
very great. Any farmer can grow a row of trees 
on the margin of his allotment in much the same 
way as that in Italy. Trees are grown along the 
border of land carrying cereals, adding very much 
to the effect of that beautiful country. 
There are parts of the country in which I am 
sure the fig willsucceed, and if once we are successful 
it will be a source of great wealth to the colony. 
The Smyrna fig is deteriorating, as I have already 
said, owing, 1 suppose, to cultivation ; and if the 
colony obtains a footing in the markets of Europe, 
Asia Minor will have reason to regret its lethargy. 
The countries which mostly draw the best quality 
of figs, those called Elemes, are the United States 
and Germany. 
INPLUEiS^CE OP FORESTS ON THE CLIMATIC 
CONDITIONS OF A COUNTRY. 
Though it has been admitted in the first part 
of this introduction that the climate of each 
country and of each district is prima facie 
dependent upon its geographical position, its eleva- 
tion, the configuration of the ground, and other 
cosmic causes which are independent of local 
circumstances it can hardly be denied that the 
existence or non-existence of large well-wooded 
areas in a country naturally capable of growing 
forests affects its climate in a very marked degree. 
History proves this to us in numerous instances 
where the deterioration of the climate of 
who le districts, and even of whole countries, 
has followed the destruction. 
The once well-wooded Dalmatia is a stony desert ; 
Persia once one of the granaries of the East 
is barren and desolate over a large extent of 
the country. North Africa, formerly one of the 
main corn markets of Rome, is subject to the 
severest droughts. Spain, Italy, Sicily, Greece 
and Asia Minor have suffered greatly from dis- 
forestation, and finally, but not least, India 
pspecially in the intermediate and dry zones in 
the Deccan, and in the north-west^ot the country 
has been injured by the destruction of her forests. 
Even Oskar Peschel, who questions the im- 
portance of the influence of forest growth on 
tlie climate of a whole country perhaps mora 
than any other writer of note, throws no doubt 
on the observations made by Boussingault, 
Hamboldt, and Bompland, and acknowledges the 
local influence of forests on the precipitation 
of moisture. He says, however, and he has 
numerous followers even within the ranks of 
the Forest Department, that the amount of rain 
which falls year by year on the Continent would 
be exactly the same if there were no forests at all. 
"The amount of rain," he states, " depends on 
the extent of oceans and seas, on the degree 
of heat, and on the rapidity with which the 
air moves over the surface of the waters. None 
of these conditions are changed," he writes, " by 
the extent or absence of forests. All air current 3 
blowing from the sea are year by year charged 
with the same amount of moisture, which pre- 
cipitates as soon as the air is cooled below the 
point of saturation. If such precipitation be 
caused by foyests, the air currents reach tha 
