28 BULLETIN 732, U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
STARTING. A SMYRNA FIG ORCHARD. 
In starting a fig orchard the selection of the best varieties adapted 
to the locality is a matter of supreme importance. It can not be too 
strongly impressed upon the beginner that his main dependence in 
planting the orchard should be upon the Lob Ingir, the standard 
Smyrna fig of the world and thevariety universally grown commercially 
in the Meander Valley of Asia Minor. (See fig. 1.) Sometimes 
planters are advised to put out the Adriatic, under the mistaken idea 
that it is a heavier bearer than the former. Experience has demon- 
strated that if the Smyrna is liberally supplied with caprifigs the 
Fig. 11.—A fig tree of the Stanford variety. The fruit does not split in ripening, asin the case of 
other figs, and it ripens about two weeks earlier than that of the Lob Ingir. 
reverse is the case. “The eastern cities are flooded with the inferior 
Adriatic figs, the repulsive acid taste of which, derived from the 
sulphur used in bleaching, is giving California dried figs a bad repu- 
tation. Shippers should realize that they are doing irreparable injury 
to the fig trade by putting this inferior fruit upon the market. It 
must be apparent to anyone who has sampled the Adriatic fruit now 
found in quantities in the eastern cities that a great fig trade which 
will successfully compete with the imported Smyrna fruit can not be 
built up with this inferior Adriatic fruit. 
If the planter desires to experiment in a small way, some of the | 
varieties described in another part of this bulletin may be tried. 
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