f aaah PUBLICATION of a bulletin on the Smyrna fig has 
become necessary, because recent investigations have 
developed facts not previously noted and no literature is avail- 
able which gives all the particulars necessary to a perfect 
understanding of the intricacies of the industry in this country. 
It is thought important to encourage the more extensive 
cultivation of one of the most wholesome fruit foods known to 
agriculturists, a fruit the culture of which promises in the near 
future to become an important industry in this country, and 
also to correct errors into which authors have fallen for the lack 
of the opportunities for investigation presented in California, — 
among which may be mentioned inaccuracies in relation to the 
classification of fig flowers and the reason for the paucity of seeds » 
in caprifigs. 
The writer desires to express his obligation for valuable sug- 
gestions to Dr. L.O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, 
United States Department of Agriculture, the author of a valu- 
able article on Smyrna figs. 
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