378 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May,-1898. 
COCCUS OLE. 
The Coceus olew is the enemy of the boughs and leaves. Itis a parasite, 
which at first sight appears to be a portion of the branch upon which it grows 
and upon the sap of which it lives. It also develops a fungus which blackens 
the boughs. Lime-washing and petroleum have both been tried with some 
measure of success against this pest. 
Some growers burn damp straw under the trees in order to fumigate them 
and destroy insect life, but this must be done with great caution, as the olive 
is a tree from its nature very easily scorched, and very much damaged by 
scorching both in fruit and foliage. It is not desirable to allow lichen or moss 
to grow on the bark, as it affords a refuge for parasites anda home for the 
eggs of insects. 
, It is, however, reasonable to express the hope that the olive-tree when 
introduced to its new homé in the Antipodes will leave all these enemies behind 
it, and not find new ones to contend with, so that it may grow and prosper 
till it has bestowed wealth on the Australian continent in the same abundant 
measure as it has lavished it on the Italian Peninsula for so many centuries, © 
THE FIG. 
Frow a report lately received from Mr. W. Finucane, Commercial Agent for 
Queensland in Europe, on the fig industry near Smyrna, in Asia Minor, we 
make the following extracts :— 
I was successful in obtaining 100 suckers and 100 cuttings of the Wild 
Fig (for caprification purposes). . . . . As to the caprification of the 
domestic fig, for which purpose I forward the i100 cuttings and 100 suckers, I 
need say very little, as the Department of Agriculture is well acquainted with 
the process, All the contents of the boxes are of the wild or Capri kind ; I 
have not been able to send any cuttings of the domestic tig because a sharp 
frost had bitten the tips on all the trees, and cuttings of the domestic kind 
should be planted with the tips on from which they sprout. ‘l’o procure them 
it will be necessary, I find, to be in the Aidin district about a. month earlier 
than I went, so as to be there before the frosty weather comes on. I reeret 
very much that my mission to Asia Minor has been somewhat incomplete; I 
hope, however, that what I have sent will reach the colony safely, and will 
result in the acclimatisation of the Capri fig. 
FERTILISATION. 
Fertilisation takes place when the fruit is one-third the size it will attain 
when ripe, and to prevent the fruit dropping prematurely, and to hasten its 
ripening, caprification is resorted to. It consists of placing the wild fig among 
the branches of the domestic one. Wreaths are made by stringing loosely on 
pieces of rushes from two to twelve wild figs, according to the size of the 
tree upon which the wreath is to be placed. The peasant takes a basketful 
of these wreaths and flings them into the branches, where they remain. The 
insect which infests the wild then 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 theory, 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. 
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