406 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Ocr., 1901. 
There seems to be a great idea amongst people that the Smyrna fig is 
the only one when dried which is fit for use. Is it not the manner in which it 
is prepared for the market which makes it such a favourite? We have several 
figs here that, to my idea, are equally as good in flavour as the Smyrna, and 
could be placed upon our markets in an equally good condition if proper care 
and attention were given to them—namely, White Adriatic, White Marseillese 
(the true white Genoa), Col de Signora Blanca, Baurgassatte, Gnis, White 
Pacific, Pan Doree. 
It is stated that the fig, especially the Smyrna, will not develop matured 
fruit without the aid of caprification with the Capri fig—that is, the wasp-like 
insect called the ‘ blastophaga”—entering the eye of the fig as the pollinating 
agency. I have noticed many articles on the fig in reference to caprification, 
saying it is absolutely necessary for the production of fruit. The question 
arises, Why do figs produce and set their fruit so well as they do in our States 
without it? No fruit can set without the flowers being first fertilised. There- 
fore, if our figs set their fruits, it must be by fertilisation, which they receive 
from the pollen of the flowers. If there be no pollen to fertilise the female 
flowers, no fruit could set. The blastophaga being so minute, it is impossible 
for it to’carry sufficient pollen into the fig to cause fertilisation. . Its entrance 
simply causes decay or premature ripening, such as a grub will do when it 
has entered a pear or apple, producing decay by its own death. 
The custom of caprification is fast becoming a thing of the past. Accord- 
ing to the investigations of modern science, it is proved to be not only unneces- 
sary, but positively injurious, to the fig. May not the cause of figs falling off 
the trees before they reach the stage of maturity be improper kinds, unsuitable 
localities, and, last but not least, the absence of knowledge of proper and 
judicious pruning? And the cause of not placing them upon the markets 
equally as good as those imported is the want of knowledge and experience 
as to their proper treatment during the process of drying. 
PRUNING THE STRAWBERRY. 
In an interesting article on pruning various kinds of fruit trees and berries, 
in the Journal of the Department of Agriculture of Western Australia, Mx, 
A. Despeissis, Horticultural and Viticultural Expert, deals with the treatment 
of the strawberry plant. “Pruning the strawberry,” he says, “consists in 
trimming the roots at planting time so as to favour the 
growth of the fibrous roots which will feed the plant, and 
later on in cutting all runners before the fruiting season 
and as soon as they make their appearance. Unless this is 
done the fruiting of the plant will be seriously checked. 
Even after the fruiting, some growers still remove the 
runners, and only leave them on if young plants are required. 
In fact, treat all runners as weeds the first season. The 
illustration shows the design of a convenient runner cutter, 
which saves much trouble. The crescent blade is of such a 
diameter that it will encircle one side of a strawberry plant, 
and may be made with an are of about 9 inches. The 
appliance is pushed down on one side of the plant, and then 
on the other side, thus cutting all runners spreading around, 
Where the ground is moist the leaves of the strawberry plants are mowed clean | 
off in the winter, then gathered up with a rake and burned. This checks the 
spread of the leaf spot disease. The same purpose is at times attained by 
spraying the beds with a solution of sulphate of iron.” 
