Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-11-19

I ~
plucked from trees in his orange groves,
which were of good size and ripe. What
was said of the climate of Colusa and the
| fertility and possibilities of her soil. is
equally true of all the counties ia Central
California.
| w. H. Aiken read an excellent essay on
the prune. 1t was full of interest to all
who are engaged in the culture of that
profitable fruit.
| THE FIG.
r. Williamson read the following essay
| upon the fig:
In treating this subject l shall not at
tempt description of the methods of Gull
tivaiion and preparation practised by the
people in the old countries, where figs are
| extensively raised. | deem this I'M
necessary, as Dr. Gustave Essen, of
Fresno, read paper at your meeting in
November last, at Los Angeles, in which he
describes very ably, and very infinitely,
the methods practised in the Mediterranean
countries. shall deal with the subject
only in general terms, and endeayer to
bring out only such facts as shall be of
practical use to us in California. The fig
is the most ancient fruit we cultivate; it
has history dating back farther than any
other fruit We grow. Thousands and
millions of people in all ages of the world
have
| sUBsIsTED LARGELY or THE FIG.
In many of the old countries the failure of
a fig crop means not only stagnation in
business, but almost starvation and famine.
The late B. B. Redding told me, not long
before his DEATH that while travelling in
Europe, he learned that very large
per cent. of the inhabitants of Asia
Minor, Greece, Portugal Italy, and many
of those old countries, lived mainly on the
fig and olive; that travellers and sheep
herd, when starting off on trips with their
stock or otherwise, would carry with them
as their supplies of provisions little else
than dried figs and picked olives, and that
they would not only live for weeks and
months on these, but grew fat, and endure
almost untold hardships and exposures,
enjoying the most robust health all the
time. 1t is well-known fact that the fig
possesses more nutriment and also more
medical properties than any fruit we cult
vate, excepting possibly the olive 1t is a
healthy and substantial article of food
either for man or beast, and is at the same
time fine, delicate favored luxury, and
can readily be brought into general use by
almost the entire human family when it
| is once brought to their notice and put
within their reach One of the chief bar
riers to their general use now by the Amer
lean people is the high price at which
good article can be obtained. Some idea of
THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS INDUSTRY
In the Old World may be cleaned from the
| fact that, according to the report of the
American Consul, there had been delivered
| for export at Smyrna alone, for the year
1884, 21,600,000 pounds of dried figs, be-
sides, possibly, as much more from Italy,
| Hungary, Dalmatia and other fig-produc-
ing countries, making grand total export
of fully 10000 0O0pounds, besides supplying
an enormous home consumption. OF this
large export, England, Germany and the
United States take the bulk of it. With
| these facts before us, and with the further
fact that there is but small portion OF the
earth's surface where the fig can be success
fully grown and cured, and that we in Cal |
ifornia have the lions share of that small
area, are we not blind to our best interests
if we do not improve our golden opportuni-
ties? 1t is thoroughly demonstrated fact |
that the fig tree will grow most luXuriantly, |
thrive and bear great crops, on most all of |
our valley, plains, mesa and foothill lands, |
from one end of the State to the other |
The warm, dry alluvial soils, and dry |
warm climates of the interior valleys and |
foothills, seem TO be peculiarly adapted to |
its successful culture and curing. 1t will |
grow and
BEAR GOOD CROPS
OF fruit on lands too dry to mature other |
fruits. 1t will also do well on our rich |
moist bottom lands, provided they are well |
drained. So that there is no fruit that can |
be more generally grown all over our State |
than the fig, and no other with so little !
care and risks or that is more profitable in |
the end, if we get good varieties and handle |
the fruit properly. Preparation of the fruit |
for market has until very recently been |
done in the most careless and sovenly |
manner by the California grower so much |
so that many have concluded fg-growing in |
this State was failure. Only few years |
ago the same ideas prevailed relative to
raisin and wine making in California But |
what a change has come over the public |
mind relative to the two last named pro-
ducts, and the same change, and even |
greater. will soon come over the public |
mind in regard to raising and curing the |
fig.
THE BEST METHOD
For curing the fig in the sun, is to pick it |
when it has just began to wilt place it on |
trays, in tight room, put slow sulphur
fire under it (say half pound of best sui |
phur to 200 pounds of figs), let the sulphur !
burn slowly till consumed the fumes !
ascending among the fruit until entirely |
exhausted. This will require, say 10 or y |
hours. The fruit should be kept in the |
sulphur bath. The object of this sulphur |
ing of the green fruits 10 prevent fermenta- |
ton and souring in the process of drying, |
to preserve the natural flavor and the |
qualities of the fruit, to soften the skin, and !
at the same time to bleach or whiten the |
dried product After the sulphuring, it |
should be taken out, placed on trays or
scaffold, and treated much the same as we
do the raisin. They should be turned over |
rrl,tl 10 Il achA l.
taken not to let them get too dry and hard. |
This, of all the mistakes, is the most COM
mon with the amateur in fruit drying All |
that is wanted is to simply eyaporate |
the water from the fruit. The softer |
and more flexible it is, the better. |
and the more salable the product will |
be, and the heavier it weighs The more /
profitable it is to the producer, aud the more |
palatable and satisfactory to the consumer |
The operator should not wait until the |
whole batch is dry before taking it up, but |
should watch it carefully, and as fast as a |
portion of it is dry enough, to pick out and |
take up all such specimens as are sutf |
GENTLY cured. The sense of feeling aided |
by a little common sense, will tell him |
when it will do. In most localities, espe-
cially in the valleys and near the coast,
IT WILL PAY WELL I
To cover the figs at night to keep off damp
ness. With favorable weather and proper
care, ii will usually take from four to seven
day to dry the sulphured figs. and eight to
twelve days to dry the unsulphured, for
they dry much quicker after being sui |
phured. After they are thus dried, they |
should be dipped in boiling hot solution,
composed OF, say, thirty gallons of water, |
one pound of concentrated I've, and three |
pounds of best rock salt thoroughly dis |
solved. The figs should be held under this |
boiling water about two seconds and |
then taken out. dripped or dried |
until the water is gone, and |
then packed away in large boxes
about the same as used for raisins covered |
up so as to keep out insects), and left to |
sweat from two to four weeks before pack
ing for market. The object of the dipping |
is to kill all insect eggs and soften the skin.
This is done by the alkali, while the salt |
preserves the fruit and materially adds to |
the flavor of it by destroying that fiat, |
greenish taste which is perceptible in the |
fresh dried fruit. 1t also assists the granu- !
lation and specialization Of the natural |
sugar in the fig, and assists in bringing ont |
white, fowery bloom, which adds much |
to the appearance of the product. 1t also |
repels the attack of insects.
Il