Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-11-20
FIGS ARE PACKED
IN FIVE METHODS
LAYER, LocUM, PULLED, MAcAPov,
AND NATURAL, ACCORDING tn
EXPERT ON TRADE
TAKE THREE DAYS TO DRY
Ripen by Beginning of August and Dron
to Ground, Whence They Are Gath.
cred in Buckets

The hg tree grows almost wild and
qpires very little cultivation. AlthorzL
certain varieties are grown in vo,io-.-
parts of the world, those of Asiatic r.
key, commonly called Smyrna figs e..
the reason that they are packed ana
shipped from Smyrna, are the best ~
growing district is in the province CViIa.
yet of Adm, the plantations extendina
from Ayassoluk to Ortachi, a valley ovas
100 miles long, spreading far on both
sides of the line of the Ottoman rail.
way, which runs through it, affordin,
direct transportation from the interior
The figs -ipen by the beginning of An.
gust. They are not picked, but when
they reach certain maturity they begin
to dry, and consequently they dron IN
the ground, says The Premier ENQUIRER
In the morning everybody on the plart,.
tons goes around with buckets gathering
the fruit, which they carry to a certain
place where the ground is covered with
dry leaves and straw (sergeD, and on
which they spread the fruit, exposing II
to the sun, allowing it to remain there
from two to three days.
1t takes about three days to dry the.
fig if north winds prevail, as the atmos-
phere is then very dry. if, however.
westerly winds are blowing, which,
means heavy dew at night, the fruit
must remain exposed to the sun from
five to seven days. This is another dan
gerous period, as rain, or even a show
er, might ruin hundreds of tons of fruit
iylng on the ground. Heavy dews some
Zines ore just as detrimental. The
proper atmospheric conditions to insure
crop of large, sound rich figs are west
winds in June and July, followed bv
north winds in August, and from then
on an occasional west wind every five
or six days.
When the figs are dry enough they are
packed in camel hair bags of two Turk
lsh kintals each (aboEt $50 poundsl and
carried to the railroad station on camel
back. This is why the crop is reported
by camel loads, each load representing
two bags, or about 500 pounds. The
railroad carries the bags to the Caravan
bridge station, just outside of Smyrna,
and from there they are again loaded on
camels and brought to the fig market
0ngir VsharsD, where they are exam
ined and bought by the packers. Mix
lures of the different varieties are made
in packing places to insure uniformity
in the appearance of the fruit.
Women do the first selection. They
sit around large quantities of fruit. Sc
lecting four sizes, which they put in sep
arate baskets. While selecting the fruit
they pull it by the stem through the
palm of the hand, thus giving it long
shape, called macaroni, which demon
strates size and makes the fig easier for
the packer to handle. From the selec-
ton rooms boys carry the baskets to the
packing rooms and place the proper sizes
before the packers according to the quail
ity they are packing
There are five kinds of packing-Iayer,
locum, pulled, macaroni or Colonna and
natural. The packing in layers is the.
most popular. The fig is split open I'M
derneath, fiattened and given a certain
shape before being placed in the box.
One layer of figs is filed. Layer figs.
measures in width from one and a half
to two and three-quarter inches, accord
ing to grades. The locum is practically
the same packing, only done more care
fully. The fig is given a kind of die
shape instead of cushion, and the idea
is to fill the box perfectly, leaving no
space whatever between the fruit. which
makes this packing the hardest and
most expensive.
The natural packing means figs packed
in their ordinary shapes in bulk, either
in quarter or half hundred bags Cen
orally the common grades and also the
refuse. which means the figs that can
not be used for packing, are put in bags
in their natural state and are bought by
grinders for baking and confectionery.
Since few years, however, large guam
titles OF fine grades are imported as nat
urals in fifty pound boxes and are re-
packed here either in baskets or jars.
Some also are imported in macaroni or
Colonna for the same purpose. This
packing consists of putting the fig in
t1O Hrx~ ,xn1 L.
one by the side of the other, and all the
stem ends one way.
All fig packing is done by hand and
there is no process or machinery used.
The packers wash their hands in brine
while packing, but this is only done 10
prevent their hands from getting sticky
salt water being used, as fresh water
would injure the fruit. The sugar gen
orally noticed on the figs comes through
the skin of the fruit from the sacchariDe-
matter, after the natural Fermentation,
which occurs after the fig is packed
Fig packing is one of the principal in
dustries of Smyrna. Thousands of peO-
pie find employment during the end OF
August and the months of September
October and part of November, more
than half a million dollars being paid in
wages during that time.
The demand for figs has increased con
siderably during the last two years
Some years ago crop of 10000 10 So.
600 camel loads was considered large:
and difficulty was found in dispOsing o.
the goods. With the increased demaHqI
new plantations have been started, ana
the crops of the last two seasons have
been enormous, in 1906 reaching ~
600 loads. Notwithstanding this lae
goods find a ready market and, wlth lES
exception of very short crops, al A's4e'
prices than were ever realized betoFt