The San Francisco call., 1910-06-19

.
tiilate blossoms. and the fruit will not
mature unless these are poIenized from
some exterior source. falling of when
about a third grown. The Capri hS
contains both staminate and piStilat0
blossoms and in this the hg wasp hvess
moves and has its being. This variety
of the fg natures three or four crops
of fruit annually. new crop making
it's appearance just as the old reaches
maturity, so that when the female
emerges from the fruit that is fully
ripe and ready to fall it finds new
figs formed into which it crawlS to lay
it's eggs.
When the Smyrna. or commercial.
figs form on the trees in June Gin the
San Joaquin valley or California; one
crop of the Capri figs is fully matured
and the insects just ready to emerge to
seek a place in which to deposit their
eggs for the perpetuation OF their kind
The fig growers then take the Capri
figs from the trees, string them upon
raffia and hang them among the
branches Of the smyrna trees in their
orchards. The insects emerge from
the Capri figs covered with pollen from
the staminate blossoms in the interior,
find the immature fruit OF the Smyrna
figs and enter them for the purpose OF
laying their eggs, effectively polleniz-
ing the blossoms. so that the fruit ma
lures perfectly.
This process, known as capriication.
has been performed in Asia Minor by
fig growers for ages. The growers did
not in the least understand the philos-
ophy of eaprihcation. but they knew by
experience that if they did not place
the Capri figs containing insects in the
trees of the commercial variety they
obtained no fruit. It was commonly
supposed that the insect inflicted a
sting in the interior Of the fruit thai
stimulated its grow and caused it to
remain on the trees. In the early and
experimental days OF Smyrna fig cul-
ture in California advocates Of the in
PRODUCTION of the hg wasp were ridi-
culed and derided for their "supersti-
tious" belief in the agency OF the
bug" but the absolute necessity OF
the fig wasp is now universally admit
ted. After many unsuccessful attempts
the insect was introduced into CalifOr-
MIA by the department OF agriculture,
in 1899. and 1000 tons of dried figs are
now produced annually in California.
with the industry as yet in It's infancy.
The successful naturalization OF the
insect is attributed to George G. Roed-
ing of Fresno, who placed the Capri
figs imported by the entomolOgists OF
the department of agriculture in his or
chards, and exercised every care for
their well being until they became
thoroughly naturalized. He must there
fore be accorded the honor OF having
founded an industry that seems des-
tined to grow to vast proportions. In
the valley of the Maeander river the
production Of dried figs is an industry
of tremendous magnitude giving sup
port to the major part of the pOpula-
ton Here, as well as in Algeria and
the south OF Europe. this industry de-
pendS absolutely upon the agency OF
the fig wasp. which. therefore. ranks
not far below the honey bee and the
sillworm as an insect friend OF man.
In its wild state the vanilla bean OF
tropical America is similarly fertilized
by small insect, but most OF the va
nflla of commerce (grown under cul-
tivation) is produced by artificial fer
t1lization Of the blossoms by hand. The
vanilla vine is an orchid and has the
trait of requiring insect or artificial
fertilization In common with nearly all
species OF that great botanical subdi-
vision.
Prior to the discovery and utilization
of coal tar dyes the cochineal insect
was a commodity OF great value in the
worlds markets. being the most ex-
tensively used OF all dyestuffs In the
republic Of Salvador it's production
was the leading agricultural industry,
and in Mexico. Peru and other tropical
american countries many thousands OF
people depended directly upon IT for
their livelihood. The cochineal insect
is a scale insect. thriving upon many
species of cacti, but particularly upon
the nopal or cochfneal fig. closely re-
sembling the common. prickly pear.
Plantations, known as nOpalries, were
devoted to the growing of cactf solely
for the sake of these minute insects. so
small that from 10000 to $4,000 were
required to weigh pound In fact. the
cochineal dyes were sold In the markets
of Europe for nearly two centuries be-
fore Leuwenhoeck. the German scien-
tist, made the discovery by means OF
the newly invented microscope that the
eoloring matter was derived from an
insect and not from sort OF bloom on
the plant, as had formerly been sup
posed.
Cochinea1 dyes were extensively pro-
duced in Mexico. Central America and
Peru and were later introduced into
Alg1ers, Morocco, southern Spain and
the Canary islands. The industry has
now declined to a fraction of it's for
mer proportions and seems fated to die
out altogether, although cOchineal dyes
to the value of several million dollars
are still produced on the nOpalries OF
Mexico and Peru.
1t is not many years since oak gals
were extensively used in the manufac-
ture of the best inks and writing fluids,
and in Europe these gals are now an
important article OF commerce for the
sake of the tannin they contain, this
being particularly adapted to certain
special purposes. There are oak gals
of many kinds found in America. bur
these as yet are entirely negIr,aes.
simply because our superabundance OF
natural sources is so great that we
have not vet learned TO look after small
things These gals are caused by gall
flies, of which 1900 distinct species
have been named and described. They
are small, dark colOred, four winged
flies that lay their eggs in the tissues
Of the growing plant, causing a rapid
growth of plant cells and a curious en-
largement OF variable shape. which is
called gall In this the larvae hatch
and then feed upon the plant cells.
These are only a few OF the thou
sands OF insects whose natural opera
tions in one way or another are ad-
vantageous TO mankind They are per-
haps the most conspicuous in their ben
ehts, but there are others. Of which
even the curious and prying scientists
as yet know but little that contribute
indirectly almost as much to the com
fort, convenience and well being OF
humanity.