Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-10
FOR CLEANER FIGS
Government Trying to Keep
Out Wormy Ones.
SENDS EXPERT TO SMYRNA
Careful Study Made Of Orchards and
Packing Houses.
SANITARY CONDITIONS ARE BAD
Regulations Providing for Careful
Sterilization Probably Will
Be Drawn UP.
SENDS EXPERT TO SMYRNA
SANITARY CONDITIONS ARE BAD

There is !, prospect OF the American
public getting clean figs to eat. as the
result Of roundup Of the Smyrna zig
orchards and packing houses just COM
pleted By the Department of Agriculture.
SMYRNA has been sending wormy figs TO
this country What they We're beside
wormy it would be almost a shame TO re-
late But the conditions are improving.
Almost a year ago the Department OF
Horticulture. which had To provide for
the admission OF figs. issued an order
that shipments might be received If they
we're not more than IS 1-3 per cent
wormy. This may not sound like very
large proportion of good figs. but the
department. figured that this was some
what better than getting them all wormy,
which had been the case with many
previous shipments.
The trouble seemed to be with worm
that was in the packed figs. Not much
was known about this worm or whether
il got into the figs before they were
packed or afterward. So. as the whole
ns industry was threatened. and as the
american people liked figs and would
eat lot of them if they had chance.
the bureau of entomology sent E. G.
cultural Department. to Smyrna to inves-
isate the whole situation.
Tells Of Conditions.
Mr.. Smyth has just returned. and his
interesting and indicates that the
myrnese can send over good figs if they
;re forced to do so. The State De-
,rtp nd ho Tn III ah
low drawing up regulations that will
over the case.
The trouble with the figs is a small
moth generally known as the fig moth"
that will attack any sort of dried fruit.
Ii was known in this country for long
time as the 'currant MOTH 1t attacks
the figs while they are on the tree, but
this Is only small part of the damage
they do There are two crops Of figs
year in Smyrna. The first, or June, crop.
is not very good. and it is allowed to
fall and rot on the ground. to a large
extent The moths get into these figs
and there they multiply and increase. 20
that when the figs the American public
eats are laid out on mats to dry there
10 moth for every fig, and eggs are laid
That ultimately develop into worms
when the figs are brought into the
khans. or packing houses. they already
are infested with the worm. Sanitary
conditions have been very bad in the
packing plants and the figs get in
tested with other things besides the
worms. The Turkish government re-
Gently has taken hold of this end Of
the business and now has an inspector
general of agriculture who is inclined
TO do his duty and the khans and the
workmen are being cleaned up. But
this does not affect the fig moths.
In Fig Belt Five Months.
Mr.. Smyth was in the fig belt FIVE
months. He camped in the orchards.
lived in the packing houses and fol-
lowed the life history of the moth. He
experimental with all sorts of steriliz-
ing devices and found that owing to
their method of construction and
the fact that they were always
in use 1t was not possible to
fumigate the packing houses. After ex-
perimenting with steam, hot air and
not water, he discovered, however, it
was possible to sterilize the figs by
boiling them before they were packed.
The native packers said this was i'm
possible, as figs that had been boiled al
ways soured. II was noticed however,
that the packers always boiled the figs
for their own personal use and the use
of their friends. II was merely a ques-
ton of expense. There was. in fact, one
American packer. John Manola who had
installed quite an expensive sterilizing
outfit and was using it on his American
shipments, but he said he was not given
any credit for 1t and 1t merely allowed
his competitors TO undersell him.
The packers generally say they are
willing to sterilize the figs for the Amer
adopted compelling all of the packers to
60 to the same expense. 1t Is probable
that this will be done and the problem
of wormy figs thus will be solved.