The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-08-03
FIGS b I'LL ON
BY redetic Z. Haslzin.

||ss8 BY detis
aacasesa,asa:aca.sa
The hg just now is coming into 9
most prominent place In our national
Life. This Is not the dried dg, which
|Isaw, but the live fig, growing abund-
antly upon trees: and still more
|iabundantly In the imagination OF
Isundry fig farmers.
For this newly acclimated fruit
NOW rivals the pecan and the apple
lin its claims to be means of get
ting rich quick. Here is the way
|Icertain f1g enthusiasts have dgured
out their prospects:
Plant $50 trees TO the acre. Each
tree viii bear an average OF sig
two. or even three. crops q season.
a bushel Of hgs weighs seventy
pounds, for which, ten cents pound
Ills said to be fair price Allowing
for considerable shrtnkage. ING
value of the crop from a single acre
Ishou1d be $4,000. Thus the pro-
1 gressiye individual who plants fgs
ARE class within Ave years and re-
firing upon his money soon after
wards.
With such possibilities before him.
why sould the farmer toll hard. BOW
ling, harvesting and planting his
wheat crop, when his dg trees VIII
| take care of themselves after three
lyears, and he has only to hire cheap
labor to gather his fruit? He can
| then sit back and wait. while his
|tbookkeeper computes the amount OF
/ his income tax
Its Big Poss b1Fiea
III Joking and effervenscent enthus1-
asm aside. though. the fig has hortt-
lcultural and commercial possibilities
lin this country which are Just begin.
ming to be recognized. New yart-
Iconditions, are being brought for
ward. and in several states the ftg
acreage has doubled within the last
h 1--WE years. In 1910 there were less
than three million Ag trees in the
H U-ited States. Now five million Is
req -dcd as q conservative estimate.
/, In 1910 they were confined almost
entirely to the extreme Southwest.
Now fourishing crops are being
Iprocuced in Texas, Louisiana, Missis-
|lsippi. Alabama and Georgia. and are
Ibeing planted In Kansas, Oklahoma
nd Ohio, while at least one farm as
far north as Rhode Island is yielding
II good pronts
During the last few years q sort
of fig craze has been spreading over
4 the country. Many professional peo-
ple of small incomes are drawing
n their hoardings out OF the savings
banks and passing them over to, oe
4 invested in hg farms, varying In SIZE
from half acre up.
h The fig industry will yield big re-
\ turns to planters who have the
III coil aT1d! n1frn attic conditions,
lbut it cannot be grown as widely as
lis now being claimed. Neither can
| the farmer plant his fig tree and rest
luxurious under It's shade until tne
fruit comes He must work for ~,
4 and keep vfgilant guard to protect
lift from insects and other pests.
Difficulties Remain.
The fig is native chiefly to Asia
and Africa, but has proved itself
adapted to a number OF regions. y
il found in different varieties in tenn
perate as well as in semf-troptcal lo-
calities. San Francisco. Pueblo anu NO
lWichita, kan. are parallel to the 10
icalittes In which excellent Var .Is &c
are produced upon the other SIDE OF
Hire world. There seems to be no
| scientific reason why the same Var1-
|leties should not flourish here, ana
|lexperiments are going on IoWalI .s
|lthat end. But all the dimcultles
have not vet ben overcome. Even o.
| darlington Farms, the experiment. sta-
Itton Of the department OF agr1cu.AlAu.r
i'm Washington. most OF the Vsr11 Ss,.s
tried have proved Of doubtful rellar
Ihiifty. because they do not fully ma
lture all of their fruit before the irosI.
! iSeveral amateurs In the city OF w asn-
Iington, growing one or more trsea
/ lin their own gardens or dooryarus,
! lhaye seefingly been abb 70 r1Pe ~
4 their fruit quite satisfactorily lo y
several seasons, but whether II COW
The produced I'm commercial QuanI 1sAss
lis another matter.
Figs are Of two distinct types
each having many varieties. ~
fynes are known as the Smyrna a l
the Adriatic. and it is the forme.
| which has lately developed SO Mu S,.
enthusiasma and is produc1ns sus s.
excellent results. THIS ng lres aa y
likely to yield two crops. P Pr ~ ny
iievad That the Adriatic fig, however,
"a the one best suited to American
aii,o a tica Conditions outside Of soutn-
\ ern California.
Depends on Wasp.
\ The Smyrna fig tree produces Ins .,s.e
Il distinct kinds of blossoms, and oe
4 pends for polization upon ceEIaan
\ snecies of wasp, known as the BIAS
4 tophagia. The spring fig blossoms
Il nave fertile pollen, but are W1thou w
II nistils. IN sumner the flowers are y,
Il without the pollenated stamens. " 1 ,sa.s
II the autumn flowers are sterile Du ll
Inistilated. For nearly twenty wears
latter the fig tree had been mtrooueso
Into California, 1T grew |.
a hnt produced no fruit. Then Eng ne
n 49, Z = -, ~ Of RI Asia to study