ARTIFICIAL DRYING
Where figs can not be dried in the open air, evaporators or driers, heated artificially, may be used to advantage, just as in the drying and curing of raisins. Large driers are expensive and are beyond the reach of many growers, but small driers, holding a ton of fruit, may be built cheaply. It may be safely stated, however, that localities where artificial drying is necessary are not suited to the most profitable production of commercial figs, as any extra handling will greatly increase the cost of the product. Where a very superior article is produced the occasional use of the drier may be profitable, in order to save a crop that would otherwise be injured by inclement weather.
PACKING
The method of packing dried figs and the kind of package used should vary according to the quality of the finished product. They should be packed in order to prevent drying out, as well as to make them present an attractive appearance. It pays to pack the best grades well, for good packing always enhances the value of fruit.
DIPPING
The first step in packing is the dipping of the dried fruit, and this must be done whether the figs are packed cheaply or expensively. The dipping, which must be done just before packing, causes the figs to become soft and pliable, equalizes moisture, and improves the skin and its color. Perforated buckets holding 5 gallons of dried figs are suitable vessels for holding the figs during the dipping. A kettle arranged for heating water and large enough to permit the immersion of the bucket of figs should be provided. In this kettle sea water or brine made of one-fourth pound of coarse salt to a gallon of water should be heated to the boiling point. The bucket of figs should then be immersed in this boiling brine for a few seconds and emptied on to wire screens to drain. While draining, the figs should be covered with a cloth or otherwise kept dark. The fruit should be packed on the same day that it is dipped. The best grade of white figs, or very soft figs of any grade, should only be dipped in cold salt water, just before packing. The salt water is never washed off, and the salt that remains does not in the least injure the figs, but, on the contrary, improves their quality.
ASSORTING
The inferior figs which were removed from the trays during the drying process should be assorted into at least two sizes for packing. A yet lower grade which can not be profitably packed may be sold in sacks. The largest Smyrna figs weigh, when dried, about 23 grams [355 grains, or about four-fifths of an ounce avoirdupois], while the average French and Italian figs weigh each about 8 grams [123.45 grains, or a little more than one-fourth of an ounce avoirdupois].
PULLING
The best grades of figs should be pulled or flattened before packing. This pulling consists first in squeezing the fig with the hand to soften it, and then flattening it so as to shape it into a disk in which the eye and stalk are nearly in the center of the flat sides, as may be observed in packages of figs imported from Smyrna. The object of this pulling is to have the figs present as fine a surface as possible when they are pressed and packed, this method enabling the packer to hide the eye and stalk ends effectually. For inferior brands it will suffice to simply flatten the figs in such a way that the eye and stalk are at opposite extremities of the fruit when pressed. In pulling and handling the figs, the hands of the worker should always be moistened with salt water to prevent them from becoming sticky with sirup and thus soiling the figs.
PACKING
The packing should be regulated according to the size and quality of the figs. The size of the boxes will therefore vary, but they may be made to contain 5, 10, or 20 pounds each. In Smyrna the figs are packed in the shape of bars, and this method should be followed for all the better grades. In order to pack quickly in bar fashion, the writer several years ago invented a “bar-packing device” or “guide.” This guide consists of a frame of two or three parallel strips of tin or zinc connected at opposite ends by two similar strips. The guide, which is really a metal box without top or bottom, fits exactly into the packing box flush against two of the sides, but is slightly higher than the depth of the box in order that it may be pulled out after filling. The guide is placed in an empty fig box, thus dividing it into three or more compartments. The figs are then placed in rows in each compartment with the eyes downward, each fig slightly overlapping the other, in the way shingles are laid on a roof, just sufficiently to hide the stalks. The compartments in the guide should be slightly narrower, or at most no wider than the figs, so that when pressure is applied the figs will flatten and fill them. The object of the guide is to keep the fig bars separate. After the box is full a slight pressure is applied, which squeezes the figs against the sides of the guide, and when the latter is withdrawn leaves the bars intact without large air holes between the figs or bars.
PRESSING
The raisin presses used in California are suitable for pressing figs. There is no better machine for this purpose made anywhere. A follower of wood covered with zinc is first placed in each compartment on the figs and a slight pressure applied in the press. The pressure must be strong enough to bring the figs to the level of the box. The guide is then lifted out, while the fingers of the packer press firmly on the follower to hold the figs in place. Instead of having a guide in which the bars are connected at the ends, the box may be grooved on the inside and a single strip of zinc or tin dropped down, thus dividing the box into two or more compartments as may be necessary. The strips are more easily removed than the more complicated guide. Before the box is nailed up, small leaves of the sweet bay (Laurus nobilis) should be inserted between the figs on the surface, and over the whole should be spread a sheet of waxed paper. Instead of the sweet bay leaves, other native laurel leaves may be used, provided they are aromatic, have the distinctive laurel flavor, and are not otherwise objectionable.
It can not be too strongly urged that American-grown figs be packed and sold under their proper labels and not designated “Smyrna” figs. Careful selection of varieties, skill in growing and curing, and careful, honest packing will in time procure a large market for our figs.
In all the Mediterranean countries the fresh as well as the dried fig is a common article of diet, both nourishing and wholesome, and it is only a question of time when its value will be generally recognized in this country.
FIG CULTURE IN THE GULF STATES.
By Frank S. Earle
The fig is a domestic fruit of prime importance in all the Gulf and South Atlantic States; throughout this region it is a common dooryard tree. Its broad, rich foliage is one of the first things to catch the eye of the Northern visitor and assure him that he is really in the South.
Toward its northern limit the tree is sometimes injured by unusually severe winters, but unless killed to the ground it never fails to produce heavy annual crops. Even severe winter-killing is usually but a temporary loss, as the roots send up vigorous sprouts that bear the following year.
Although the fig is so widely distributed and so universally esteemed for household uses, it is only recently that any attempt has been made in the territory under consideration to utilize it as a commercial product. In the search throughout the South for possible money crops, other than cotton, it is beginning to attract attention, and in this connection a brief statement of our present knowledge as to the growth and possible uses of the fig may be of service.
PROPAGATION
The fig roots easily from cuttings and is usually propagated in this way. Short pieces or even large branches of well-matured wood, cut from the tree at any time during the winter and simply thrust into the soil, will usually take root and make a strong growth the following summer. The well-matured wood is best for making cuttings. One of the most desirable methods is to cut a section bearing a short but thrifty lateral branch from a good-sized limb. The section taken should be 6 or 8 inches long and be entirely buried in the ground, leaving the end of the side branch projecting to form the tree. This is not at all essential, as a straight cutting will usually root and grow readily, but it is desirable, as the buried cross section holds the cutting firmly in the ground and its bulk prevents it from drying out easily. In the coast region cuttings are often planted in August with good results. In this case the leaves should be removed. It is advisable to plant the cutting where the tree is to stand, as fig roots are easily injured by transplanting. Little is gained in growth by planting rooted trees, but when such are used both roots and tops should be heavily pruned when planted, to secure a satisfactory growth.
Sometimes it is advisable to plant the cuttings in the nursery and to keep them there for three years before removing them to their permanent location, as winter protection can be more easily given them. After the trunk of the fig is three years old it is much less easily injured by cold. This practice would seem to be of doubtful value, since young figs are more often injured by late frosts after growth has started in the spring than by the greater cold of midwinter when they are dormant. Figs can be grafted without difficulty, but it is seldom done in the south.