Fig Culture

BUDDING AND GRAFTING

The fig may be propagated by shield budding, provided the work is done at the proper time. That time is winter, when the tree is as near dormant as it can be found. Budding is rarely resorted to, however, as it is an uncertain method when done by persons without skill. Grafting the fig is successfully practiced in California by a method invented by Mr. John Rock. It is the only method of fig grafting that has proved reliable, practical, and of real value there. By means of it, new varieties are brought into heavy bearing within three years after grafting on old trees. In addition to this saving of time, the usual advantages resulting from grafting, such as better and stronger stock, more vigorous growth, etc., may also be attained.

The best time for grafting the fig is autumn or winter, when the sap is most sluggish. Late spring grafting is less successful. The best scions are made of 2-year-old wood. The sloping end of the scion must be wedge-shape, tapering from front to back as well as from the top of the cut to the bottom. But one surface of the wedge should show the pith, and this surface should face toward the center of the stock when the scion is set. Incipient fruit buds should be cut away without injuring the scion. The scion should be so placed that the broad side of the wedge will be outside and the narrow edge toward the center of the stock.

For the stock, any limb from 2 to 4 inches in diameter may be used. This should be cut off squarely at the point to be grafted. A downward cut should then be made with a chisel, in such a way that it shall be tangential to the circular stub. It must not pass through the pith of the stub. The cut should run somewhat obliquely downward and outward, in order that the stock may not be split. The scion, which is about 3 or 4 inches long, must, when inserted, form an angle with the long diameter [pith] of the stock branch on which it is grafted.

It is best to place two scions on each branch grafted. These should be on opposite sides of the stub and they should lean slightly toward each other. The exposed surfaces of the stock and scion should then be heavily waxed and the scions should be held in place by binding with cord or other material. It is best to place a large number of scions on one tree. Four or five branches may be cut off and grafted, but one or two should be left uncut for a year to draw the sap. A large stake should be driven into the ground near each branch grafted, and when the scions have started the new growth should be secured to the stakes to prevent them from breaking off. The trunk and main limbs of the fig tree should be covered with bundles of straw to prevent sunburn. The after-treatment of the new growth is similar to that required in the grafting of other fruit trees. The new growth is strong and rapid and the connection with the stock perfect. Ninety per cent of the grafts may be readily made to grow.

PLANTING

The proper distance to be given fig trees in the orchard depends upon the size and habit of the variety to be planted. The smaller kinds require 25 feet; the larger ones should be 50 feet apart in every direction. Sometimes other fruit trees are planted between the figs and allowed to remain until the latter become so large that they require the entire space. The fig tree requires an abundance of air and sunshine to mature its fruit, and it is therefore absolutely necessary that the trees be so arranged that they shall not shade one another. After the distance is decided, the laying out and planting require the same general skill, labor, and methods used in planting other permanent orchards. A few points in planting are peculiar to the fig, however, and require special consideration.

DOUBLE TREES

Trees may be set singly, as standards, in the way commonly practiced with other fruit trees, or they may be set “double” – that is, two trees planted together in one hole and allowed to remain. The latter method has not heretofore been advocated in this country but is worthy of thorough trial. The method consists in planting two long cuttings, about 12 inches apart, in the same hole, allowing them to protrude from the ground a few inches. Both are allowed to grow and the two are treated as a single tree with two stems or standards. The object sought is to produce two distinct stems or trunks, in order that the splitting down of branches may be prevented. In this way trees with low, sloping branches, having their main trunks leaning outward, will be formed and it will be impossible for the trunks, the main branches, or the smaller ones to split down. Branches split only when they point upward or stand straight out – never when they slope downward from the trunk.

STANDARD TREES

These may be planted in the usual way, but great care must be taken in shading the roots while the trees are being planted. After they are set, the trunks should be shaded by wrapping them with paper bags or other material, as a sun-burnt tree will never regain its health or bear profitably. Standard trees should only be set for ornament or shade, and even for these purposes the double trees are preferable. The fig tree naturally branches near the ground, and the only way to successfully imitate this habit in cultivation is to plant by the double-tree method.

PRUNING

The pruning of the fig varies according to the age of the trees and the purpose for which pruning is done. While other fruit trees require yearly, and generally heavy, pruning to insure fruit of good quality, the object in pruning the fig is simply, or at least principally, to keep the tree healthy and give air and light to the fruit. The most important rule to be observed in pruning the fig is that no branch shall be cut off squarely or be cut back so as to leave a stump. This is almost surely fatal to the future welfare of the tree and to the quality and quantity of its fruit. When it becomes necessary to remove a 1-year-old limb the cut should be made at least as far down as the next fork below, and it should be close to a joint in the fork. There should be nothing left but a scar to show that a limb has been cut away. There must be no stump left. The fig tree may require to have its branches thinned out, but it must not be headed back except to correct unsymmetrical growth. In dense trees branches which cross should be removed entirely and in such a way as to give the tree a rounded, dome-like outline, with the lower branches nearly touching the ground. In pruning recently planted trees the object in view is, of course, entirely different, as fruit can not be expected for several years to come. The object of this early pruning is to shape the tree. When two cuttings are set together little pruning is required, as they will generally shape themselves and form two main trunks diverging from each other, but when a single tree is planted it is best to cut back the stem to within a foot of the soil and let it branch from that point. The only case in which it is proper to have a tall standard is when it is desirable to grow trees for shade and pleasure and where the quality of the fruit and its quantity are of but secondary importance. If recently planted fig trees show any tendency toward drying out, the main limbs or the whole trunk should at once be cut back to live green wood.

DRYING AND CURING

The drying and curing of figs must necessarily differ in different countries, under different conditions, and for different purposes. For home consumption little skill and care are required to produce a palatable and useful article of diet, while figs intended for shipment must be more carefully dried, cured, and packed in order to command a fair price in competition with the imported article.

The fig is mature and ready to dry only when it has attained its proper size and is palatable for eating fresh. When the crop has reached this stage it may be gathered and dried for home consumption, but in order to produce a superior article the figs must be as sweet as possible and very pulpy. Too often do we find figs in the market consisting of nothing but skin and empty seeds, without sweetness, flavor, or pulp. Figs do not ripen all at one time, and the trees must be gone over daily, in order that only the ripest shall be gathered. Before being picked the fig should be soft to the touch; it should be wrinkled, and should hang downward. Some kinds when ripe show white seams or cracks in the flesh. This is generally a sign of complete maturity. Figs will not ripen after picking and never become sweeter than when cut from the tree. Similarly, figs which have once attained their full maturity do not improve and should be dried at once. If allowed to hang longer on the tree they may quickly rot, sour, or mold, and soon become unfit for use. In order to compete with the best imported figs, our figs intended for drying should be very sweet; in fact, the sweeter the better. When freshly cut they should contain 35 per cent of sugar and when dried about 55 per cent. For home consumption they do not need to be so sweet as this, for any palatable figs are useful when carefully dried.

PICKING

Figs to be dried should never be shaken from the trees, for if bruised and injured they will sour during the drying and become unfit for use. A few figs spoiled in this way will check or prevent the sale of a box of fruit that is in other respects good. Pulling the figs from the trees will also injure them in a similar way. The ripe figs should therefore be cut from the tree with a knife or shears and carefully placed in boxes or trays. Of course, many half-dried figs that drop from the trees may be utilized, but they should first be examined to determine whether they are in good condition, and they must be freed from soil and sand. Our figs do not, as a rule, drop at perfect maturity, but either before or after it. Only the Smyrna figs drop when fully ripe.

For the higher growing varieties a convenient instrument called the “fig cutter” may be used. It consists of a forked stick across which has been nailed a strip of tin plate. Below this is a small bag kept open by a wire. With this “cutter” the higher figs may be reached by running the fork up under the fig, severing it from the branch and causing it to drop into the bag below.

SULPHURING

Of late years sulphuring figs before drying has become a very common practice among growers. It consists in exposing fresh fruit to the fumes of burning sulphur in air-tight tray holders of varying sizes. The sulphur fumes cause the figs to become semitransparent when dried, and to present an attractive appearance to the buyer. But nothing is more deceptive, for this very handsome appearance hides a more than worthless interior, not only detestable to the taste but also injurious to the health of the consumer. Few persons will buy such fruit a second time. Besides giving a semitransparent appearance to the fruit, the sulphuring prevents fermentation of the figs while drying. This, of course, is of value, and in fact is the only advantage in the process. A short and light sulphuring may therefore be admissible with varieties which otherwise would not dry and cure without souring.

For convenience, the box in which the figs are to be sulphured should not be more than 5 feet high nor more than 7 or 8 feet wide. This will admit two trays abreast. The trays slide on a rack or on a cleat nailed to the sides of the box, and need not be farther apart than just sufficient to clear each other when charged with a single layer of figs. The door must be air-tight, in order that the sulphur fumes may not escape. Two feet of space should be left between the bottom tray and the sulphur pan. The latter, a heavy piece of sheet iron, is heated, but not to redness, and placed on noncombustible supports in the bottom of the box. Two handfuls of sulphur are thrown upon this iron and when it is burning the doors are tightly closed. Exposure to the sulphur fumes for fifteen minutes is sufficient to prevent fermentation during the drying process and leave the figs with a minimum of sour taste. If sulphured longer they become too acid. After removal from the box the figs should be immediately exposed to the sun. Black figs should never be sulphured.

DIPPING FRESH FIGS

Instead of being sulphured to improve their color and soften their skins, figs may be dipped into a hot solution of salt or saltpeter, or even lye. Unless, however, they are immersed for a long time this dipping will rarely prevent fermentation, though it will prove advantageous in other ways. Figs with a rough and tough skin are especially benefited, the principal effect of the dipping being to soften the skin. But this dipping should be practiced only on figs of inferior quality, the best grades not being improved either by dipping or sulphuring.

In dipping, the figs should first be placed in a perforated bucket and rinsed in cold water, to free them from dust. They should then be transferred to a kettle containing boiling lye, made of 1 pound of potash to 10 gallons of water. An immersion of from one-fourth minute to one minute suffices; the time being regulated according to the size of the figs and the pliability and thickness of the skin. Boiling salt water may be substituted for the lye water for the dipping of some figs, different varieties requiring different solutions to secure the desired result. After dipping, the figs are dried without rinsing. If salt or saltpeter is used instead of lye, 1½ pounds of either to 50 gallons of water is a proper quantity. Lye is generally used, but the writer prefers salt or saltpeter, either of which gives good results as regards pliability of skin, while the salty taste generally improves the flavor.

DRYING ON TRAYS

For convenience in handling, wooden or paper trays are commonly used for drying figs in the Western States. By their use the fruit can easily be stacked and sheltered in wet weather. The trays are of various sizes, but a small size, such as 2½ feet by 3½ feet, or 3½ feet by 4 feet, is preferable, as when filled with fruit it can easily be handled by one man, while a larger size requires two men. The drying ground should be a clean space outside the orchard, where the trays may be exposed to the uninterrupted rays of the sun. The figs require all the sunshine obtainable, and the drying ground must therefore be free from the shade of trees or buildings. The drying floor may consist simply of beds of soil elevated a foot above the general level. A drying floor 4 feet wide may be raised 8 inches additionally along one side. The slope toward the sun thus given will insure greater heat. Trays may be placed on strips of wood or scantlings supported by low sawhorses. The sawhorses should be long enough to support two rows of trays abreast. Three scantlings or strips will be required for each pair of sawhorses. They should be of even lengths, as long as obtainable, and the middle one should be larger than the outside ones; 2 by 4 inches for the middle one and 2 by 3 inches for the side scantlings will be found convenient sizes. The figs should be placed singly on the tray, with their eyes all toward one side, and this side of the tray should be slightly raised in order to prevent the contents of very juicy figs from running out during the process of drying. The raising of the trays is the most easily accomplished by placing the 2 by 4 inch supporting strip in the middle of the sawhorses and the 2 by 3 inch strips on either side. Immediately after sulphuring, if that is practiced, or after dipping, the fruit should be spread and the trays distributed on the racks where they will have the full benefit of the hottest sun. This distribution of the trays should be finished before noon each day to secure the best color of the dried product.

The figs must be turned twice a day at first and once a day in the later stages of drying. The turning requires much work and expense, as it can be done well only by hand labor. An inferior product may be turned by placing an empty tray face downward upon a filled one and inverting them, leaving the fruit on the new tray. To produce the best grade of dried fruit, the figs should not touch one another on the trays during the process of drying. During the turning, all inferior figs, such as those that ferment and puff up, should be culled out and used for vinegar. Figs which show a slight froth at the eye are turning sour and should be removed.

Covering the figs must not be neglected, if a choice article of dried fruit is to be produced. If white figs are left out over night uncovered, they will be discolored. Rain and dew are very damaging and the fruit should be protected from them. This is best accomplished, in California, by stacking the trays one on top of another when rain is expected. The top and sides of the stacks should then be protected with empty trays. If permanent drying beds of gravel and cement are made, a mechanical device for covering the trays with a horizontal canvas curtain can be used, and in this way they can easily be covered every night.

DEGREE OF DRYNESS

It is very important that drying cease when the figs have reached the proper stage for packing. They must on no account be overdried nor should they be removed from the trays too soon. The proper degree of dryness can be detected by pressing the figs between the thumb and finger. They should be soft and pliable, with the contents distinctly pulpy, and when squeezed the fig should not resume its former shape, but remain pressed. It should be plastic, not elastic nor dry. Underdried figs will spoil in packing, while overdried ones are hard, leathery, and worthless as food or delicacy. The trays must be gone over every day and the properly dried figs taken off, the spoiled ones being removed at the same time. The time required for drying varies from four to sixteen days. Drying within six or seven days yields the best quality of product.

SWEATING AND EQUALIZING

Dried figs are greatly benefited by being sweated or equalized as regards moisture. This is accomplished by placing them in sweat boxes holding 75 pounds or more. The boxes are stacked up one across another in such a way as to insure a free circulation of air. This is to prevent the sour fermentation, which would spoil the figs. The room where the sweat boxes are stored should be closed and the walls should preferably be of brick. Daily examination of the contents of the boxes should be made, so that any inclination of the fruit to ferment and heat may be detected. In a few days an improvement in the texture of the figs will be noticed, the overdried ones having attracted moisture from those that were underdried and all having become more pliable.

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.