Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 139, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 June 1912 — FIG GATHERING IN ITALY. [ARTICLE]

FIG GATHERING IN ITALY.

The season for gathering the figs in Italy joins hands in October with the vintage; but it really begins in august, owing to a curious system of culture. —— > Early in August the fig gatherers squirm through the twisting branches from tree top to tree top and “oil the fruit.” These fig people are nomadic; they appear and disappear like the wandering harvesters of France. Late in July the masserie are rented to them, a stated sum being paid to the proprietor, a payment that gives to the fig gatherers the right to all the fruit, beginning with the figs and ending with the last cluster of grapes. Rude huts thatched with, straw are built by the proprietor of all his orchards, and inj&eee the gypsylike harvesters live with their families. Sometimes they supplement their barrow quarters with a ragged tent. Three sticks placed crosswise and a kettle in the crotch constitute the kitchen. Shortly after their arrival the work of forcing the trait is begun. The methods employed are curious. In one a wad of cotton is dipped in olive oil and gently rubbed on the flower end of the fig. Fig by fig is thuk treated, and in eight days the fruit fa ready for the market. Another method consists in gathering in the spring the half formed fruit, which is strung on ropes. These ropes or garlands are thrown over the branches Of the tree and are allowed to decay under the burning sun. There is born of this decay an insect that pieroes the growing flg and induces rapid maturity. : ' e The fig, when perfectly ripe, exudes a drop of honey sweet juice at the nether end, which never falls but hangs there, a standing temptation to children and to bees. When fresh picked at this stage the fig has a rich flavor entirely lost in the dried fruit