Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 105, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 September 1901 — WASPS BENEFIT THE FIGS [ARTICLE]

WASPS BENEFIT THE FIGS

Insects Are Necessary to the Fruit's Successful Cultivation. The long-continued effort to produce the Smyrna fig of commerce in California has been crooned with suciross. The history of the experiment is interesting. It began over twenty years ago with importation of cuttings from Mia Minor. Figs have been produced from these and other imported cuttings, but they were not the famous white fig of commerce. The credit of producing the latter in California belongs to Geo. C. Roeding of Fresno. Until this summer every true Smyrna fig tree planted in California which bore fruit failed to, mature it; the figs were unfertilized and withered and dropped. It was finally discovered that the fertilization of this fig depended upon the service of the blastophaga wasp, whose habitat is in the capri, or wild fig. The latter was imported and thrived amazingly, but the blastophaga did not accompany It. Special Importations of the wasp followed, but it thrived only for a season on the capri fig and then disappeared. It was assumed that it could not survive our winters. Last year the Department of Agriculture took the matter in hand. A fresh consignment was Imported and its care intrusted to Mr. Roeding. Last. April the young iußect colony emerged in full force from the first capri cot, entered the second, emerged again, and then took possession of the Smyrna fig trees, the fruit on which was ready for fertilization. Mr. Roeding reports that this experiment has been perfectly successful. A ton of the fruit has been picked from tiis trees and the entire crop will yield five or six tons more. Mr. Roeding believes that the blastophaga has come to stay and he expects that California will be enriched soon with another industry.