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.
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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.