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is full a slight pressure is applied, which squeezes the figs against the sides of the guide, and when the latter is withdrawn leaves the bars intact without large air holes between the figs or bars.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.