F I C 



■ September-, the leaves of t!us fc-rt are much more di- 

 vided than of mcft other. 



Fig 



IS 



fo 



we 



II 



The leaves of 



h - 



io. I'he common blue, or purple 

 known, as to need no defcription. 



11. The long brown Naples Fig. 

 this tree are deeply divided. The fruit is long, fome- 

 what comprefTed at the crown. The foot-ftalks are 

 pretty long •, the Ikin is of a dark brown when fully, 

 ripe, the flefh inclining to red ; the grains are large, 

 and the flefh well flavoured. It ripens in September. 



12. The yellow Ifchia Fig. This is a large fruit, 

 of a" pyramidal fofm i the^ikin is yellow when ripe, 

 and the flefh is purple and well flavoured, but the 

 trees do not produce much fruit here; they grow 

 very luxuriant in branches, the leaves are very large, 

 and not much divided. " This ripens in September. 



13. The fmall Brown Ifchia Fig. This is a fmall 

 pyramidal fruit v/ith a very ftiort foot-flalk; the fkin 

 is of a light brown, the flefh inclining to purple, of 

 a very high flavour ; it ripens late in September -, the 

 leaves of this tree arc lefs divided than any of the 

 other forts. This is not a good bearer. 



14. The Gentile Fig. This is a middle fized globu- 

 lar fruit i the flcin, when ripe, is yellow ; the flefh 

 alfo inclines to the fame colour; the grains are large, 

 and the flefh is well favoured, but it ripens very late, 

 ar)d the trees are bad bearers, fo that it is not propa- 

 gated much in England. 



There are feveral other forts which have been lately 

 introduced from Italy, but all thofe which I have yet 

 tailed, are inferior to thofe above-mentioned ; fomeof 

 them rarely ripen their fruit, and others are very ill 

 bearers, not worth propagating, therefore I have 

 omitted the mentioning of them here; for as thofe 

 which' are enumerated, continue in fucceffion during 

 the feafon for thefe. fruits, Und being preferable to the 

 Other, few perfons will care to fill their gardens with 

 a greater vjiriety 6f thefe'trees than are of real" ufe, 



fhare of room. 



The firft, fecond, third, ninth, and tenth forts will 



rrperi their fruits oh ftihdards, where they are in a 



"^f *» t-*- 4k «. t V 4 * '■ ' 



■■ »-* * - * ft -*■' 



t'j W-'-' ^ 



F I C 



1 

 • , • 



danger of frofl is over, by which rnanagcment 'tKe 

 generally have a very great crop of Figs ; whereas in 

 England, where the trees grow againil warm walls if 

 the fpring proves warm, the young Figs are puihcd 

 out early, and the cold, which frequently returns i 

 April and May, caufes the greateft part of the fruit to 

 drop off^; fo that our crop of Figs is generally more 

 uncertain than moft other forts of fruit : and it fre 

 quently happens, that trees which Sre planted a^ainft 

 north and eaft-alpefted walls, produce a greater 

 quantity of fruit in England, than thofe which are 

 planted iigainfl: fouth and fouth-eafl: afpeits ; which 

 muft happen from the latter putting out their fruit fo 

 much earlier in the fpring than the former ; and if there 

 happen cold frofty nights after the Figs are come out 

 (which is frequently the cafe in this country) the for- 

 wardelt of the Figs are generally fo injured as to drop 

 off from the trees foon after. In Italy, and the other 

 warm countries, this firft crop of Figs is little regarded 

 being few in. number ; for it is the fecond crop of 

 Figs which are produced from the flioots of the lame 

 year, which is their principal crop, but thefe rarely 

 ripen in England ; nor are there above three or four 

 forts which ever ripen their lecond crop, let the fummer 

 prove ever fo ^ood, therefore it is the firft crop which 

 we muft attend to in England ; fo that when thefe tre^s 

 are growing againft the beft afpefted walls, it will be 

 a good method to loo fen thena from the wall in au- 

 tumn; and after having diverted the branches of all 

 the latter fruit, to lay the branches down frpm the 

 . wall, faftening them together in fmall bundles, fo that 

 they may be tied to ftakes, to keep them from lying 

 upon the ground ; the damp whereof, when covered 

 in frofty weather, might caufe them to grow mouldy, 

 and hereby they will be fecured from being broken by 

 the wind, Wheii they are thus managed in autumn, 

 if the winter fhbuld prove very fevere, the branches 

 may be eafily covered with Peas-haulm, ftraw,orany 

 other light covering, which Will guard the tender fruit- 

 bearing branches from the injury of frofty and when 

 the weather is mild, the covering muft be removed, 

 otherwife the Figs will come out too early; for the in- 



w^rm fituation ; but the others require the affiftance tention of this management is, to keep them as back 



/ ■ 



! 

 I 



. ■ r- ■' ■ - ' ' ' w 



of walls expofed to good afpefts, otherwife their fruit 

 will not ripen in England. 



Fig-trees generally thrive in all foils, and in every 

 fituation ; but they produce a greater quantity of fruit 



upon a ftrong loamy foil, than on 4ry ground ; for if 

 the feafon proves dry in May and June, thofe trees 

 which grow upon very warm dry ground, are very fub- 

 jcft to caft their fruit; therefore, whenever this hap- 

 pens, fuch trees Ihould be well watered and mulched, 

 which will prevent thefruit from dropping ofi^; and the 

 fruit upon thefe trees are better flavourecl, than any of 

 thofe which grow upon cold moift land. I have al- 

 ways bbferved thofe Fig-trees tobear the greateft quan- 

 tity of well-flavoured fruit, which were growing upon 

 chalky land, where there has been a foot or more of 

 a gentle loamy foil on the top. They alfo love a free 

 open air ; for although they willftioot and thrive very 

 will in clofe' places, yet they feldom produce any 

 fruit in fuch fituations ; and all thofe which are planted 

 in fmall gardens in London, will be well furniftied 

 with leaves, but j have never feen any fruit upon 

 them v^hich have grown to maturity. 

 Thefe trees are always planted as ftandards in all 

 warm countries, but in England they are generally 

 planted againft walls, there being but few ftandard 

 Fig-trees at prefent in the Englifh gardens; however, 

 fince fomc of the forts arc found to ripen their fruit 

 well upon the ftandards, and the crop of Figs is often 

 greater upon them, than upon thofe trees againft walls, 

 it is worthy of our care, to plant them either in ftan- 

 dards or efpaliers ; the latter, I think, will fucceed beft 

 inEngland,if they were managed as in Germany, where 

 they untie the Fig-trees from the efpalier, and lay 

 them down, covering them in winter with ftraw or 

 litte:-, which prevents their ftioots being injured by 

 the f roft -^ and this covering is taken a\vay gradually 

 in th" fpnng, and not wholly removed until all the 



ward as poflible : then in the fpring, when the Figs 

 are beginning to pufti out, the trees may be faftened 

 up to the wall again. By this management I have 

 feen very great crops of Figs produced in two or three 

 places. , ~ . 



I have alfo feeh great crops of Figs in fome particu- 

 lar gardens, after very fiiarp winters, when they have, 

 in general, failed in other places, by covering up the 

 trees with Reeds made into pannels, and fixed up 

 againft the walls. ;' 



In the pruning of Fig-trees^ the branches muft never 

 be Ihortened, becaufe the fruit are all produced at. 

 the upper part of the ftioots of the former year; if 

 thefe are cut off, there can be no fruit expefted, befide 

 the branches are very apt to die after the knife ; fo that 

 when the branches are too clofe together, the beft way 

 is to cut out all the naked branches quite to the bot- 

 tom, leaving thofe which are beft furniftied with lateral 

 branches at a proper diftance from each other, which 

 ftiould not be nearer than a foot ; and when they are 

 well furniftied with lateral branches, if they are laid 

 four or five inches farther afunder, it will be better. ^ 

 The beft feafon for pruning of Fig-trees is in autumn, 

 becaufe at that time the branches, are not fo full 

 of fap, and "will not bleed fo much, as when they 

 are pruned in the fpring ; and at this feafon, the 

 branches fliould be diverted of all the autumnal Figs, 

 and the fooner this is done, when the leaves begin to 

 fall ofi^, the better will the young fhoots refift the cold 

 of the winter." . There are fome feafons fo cold and 

 rnoift, that the young ftioots of the Fig-trees will not 

 harden, but are foft, and full of juice ; when this hap- 

 pens, there is little hope of a crop of Figs the fucceed- 

 ing year, forthe firft froft in autumn will kill the upper 

 part of thefe ftioots, for a confiderable length down- 

 ward ; whenever this happens, it is the beft way to 



cut off all the decayed part of the ftioots, which will 



prevent 



i- 



\ 



