36 



If the Pollen be wanting to fructify the seed, ex-, 

 perience has shewn in the instances I have, before 

 cited from experiments by Linnaeus himself, that the 

 seed will not vegetate when sown; the fruit may 

 nevertheless swell, and come to an appearance of per- 

 fection, though it is more common to drop off before 

 it ripens if the Pollen has been wanting. The fig tree 

 therefore with us cannot be propagated by seed, but 

 by layers, suckers, or cuttings. 



Some species of summer figs in France and Italy, 

 and also in Malta, ripen their fruits and seeds without 

 the assistance of the wild fig; it is, however, neces- 

 sary to observe, that some species of the cultivated fig 

 tree have a few blossoms, or florets, with stamina 

 placed above those that bear only pistilla within the 

 same covering, and that in warm climates they are 

 perfect, and perform their proper office; but in cold 

 climates, as in England, and even in late seasons in a 

 warm climate, the stamina prove ineffectual, and the 

 seed consequently unproductive. 



Of the cultivated fig there are thirty species or 

 varieties cultivated in France, Spain, and Italy. 



The singular character of the inflorescence of this; 

 plant, the variety of the fructification in different spe- 

 cies, 'and the union of the animal kingdom in some 

 instances, as necessary to its reproduction, are pheno- 

 mena in the highest degree curious and interesting. 



