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A 



A. 



109 



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A 



Of fuch as have vifible 



> 



r 



tho 



* 



V. 



very fmall Flowers 



> 



con 



cealed in peculiar Capfulae, or common Receptacles 







Of fuch a 

 FlCUS 



\ 



have their Flowers difpofed in clofe flefoy Receptacles 











1 . Foliis lob at is fruStu major 7 . 



Ficus. Foliis palmatis. L. Sp. PI. 



The Garden Fig-tree. 



This tree has been long introduced and cultivated in the low warm land 



a great quantity of del 



f y, 



maica, where it thrives very luxuriantly, and prod 



mellow fruit, which is greatly efteemed by mod people in that country. It is plan 



ed almoft in all the gardens about King/ion, and rifes often to the height of fixteen 



feventeen feet from the ground ; but its branches are commonly thick and fpreading 





and frequently require to be fupported 

 that rife from the roots of the old 

 perience, and tried many experiments 



generally propagated by the fuckers 



But Mr. Miller* who has had 



g ex- 



and the like occasions, recommends 



fing of them by layers; which, he fays, always produce more promifing and better 



rooted pi 



warm countries where 



cut 01 



d may be removed in a twelvemonth ; but probably fooner, in thofe 



getation 



ftant. In pruning thefe 



he 



a 



vifes to cut only the naked branches, or thofe leaft fupplied with collateral moots 



Columella obferves, that this tree thrives befl in an open air, and gravelly 



foil, which indeed anfwers extremely well, where the feafons are moderate, 



and the fruit deftined to be preferved 



but 



in 



fruit is intended for immediate uie. 

 nure, and watering. 'Toumefirt, in 

 ferved, that this tree when caprifi 



it requires a 



dry fituation, and when the 

 richer foil, with fome ma* 



1 



h 



travels thro 



(*) 



is 



fed 



1 ArchipelaguS) has ob 

 produc 



above eleven 



wii 



ere 



th 



c 



pro 



times more than thofe in the fouthern provinces of France, 



duce of a moderate tree is computed to weigh about 25 pounds, one year with another 



The fruit is preferved by a continuance in the heat of the fun ; but it mufi be pick 



ed before it grows 



mellow 



foft, and (heltered from 



during the procefs, 



e of feet from 



manner of damp 



for which Columella recommends a watled floor raifed about 



the ground, and covered with cane top 



draw 



or 



other 



dry fubflances 



which the fruit may be laid j but to prefer ve them from 



in- 



jury of 



night 

 After 



they 



weather, he propofes tacked fide hurdles, that may be raifed every 

 moift or rainy weather, and let down when the fun appears more active. 



dried properly in 



manner 



dry warm place ; but in Zia> they pafs 'em 



they muft be potted, and kep 

 ally thro' the oven after they have 



fome days in the fun, by which means they are enabled to keep them for 



d indeed it is neceffary to take fome fuch method, where they 



bee 



confiderable 



make a principal part of the food of the inhabitants (b) 



t 



G 



g 



FI 



(a) See voyage du Levant > Tom. ii. p. 23-4- 



(b) Since my writing the above, I have had the following account of this free from a perfon whofc 

 knowledge in regard to vegetables, can hardly be excelled j and on whofe information we may fafely de- 

 pend. He fays that the tree fhould be hardly ever pruned, or but as little as poilibie ; but if it fhould grow 



uxunant 



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