HOW TO DESORIBE FIGS. 203 
experienced horticulturist would do well to use this list as a check 
list, taking up one character at a time in the same order of succession 
in which they follow one another here: Crop, size, shape, neck, stalk, 
ribs, eye, iris, skin, color, pulp, meat, growth of tree, branches, leaves, 
quality, soils. 
If any one of these points is not touched upon the description must 
be considered defective, though it may still be possible to recognize 
the variety, provided it possesses some very predominant character- 
istic which readily distinguishes it from other figs. For students or 
horticulturists who examine many varieties a blank is recommended 
with the above headings, each on a separate line, ready to be filled out. 
In order that the descriptions may be fully understood it will be 
necessary to consider each heading separately. 
Crop.—lIt is always necessary to mention first how many crops the 
fig tree matures, and then describe each crop separately if both are 
of importance. If in the following no particular crop is mentioned, 
the description always refers to the second crop. In copying deserip- 
tions of figs from Northern authors we can be almost certain that the 
first crop is referred to, provided the figs have been grown out of 
doors, and generally so even if cultivated under glass, as figs suitable 
for such purpose are generally, though not always, those which mature 
a first crop. 
Size.—Roughly estimated, the size might be indicated as ‘‘ small,” 
‘‘medium,” or ‘‘large.’”? I would consider all 1 inch or less in diameter 
as “‘small;” those between 1 and 2 inches as ‘‘medium,” and those 
above 2 inches as “‘large.” Anaverage fig should be taken, one neither 
too large nor too small. The measurement should be made from the 
neck to the eye, or, to be more accurate, from the junction of the stalk 
and neck to theeye. For ‘‘ width” the greatest diameter at right angles 
to the former should always be given, and in order to indicate the 
exact shape it is necessary to state whether the greatest width is at 
the center, below the center, or at the apex. To English readers the 
English inch is the most common measure, continental writers using 
the centimeter only. A scale of reference showing the relation between 
these two measures is appended (fig. 33). 
INCHES ~0 ae 2] 6) 
METERS 0 (22 i Se” I 8 647 Sea 
F 1G. 33.—Diagram for comparison of inches and centimeters. (1 inch=2.54+ centimeters; 1 cen- 
timeter=0.39+ inch.) 
Shape.—lIf the greatest width is at the center, the shape is called 
“ovoid” or ‘‘egg-shaped;” if between the center and the apex (or eye), 
