THE FIG. 659 



are easily nipped. When in free growth, with the sap mov- 

 ing, a few degrees of frost may be fatal, and, as the tree is a 

 rank grower and starts early in the spring, this habit renders 

 it peculiarly susceptible to damage from late frosts. Even as 

 far north as New York the roots often survive the loss of the 

 top, and if trained low, so that the branches may be layered 

 and deeply buried in the fall, and uncovered the following 

 spring, it may be wintered in fair condition if one cares to 

 take the trouble. But in order that this operation be success 

 ful, it is essential that the young wood be well ripened, and 

 late growths be prevented as far as possible by planting on 

 dry, well-drained, sandy or gravelly soil, in a cool exposure, 

 and giving no fertilizers or cultivation late in the season. If 

 the fig is grown at all, however, out of its own proper latitude 

 by these precautions, it is more as a curiosity than for profit, 

 because where it is a rarity few have acquired a taste for the 

 fresh fruit, which, as before remarked, needs the high heat of 

 a southern climate to develop the rich and melting honeyed 

 sweetness in perfection. Even in the far South, figs that 

 mature in September, when the weather becomes cooler, are 

 almost insipid compared with those of midsummer. 



Probably the chief reason for the little attention paid to the 

 fig in this country lies in its extreme fragility, it being one of 

 the most perishable and delicate of fruits, and one of the most 

 difficult of carriage to any but the nearest markets. Rapid 

 transportation in refrigerating cars ought now to do away 

 with this objection, and there is no reason why figs should 

 not be conveyed long distances like the equally perishable 

 strawberry, nor why, when they become plentiful in any 

 market, and people have learned to like them, a large demand 

 should not spring up for this, one of the most delicious and 

 wholesome of all fruits. 



In the Gulf and cotton States one sees a few fig-trees around 

 almost every country house, but attempts at field culture are 

 rare. About 1883, Mr. J. K. Russell, of Olustee, Fla., set 

 out an orchard of thirty acres, which he destroyed after the 

 trees came into bearing, having become satisfied that, on ac- ' 

 count of the high price of labor in this country, he could not 

 compete with the cheaply produced dried figs imported from 

 the Mediterranean. Much about the same time Mr. S. B. 



