662 THE FIG. 



sprouts except those reserved for budding. The ring of bark 

 containing the bud should be from one to two inches long, 

 closely fitted and snugly tied. After a few weeks the part 

 above is cut off. If done in spring^ when the sap is up, the 

 part above had better be removed at once to prevent souring 

 and decay from descending sap before the union takes place. 



CULTIVATION. 



Orchard Planting. As the fig-tree grows in our Southern 

 States, fifteen or twenty feet apart is a good distance for 

 orchard planting, but where it reaches the size some varie- 

 ties do on the Pacific coast, forty feet or more would not be 

 too close. The more robust varieties need more room than 

 moderate growers. While young, peach-trees, vines, or any- 

 thing of a temporary character may be grown between, to be 

 removed when the figs require more room. It is best to favor 

 low branching, which protects the trunks from sunburn until 

 shaded by the tops. Low-headed trees are also less likely to 

 be injured by high winds. 



Pruning. The fig needs little pruning beyond the removal 

 of dead or decaying limbs, and those that interfere with each 

 other. While young, clean cultivation is desirable, which 

 must be shallow, since the roots run near the surface. As the 

 trees become older and cover the ground, less is required; 

 often none is given besides cutting down bushes and weeds 

 that may spring up. A coating of loose litter or mulch, scat- 

 tered about under-foot, protects the fruit from bruising as it 

 falls, and keeps it clean from sand and dirt. Fertilizers may 

 be applied broadcast and lightly worked in or allowed to dis- 

 solve by the rains. The fig is singularly exempt from disease 

 and attacks of insects. Sometimes a few scale are found, 

 which can be destroyed by the usual insecticides. In some 

 sections wood-borers have been troublesome. 



Caprification. In this operation the fruit of the wild or 

 Capri fig is hung about among the limbs of the cultivated 

 varieties, and sometimes a branch of the latter is grafted with 

 a scion of the other, so that a few of the wild figs may be grown 

 among the improved ones, with the object of securing a better 

 fertilization from the pollen of the staminate flowers, 



