' 12 



trees which naturally assume a bushy form should have their energies 

 confined to a single stem, with the head of the tree, of whatever char- 

 acter, formed thereon, and they always prove the most fruitful. When 

 a number of shoots are allowed to spring from the root, all striving to 

 outstrip one another, a huge unshapely bush is the result., Fig trees, 

 as a rule, produce suckers (shoots from the roots) in abundance, which, 

 even if they have a fine, healthy appearance, should not be allowed to 

 remain; they produce no fruit and only crowd and rob the parent stem. 

 The confining of a plant to a single stem is of the utmost importance 

 for the production of fruit of nearly all fruit trees, and is especially so 

 with the fig. The trees can be trained either with high or low trunks, 

 after once being formed; pruning then becomes less, requiring only 

 thinning out and occasional shortening of some of the branches. The 

 pruner has, however, great difficulty in contending against the over-lux- 

 uriance of growth of trees grown on damp soil. In such cases it is 

 necessary that the pruner should guard against over-luxuriance, by 

 keeping the shoots on the tree thin and well exposed to the full influ- 

 ence of the direct rays of the sun. The trees should also be prevented 

 from extending beyond bounds, even if heavy cutting has to be resorted 

 to. Where trees grow under such conditions (too luxuriantly), the 

 young growing shoots should be vigorously pinched back through the 

 summer, in order to check luxuriance and bring the tree into a stubby, 

 fruitful form of growth. 



PRODUCTION OF FRUIT. 



The first crop of the fig is borne on the wood of the previous season's 

 formation. That of the second, or succeeding crop, is produced in the 

 axils of the leaves on the wood of the current season's growth. Fre- 

 quently remnants of the last crop of fruit of the previous season are 

 seen on the trees after the fall of the leaves in autumn; these are those 

 which failed to arrive at maturity, perhaps through want of heat or the 

 proper conditions required at that time. This fruit is not worth consid- 

 eration; sometimes a few, under very favorable conditions, remain on 

 the tree and ripen the season following, but this is very seldom. 



PREPARATION OF THE FIG. 



Fresh figs are toothsome fruits, but little nutritious, and sometimes 

 rather indigestible.* The dried figs are the most valuable. These are 

 prepared either by artificial or natural heat. The experiments made 

 during this and former years proved conclusively the fact that natural 

 heat is the best, and produces better fruit. Before mentioning the pro- 

 cesses in use in this State, I will briefly describe the processes in use in 

 foreign countries; and while many, and, perhaps, most of them could 

 not be put into practice in this State, many good ideas are derived 

 from them. 



The Tuscans dry them loose, and make loaves of the whitest and the 

 sweetest. In the southern provinces they are strung on small canes or 

 flexible branchlets of holm oak or of other plants. 



The same mode of operation as in Tuscany is followed in the Marches, 

 in Umbria, and in the Abruzzi, and if there be any difference, it exists 

 only in the divers varieties of fruits used and the manner of handling 

 and dressing them. 



