and is lost in the misty depths of tradition. Pliny refers to a tree 

 which existed long anterior to the founding of Rome, under which the 

 people of that city were wont to assemble to discuss the topics of the 

 day years thereafter. Tradition claims this tree to have been that 

 under which Remus and Romulus were found, and in commemoration 

 thereof it was preserved. 



The fig grows spontaneously in the arid wastes of Greece, Asia, and 

 northern Africa. In countries where the thermometer does not fall 

 below 59 degrees Fahrenheit, the growth and maturity of the fig proceed 

 without any appreciable interruption; but in colder countries, upon the 

 advent of the first frost the fig tree loses its leaves and those seed recep- 

 tacles which, under favorable circumstances, would have continued to 

 develop, harden, and remain inert until the following spring, when, with 

 the return of warm weather, they resume their growth, being the first 

 to mature in the summer. The figs thus resulting are denominated 

 " fig flowers," in order to distinguish them from those which first appear 

 in the spring and mature later. 



In hot countries the fig tree grows to large proportions, and in isolated 

 and favorable localities it assumes a beautiful form without need of modi- 

 fication or pruning. Its branches project themselves regularly toward 

 the earth from year to year, and finally reaching and entering it they 

 throw out new roots, thus forming additional sources of propagation. 



The fruit of the fig tree may be reckoned among the staple food of man 

 for ages before cereals were cultivated by any settled agricultural popu- 

 lation. In the temperate regions, where it thrives best, it fills the place 

 of the banana of tropical climates, and yields fruit during several months 

 of the year. In Asia Minor, where the tree is found wild, and where 

 the best figs of commerce are grown, it is extremely fruitful. 



The best figs for drying come from the valleys of the Meander and the 

 Kaistros, to the south of Smyrna, where the trees are planted with great 

 regularity and care, and the ground is dug and hoed from four to six 

 times during the summer. When the figs reach Smyrna they are sorted 

 by women and packed in boxes by men. They are the best when newly 

 packed, and as months go by get drier and harder in the warehouse. 



Although throughout the world there are to be found more than a 

 hundred different species of figs, only some five or six are cultivated in 

 Turkey, from whence we get the fig of commerce. Of these the best are 

 grown most largely and in greatest perfection around Smyrna, but con- 

 siderable quantities are also grown in other parts of Asia Minor. The 

 fruit is of various colors, from deep purple to yellow, or nearly white. 

 The trees usually bear two crops, one in the early summer, from the 

 buds of the previous year, and the other in the autumn, from those of 

 the spring growth. The last forms the chief harvest. The Ficus carica y 

 from which the commercial fig is produced, is a tree rarely more than 

 eighteen or twenty feet in height, with broad, rough, deciduous leaves, 

 very deeply lobed in the cultivated variety, but in the wild plant nearly 

 entire. After the young tree attains maturity it receives but little care 

 beyond being occasionally lopped in places and being well manured in 

 the fall of the year. 



A remarkable feature of the fruit of the fig tree is, that it grows and 

 ripens without any apparent blossom. The edible part, however, is not 

 a fruit proper, but a hollow receptacle which contains the flowers, and 

 in the mature fig, the fruit. This fruit is composed of numerous small 



