326 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM 



PROPAGATION OF THE FIG 



The fig grows very rapidly from cuttings, and this is the chief 

 method of propagation. Cuttings should be made while the tree is fully 

 dormant, in the winter, of well-matured wood of the previous season's 

 growth, giving preference to the stocky, short-jointed shoots, and mak- 

 ing the cuttings about six to eight inches in length. The cut at the 

 lower end should be made at the joint, or where solid wood is found. 

 The planting and care of the cutting is essentially the same as of vine 

 cuttings, already described. If well made and cared for, a very satis- 

 factory growth is made the first season, and the trees are ready for 

 planting out in permanent place the following season. 



Single Bud Cuttings. If one desires to multiply a new variety 

 very rapidly single eye cuttings will make plants. This is, also, analo- 

 gous to single-eye grape cuttings, as already described. 



Budding the Fig. The foregoing means enable one to propa- 

 gate a fig so rapidly that recourse is not had to budding, as in propa- 

 gating other trees ; still, budding is feasible, either on small plants or 

 on young shoots of old trees which it is desired to bud over. 



The fig may be budded by the common shield method, as used for 

 ordinary fruit trees, as described in Chapter IX, but owing to the 

 tendency of the fig bark to shrink in drying, the bud should be closely 

 bound in with a narrow waxed band, to exclude the air. As the bark 

 is thick, it is often desirable to cut out a little of the edges closest to the 

 bud when in place. 



Another method of budding the fig is by annular or "ring budding," 

 a method also relied upon with the walnut and chestnut. Annular 

 budding is done in the fall. A circular ring of bark is taken off from 

 the stock by the aid of a budding knife, by running two circular cuts 

 around the stock, and a longitudinal one between the two circular cuts ; 

 the ring of bark taken off must be at least one inch wide, and from that 

 up to two inches. A like ring of bark is taken off in the same manner 

 from the scion of the variety to be budded in, and from a branch of the 

 year, or preceding one, well in sap, and having about the same diameter 

 as the stock. The ring should have on its one or two buds. It must fit 

 exactly the space prepared on the stock, and more particularly at the 

 lower circular cut, so that both barks will exactly unite at that point. 

 When the ring is too long, a little bit of it might be cut off with a very 

 sharp knife till it fits well ; if the ring is too large for the stock, a longi- 

 tudinal strip would be cut out, and if too narrow, such a strip, if with 

 a bud on so much the better, will have to be used to fill up the empty 

 space. One must be vary careful while drawing the knife around the 

 stock not to go too deep into the wood to injure the cambium layer, or 

 to weaken the stock. Tie a bandage pretty firmly over the whole. After 

 two or three weeks the bandage has to be taken off, and, in the ensuing 

 spring, the top of the stock or limb is cut down three inches above the 

 budding. 



Another way of working such trees is by "whistle budding," which 

 is done in the spring, when the sap is well up. The stock and the scion 

 must be both of the same size and well in sap. The top of the stock 



