148 [ DISEASES OF THE FIG TREE 



in autumn and winter, but they are also a valuable 

 food. Indeed, the vast proportion of our dried figs is 

 used as food in the farmer's household, the price of 

 ordinary dried figs being usually about the same as 

 that of bread. Dried figs are a very mild laxative, and 

 the syrup of green figs is a valuable home remedy 

 possessing the same quality in a more pronounced 

 form. Our farmers generally dry their figs on the stone 

 walls of fields or on the terraced roofs of the farmstead, 

 but this system exposes the drying figs to grave injury 

 from a possible sudden shower of rain in August or 

 September, besides the obvious risk of contamination 

 with dust or dirth. 



DISEASES OF THE FIG TREE. 



The fig tree is subject to many diseases, but here 

 reference can be made only to those having a practical 

 importance to the grower. 



A diseased condition of the fruit commonly met 

 with on trees growing on low-lying and moist lands, 

 consists in an undeveloped condition of the interior 

 of the fruit, which assumes a yellowish brown colour, 

 and becomes insipid to the taste. The seeds are often 

 entirely absent so that the disease may be due very 

 likely to a defective fertilization. This view is further 

 supported by the fact that generally only the fruits 

 which are first to ripen become so affected, and the 

 disease is usually limited to vigorous trees growing on 

 moist soils, the vigour of the growth having prevented 

 the unfertilized fruit from dropping off when young. 



It is known that when a fig tree dies a natural 

 death, it is often difficult to replace it by another 

 fig tree, as any young trees planted on the same spot 

 invariably die soon afterwards. It is supposed that the 

 dead roots leave a poison in the soil, which takes 



