156 FIG. 



be delicate, the forehead narrow, the shoulders thin, and the 

 fore-quarters light. (Low's Elements of Agriculture.) 



FIG. The fig is one of the oldest fruits known. In the 

 United States it is generally cultivated in the shrub form, so 

 that it can be easily protected during the winter. It is prop- 

 agated by cuttings, which are taken off early in the spring, 

 and planted in the light soil of a hot-bed. On being removed, 

 they should be placed in a mellow, calcareous soil, and the 

 compost should be corrected with marl or mild lime ; they 

 may-be transplanted the same season. Mr. Downing recom- 

 mends root-pruning for the fig as cultivated in the United 

 States. " Short-jointed wood, and only moderate vigor of 

 growth, are," he remarks, " well-known accompaniments of 

 fruitfulness in this tree ; and there is no means by which 

 firm, well-ripened, short-jointed wood is so easily obtained, 

 as by an annual pruning of the roots, cutting off all that 

 project more than half the length of the branches." Root- 

 pruning on the fig is performed early in November. 



In foreign culture the fig is frequently subjected, while the 

 fruit is maturing, to a singular custom. To assist it in ripening 

 the fruit, it is punctured before it reaches maturity with a 

 hollow straw that has b^en dipped in olive-oil, a single drop 

 of oil being passed near the eye into each fig. Mr. Down- 

 ing observed the custom sc far as to touch the ends of 

 the fig with the finger dipped in oil, and thought the fruit 

 ripened more speedily and swelled to a larger size for the 

 practice. 



South of Virginia the fig needs no covering of soil, or 

 straw, or branches of evergreens, during the winter, but 

 grows easily as a standard tree. 



Where figs are not perfectly fresh, they may be put into 

 an oven of very moderate heat, and plumped, and then 

 rubbed with a coarse towel. 



