FIG 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



F I C 



563 



is a long fruit, which swells pretty large at the top, where it 

 is obtuse, but the low.er part is very slender towards the 

 stalk ; the skin is of a dark purple colour, almost black, and 

 has a purple farina over it, like that of some plums; the in- 

 side is of a bright red, and the flesh is very highly flavoured : 

 it ripens early in August. 3. The Small White Early Fig. 



. This has a roundish fruit, a little flatted at the crown, with a 

 very short footstalk ; the skin thin, and, when fully ripe, is 

 of a pale yellowish white colour; the inside white, and the 

 flesh sweet, but not high-flavoured : this ripens in August. 

 4. The Large White Genoa Fig; which is a large globular 

 fruit, a tittle lengthened towards the stalk; the skin is thin, 

 of a yellowish colour when fully ripe, and red wiihin. This 

 is a good fruit, but the trees are not good bearers. 5. The 

 Black Ischia Fig. This is a short fruit, of a middling size, 

 a little flatted at the crown ; the skin is almost black wtien 

 ripe, the inside of a deep red, and the flesh very highly 

 flavoured : the trees produce a good crop of fruit, but the 

 birds are great devourers of them when not protected. This 

 ripens in August. 6. The Malta-Fig; which is a small brown 

 fruit much compressed at the top, and greatly pinched to- 

 wards the footstalk ; the skin is of a pale brown colour, as 

 is also the inside; the flesh is very sweet, and well-flavoured. 

 If this sort be permitted to hang upon the trees till the fruit 

 be shrivelled, it becomes a fine sweetmeat. 7. The Murray, 

 or Brown Naples Fig. This is a pretty large globular fruit, 

 of a light brown colour on the outside, with some faint marks 

 of a dirty white ; the inside is nearly of the same colour : the 

 grains are pretty large, and the flesh is well-flavoured. It 

 ripens in the latter end of August. 8. The Green Ischia Fig. 

 This is an oblong fruit, almost globular at the crown; the 

 skin is thin, of a green colour, but, when it is fully ripe, it is 

 Stained through by the pulp to a brownish cast : the inside 

 is purple, and will stain linen or paper; the flesh is high- 

 flavoured, especially in warm seasons. It ripens towards 

 the end of August. 9. The Madonna, commonly called the 

 Brunswick, or Hanover Fig; is a long pyramidal fruit of a 

 large size : the skin is brown ; the flesh is of a lighter brown 

 colour, coarse, and has little flavour. This ripens at the end 

 of August and the beginning of September r its leaves are 

 much more divided than those of most others. 10. The com- 

 mon Blue or Purple Fig; is of an oblong shape, and a great 

 bearer: the fruit ripens in August. 11. The Long Brown 

 Naples Fig. The leaves of this tree are deeply divided ; the 

 fruit is long, and somewhat compressed at the crown ; the 

 footstalks are pretty long; the skin is of a dark brown when 

 fully ripe; the flesh inclining to red, and well-flavoured, with 

 large grains: it ripens in September. 12. The Yellow Ischia 

 Fig. This is a large fruit, of a pyramidal form ; the skin is 

 yellow when ripe, and the flesh is purple, and well-flavoured ; 

 but the trees do not produce much fruit here : they grow very 

 luxuriant in branches, with large leaves, which are but slightly 

 divided : it ripens in September. 13. The Small Brown Ischiii 

 Fig; which is a small pyramidal fruit, with a very short foot- 

 stalk; the skin is of a light brown, the flesh inclining to pur- 

 ple, of a very high flavour. The leaves of this tree are less 

 divided than any of the other sorts. It is not a good bearer, 

 and ripens late in September. 14. The Gentile Fig. This 

 is a middling-sized globular fruit; the skin when ripe is yel- 

 low, and the flesh inclines to the same colour; the grains are 

 large, and the flesh well-flavoured ; but it ripens very late, 

 and the trees are bad bearers, so that it is not propagated 



.much in England. There are several sorts which have been 

 lately introduced from Italy, but some of them rarely ripen 

 their fruit, and others are very unproductive, and not worth 

 propagating; and therefore not worth enumerating here. 



Those above specified continue in succession during the 

 season for these fruits, and are preferable to the others; 

 and few persons will care to fill their gardens with a greater 

 variety of these trees than are of real use, especially as they 

 require good walls, and a very large share of room. The 

 common Fig-tree is, in all probability, originally a native of 

 Asia, though it has been introduced into Europe in the very 

 early ages. It has the same name slightly varied in all the 

 European languages. The Germans call it feigenbaum, or 

 figenboom; the Danes, Jtyentra ; the Swedes, Jikontra; the 

 French, le Jiguier ; the Italians.yfco orjigo; the Spaniards,) 

 jiguera.; the Portuguese, jtgueira; the Russians, tfinik ; the 

 Polesyjfya ; the Turks, ingar ; and the Arabs, fiR.f Native 

 of Asia, Barbary, the southern parts of Europe, and Loui- 

 siana. The dried figs, sold by the grocers, are the fruit of 

 this tree, cured by first dipping them in a scalding lye, made 

 from the ashes of the tree which produces them, and after- 

 wards exposing them to the heat of the sun. The fruit is 

 accounted grateful to the stomach, moderately nourishing, 

 and is more easily digested than any of the other sweet fruits. 

 They are an useful ingredient in medicines intended for disor- 

 ders of the breast, and in opening electuaries. Applied ex- 

 ternally, either by themselves, or in conjunction with other 

 ingredients of a similar nature, they greatly forward the sup- 

 puration or ripening of inflammatory tumors. The first, 



second, third, ninth, and tenth varieties, will ripen their fruit 

 on standards, where they are in a warm situation; but the 

 others require the assistance of walls exposed to good as- 

 pects, or they will not bring their fruit to maturity in England. 

 Fig-trees generally thrive in all soils, and in every situation ; 

 but they produce a greater quantity of fruit upon a strong 

 loamy soil than on dry ground; for if the season prove dry 

 in May and June, those trees which grow upon very warm 

 dry ground are very subject to cast their fruit ; therefore 

 whenever this happens, such trees should be well watered, 

 and mulched, which will prevent the fruit from dropping off; 

 and the fruit upon these trees are better flavoured than any 

 of those which grow upon cold moist land. Those fig-trees 

 bear the greatest quantity of well-flavoured fruit, which grow 

 upon a chalky land, with a foot or more of a gentle loamy 

 soil on the top. They also love a free open air; for although 

 they will shoot and thrive very well in close places, yet they 

 seldom produce any fruit in such situations ; and all those 

 which are planted in small gardens in London, will be well 

 furnished with leaves, but seldom bring any fruit to maturity. 

 These trees are always planted as standards in all warm 

 countries ; but with us they are generally planted against 

 walls, there being but few standard Fig-trees at present in the 

 English gardens ; however, as some sorts ripen their fruit well 

 upon the standards, and the crop of figs is often greater upon 

 them than upon those trees placed against walls, it is worthy 

 of our care to plant them either in standards or espaliers : the 

 latter would probably succeed best in England, if they were 

 managed as in Germany, where they untie the Fig-trees from 

 the espalier, and lay them down, covering them in winter 

 with straw or litter to defend their shoots from the frost. 

 This covering is gradually taken away in the spring, but not 

 wholly removed till the danger of frost is over, by which 

 management they generally obtain a very great crop of figs ; 

 whereas in England, where trees are s>helterpd by warm walls, 

 in mild springs the young figs are pushed out early, and the 

 cold that frequently returns in April and May causes the 

 greater part of the fruit to drop off; so that our crop of figs 

 is generally more uncertain than that of most other sorts of 

 fruit ; and it frequently happens, that trees which are planted 

 against north and east aspected walls, produce a greater 



