FIG, 



should be six feet apart, but if trained as espaliers, they 

 will require to be eight feet apart. 



Many people dislike the flavour of black Currants, they 

 are, therefore, not much used in the kitchen or dessert, and 

 seldom in wine making. They make a jelly or jam, in 

 estimation as a gargle for inflammatory sore throats. "In 

 Russia and Siberia, wine is made of the berries alone, or 

 fermented with honey, and with or without spirits. In 

 Siberia they make a drink of the leaves ; these tincture 

 common spirits so as to resemble brandy, and a few of them 

 dried and mixed with black tea, answer all the purposes of 

 the green material." (London.} 



All kinds of Currants may be forced by placing them in 

 any forcing department in January or February ; they will 

 produce ripe fruit in April and May. 



FIG. 



FIGUIER. Ficus carica. 



THERE are many species of the Fig, which are all natives 

 of warm climates. In some parts of Asia, and in the South 

 of Europe, they are always grown as standards; and the 

 fruit, green and dried, forms an important part of the food 

 of the inhabitants. The London Horticultural catalogue 

 contains the names of seventy-five sorts ; and Messrs. Prince, 

 of Flushing, have upwards of forty in their collection, some 

 of which are select sorts from France and Italy. It is 

 cultivatedin England as a fruit tree, and, in warm situations, 

 will ripen its fruit in the open air. In Sussex, on the 

 sea-coast, it lipens its fruit on standards. Some of the best 

 in England, are .at Arundel Castle ; and there is a Fig 

 orchard of one hundred trees at Tarring, near Worthing. 

 Those at Arundel are planted six or eight feet apart, and 

 from a single stem allowed to continue branching conical 

 heads, pruning chiefly irregular and redundant growths, and 

 cutting out decayed or injured wood. 



