228 THE FRUIT GARDEN. [MARCH 



3. The small white early fig. This has a roundish fruit a little 

 flatted at the crown, with a short footstalk ; skin, when ripe, of a 

 pale yellowish color, and thin ; the inside white, flesh sweet, but not 

 highly flavored. 



4. The large white Genoa fig. This is a large globular fruit, a 

 little lengthened towards the stalk ; skin thin, of a yellowish color 

 when ripe, and flesh red. 



5. The black Ischia fig. Fruit short, middle sized, a little flatted 

 at the crown, skin almost black when ripe ; flesh of a deep red, and 

 highly flavored. 



6 The Malta fig. Fruit small, compressed at the top ; greatly 

 pinched towards the footstalk ; skin a pale brown color ; flesh the 

 same, and very sweet. 



7. The Murrey, or brown Naples fig. Fruit large and globular, 

 of a light brown color, with some faint marks of a dirty white ; flesh 

 nearly of the same color, and well flavored ; grains large. 



8. The green Ischia fig. Fruit oblong, almost glob.ular at the 

 crown ; skin thin, of a green color, but when fully ripe it is stained 

 through by the pulp to a brownish cast ; flesh purple, well flavored, 

 and will stain linen or paper. 



9. The Madonna fig. Fruit long, pyramidal, and of a large size; 

 skin brown ; flesh a lighter brown, coarse, and of little flavor. 



10. The common blue, or purple fig. Fruit purple, oblong, and 

 small ; the tree a great bearer and very hardy. 



11. The long brown Naples fig. Fruit long, somewhat compressed 

 at the crown; footstalks pretty long; skin of a dark brown when 

 fully ripe; grains large; flesh inclined to red, and well flavored. The 

 leaves of this tree are deeply divided. 



12. The yellow Ischia fig. Fruit large, of a pyramidal form; skin 

 yellow when ripe; flesh purple, and well flavored; leaves very large, 

 and not much divided. 



13. The small brown Ischia fig. Fruit small, of a pyramidal form, 

 with a very short footstalk; skin of a light brown; flesh inclining 

 to purple, of a very high flavor; leaves less divided than any of the 

 other sorts. 



14. The Gentile fig. Fruit middle sized, globular; skin, when 

 ripe, of a yellow color; grains large, and flesh well flavored. 



The preceding are all the varieties of the ficus carica, or common 

 fig-tree. There are upwards of fifty other species of fig described by 

 botanists, but these are generally cultivated either on account of their 

 timber or as curiosities. 



I have been the more diffuse on this article, as the cultivation of 

 the fig and its different varieties is not as well known in the United 

 States as other kinds of fruit-trees, and as it may be cultivated in 

 the greatest perfection, particularly in the southern States, while in 

 the northern, an abundance of fruit may be obtained if the branches 

 be laid down in the winter and covered over six inches with soil. 



HEADING DOWN FRUIT-TREES. 



For the method of pruning and heading down the various kinds 



