236 THE NURSERY LIST. 



Fig (Ficus Carica). Urticacecz. 



Figs grow readily from the plump seeds in the comm?r- 

 cial fruit. Wash out the seeds, and those that sink may 

 be sown in a frame. The young plants will appear in 

 three or four weeks. In from three to five years the 

 plants will begin to bear. New varieties are obtained in 

 this way. 



Varieties of the fig are multiplied with ease by layers, 

 suckers and cuttings. Make cuttings of mature wood in 

 autumn, cutting just below a bud. Scarce varieties may 

 be multiplied by single-eye cuttings. Fig cuttings are 

 handled in the same way as grape cuttings. Some prefer, 

 however, to place the cuttings where the tree is to stand. 

 A well-grown plant will bear at two or three years of age. 



The fig is readily budded and grafted, but these meth- 

 ods are seldom employed, because the plant is so easily 

 multiplied by cuttings. Shield, ring or tubular buddings 

 are employed. Various methods of grafting are adapted 

 to it, and cleft-grafting is usually employed on old plants. 



Filbert. See Corylus. 



Fir. See Abies, Picea and Pinus. 



Fire-pink. See Silene. 



Fittonia. Acanthacecz. 



Increased by division, and by cuttings of half ripened 

 shoots, planted in sandy loam, in bottom heat. 



Fitzroya. Conifertz. 



Seeds. Increased also by cuttings of half-ripened 

 shoots. 



Flax. See Linum. 



Flower-de-Luce (Fleur-de-Lis). See Iris. 



Fontanesia. Oleacecz. 



Layers are used ; also cuttings, planted under a hand- 

 glass in autumn. Or it may be grafted on the privet. 



Forget-me-not. See Myosotis. 



Forsythia (Golden Bell). Oleacea:. 



Propagated extensively by green cuttings in summer, in 

 a frame ; also grown from ripe cuttings taken in fall and 

 winter, and planted in the open air in early spring. 



