FIGWOKT. 



FINGER GRASS. 



branches when wounded, and which is acrid to 

 the taste. The fruit of the fig tree is of a dif- 

 ferent nature from the orange, apple, and other 

 fleshy seed vessels ; being a hollow receptacle, 

 containing a multitude of minute flowers ; the 

 ripe fruit of which is the seed, as it is wrongly ! 

 called, that is imbedded in the pulp. The fig | 

 is a native of Asia and Barbary, and also in- 

 habits the south of Europe ; according to ihe 

 JIiTti's K.nrnsis, it was first planted in this 

 country in 1548. The varieties in fig coun- 

 trit-s are almost as numerous as those of the 

 grape. Those held most in esteem in England 

 are the brown chestnut-coloured Ischia, the 

 black Genoa fig, the small white early fig, the 

 large white Genoa fig, the black Ischia, brown 

 ami black small Italian figs, the Malta fig, the 

 Murrey or brown Naples fig, the green Ischia, 

 the Madonna, the Brunswick or Hanover fig, 

 the common blue or purple fig, the long brown 

 Naples fig, the small brown Ischia fig, the yel- 

 low Ischia fig, and the Gentile fig. According 

 to Forsyth, the figs proper for a small garden 

 are the large white Genoa, the early white, the 

 Mu r rey fig, the small brown Ischia, and the 

 black Ischia. Figs may be propagated from 

 seed, cuttings, layers, suckers, roots, and by in- 

 grafting ; the most generally approved method 

 is by layers or cuttings, which come into bear- 

 ing the first or second year. Standard fig trees 

 require protection during winter, and should 

 be covered with matting, reed, pease-haulm, 

 straw, or any other light covering. 



The only orchards of standard fig trees in 

 England are at Tarring and Sompton, near 

 Worthing : the produce is great, and the figs 

 of a very superior quality. The fig has been 

 analyzed by Bley, and found to contain the fol- 

 lowing substances, 62-5 of sugar, 0-9 fatty mat- 

 ter, 0-4 extractive with chloride of calcium, 5-2 

 gum with phosphoric acid, 150-0 woody fibre 

 and seeds (achenia). Figs are nutritive and 

 laxative. The oldest cataplasm on record was 

 composed of figs. In the illness of Hezekiah, 

 Isaiah said, " Take a lump of figs ; and they 

 took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered." 

 (2 Kings, chap, xx.; LoudorSs Ency. ofGard.; 

 Brandt's Diet, of Science.} The cultivation of 

 the fig has been too much neglected in the 

 United States. In the Middle and more North- 

 ern States they require protection in winter. 

 With a good soil and plenty of water in the 

 summer the yield of this wholesome fruit is 

 great. 



FIG WORT (fetpfeferia), There are, in 

 England, four kinds of indigenous figwort, all 

 perennial; the species found in the United 

 States is called S. Marylanrilca, Maryland S. or 

 Carpenter's Sijuare : it is perennial, frequent in 

 fence rows, woodlands, &c. The root bruised 

 into the form of a poultice, is a popular appli- 

 cation to boils and other inflammatory gather- 

 ings. One or two varieties of this plant are 

 also met with. (Flor. Ccxtrini.) 



FILBERT, or FILBERD (Corylus cvdbna, 

 so named from Abella or Avella, a town of 

 Campania, where the best were cultivated. 

 Pliny, b. xv. c. 22). In England the best known 

 varieties of the filbert are the white, the red, 

 and the frizzled. The white is the kind most 

 commonly grown. In the neighbourhood of 

 474 



Kent many hundred acres are planted with fil. 

 berts, for which the county is celebrated, and 

 whence the London market is principally sup- 

 plied. When quite ripe, filberts will keep for 

 several years in a dry room ; and if the air is 

 excluded, or the nuts placed in an air-light jar, 

 they will keep good and retain their flavour for 

 an indefinite period. 



In a late number of that excellent Journal, 

 the Boston Magazine of Horticulture, &c., there 

 is a paper by Mr. Downing, of Newburgh, N. 

 Y., on the cultivation of this nut. From the 

 great quantities annually imported, there can 

 be little doubt a ready market would be found 

 for the product of a filbert garden or orchard, 

 and the ease and certainty with which they 

 may be grown, should recommend them to fa- 

 vour. 



Mr. Downing recommends a soil naturally 

 dry rather than moist, but a dry gravelly loam 

 or sandy loani is preferable. They will suc- 

 ceed, however, in any good soil. The kinds 

 preferred by Mr. Downing for cultivation in 

 this country, are the Cosford, Frizzled, and 

 Northampton prolific. There are other varie- 

 ties, but these have been well tested, and will 

 abundantly repay the grower. The cultivation 

 of such nuts is a great object in some parts of 

 England, and the average crop is considered 

 about 800 Ibs. per acre, though at times, when 

 the soil and season is favourable, more than 

 three times that quantity have been gathered. 



There are two species of the filbert found in 

 the United States. One of these (the Corylus 

 .Americana') is very commonly found in the 

 Middle States, growing wild along the borders 

 of thickets, fence rows, &c., flowering in March 

 and April. It grows to the height of 4 to 6 

 feet, and the nuts, which it bears very abun- 

 dantly, are pleasantly flavoured, though con- 

 siderably smaller lhan the European hazelnuts, 



FILLER, or THILLER. A term provincially 

 applied to the horse which is fastened immedi- 

 ately to the cart, and which supports the shafts. 

 It is most commonly written thiller. 



FILLY. A young mare, or female of the 

 horse kind. 



FILMY-FERN, TIJNBRIDGE (Hymen ophyl 

 lum Tunbridgcnse : from hymen, a membrane, 

 and phyllon, a leaf; alluding to the leaves). 

 The genus to which this species belongs ranks 

 among the most elegant of the ferns ; it is a 

 native of wet mossy rocks or trunks of trees, 

 most plentiful in tropical countries. This spe- 

 cies is the only one of European growth, and 

 flourishes amongst moss in watery shady 

 places, in the rocky or mountainous parts of 

 Great Britain, and grows in most parts of Eu- 

 rope from Norway to Italy. 



FIN. A term applied to the sharp or cut- 

 ting plate, fixed upon a sock or coulter of a 

 plough. It is also a provincial name for the 

 troublesome weed called Rest-harrow. 



FINCHED, or FINCHBACKED. A term 

 signifying streaked with white in cattle. 



FINGER GRASS, COCK'S-FOOT (Digit aria 

 I sanguinalis, from digitus, a finger ; the head is 

 divided so as fancifully to resemble fingers). 

 PI. 7, /. This must not be confounded with 

 the Dactylis glomcrata, cock's-foot or orchard 

 grass. 



