1370 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



immediately covered with sap, which thickens,and forms a mass that excludes 

 the air from the interior of the fruit ; and the consequence is, that it ripens, 

 or becomes ready to drop off, in half the time usually taken by nature, without 

 losing any of its size or of its flavour. This process, Bosc observes, deserves 

 a trial in France. 



The Process of Capnftcation is described by Tournefort ; and his description 

 differs very little from that given by Pliny. It consists in inducing a certain 

 species of insect of the gnat kind, which abounds on the wild fig, to enter 

 the fruit of the cultivated fig, for the purpose of fecundating the fertile flowers 

 in the interior of the fruit by the farina of the barren ones near its orifice. The 

 details will be found given at length in Rees's C'ljcfajxcdia ; under the word 

 Caprification in Marty n's Miller- and in the Encyclopaedia of (leographij. 



Propagation nnd Culture. The fig is easily propagated by cuttings of the 

 shoots or roots, not one of which will fail ; and also by suckers, layers, and 

 seeds. In British nurseries, it is generally propagated by layers ; though 

 these do not ripen their wood, the first season, so well as cuttings. When the 

 fig is to be planted as a standard tree, constant attention must be paid to 

 remove all suckers from its collar, and all side shoots from its stem. When 

 trained against a wall in a cold climate, the branches should proceed from a 

 single stem, and not from the collar, as is generally the case ; because the 

 plant, when so treated, produces shoots which are less vigorous, and, con- 

 sequently, more likely to ripen their wood. 



Insects, Accidents, and Diseases. The fig, in hot countries, and in dry seasons, 

 especially when at a distance from the sea, is apt to have its leaves and fruit 

 scorched and shriveled up by the sun. It is scarcely subject to any diseases; 

 but it is liable to the attacks of the cochineal, the kermes, and psylla. In 

 British gardens, it is very seldom injured by insects in the open air ; but it is 

 very liable to the attacks of the red spider, the coccus, and the honey-dew, 

 under glass. Abundance of water, and a moist atmosphere, like that of its 

 indigenous habitat, the sea shore, are perhaps the best preventives. 



Statistics. The largest standard fig trees that we know of in the neighbourhood of London are at 

 Syon, Chiswick, and in the Mile End Nursery, where they are about la ft. high. In Sussex, at 

 Arundel Castle, there are several standard trees in thejold garden, 25;ft. high ; at Tarring, near 

 Worthing, in the largest fig garden, there are 70 standard "trees, from 12 ft. to 15 ft. high. At Black - 

 down House, near Haslemere, there are some fine old standard fig trees, which ripen fruit every year 

 In France, in the neighbourhood of Nantes, the tree, as a standard, seldom exceeds 18 ft. in height : at 

 Avignon it attains the height of 20 ft. or 25ft. ; and, in 1819, we observed some very fine specimens in 

 the garden of the Military Hospital there. In Italy, at Monza, a tree, 60 years old, is 30ft. high ; the 

 diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the head 60 ft. Plants, in the London nurseries, are from l.v. fo/. 

 to 5.S-. each, according to the variety : at Bollwyller, 2 francs each ; and at New York, from 50 cents to 

 1 dollar. 



GENUS V. 



BO N RY^ W. THE BORYA. Lin. Syst. Dice cia Di-Triandria. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 711. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., vol. 5. ; Lindl. Nat. Syst. of Bot, 

 p. 178. 



Synonyme*. AdMia Michx. Fl. Bor. Amcr., 2. p. '223. ; Bige)owY< Smith in Kecs'.s Cyclop., Addenda. 



Derivation. Named in honour of liory dc St. Vincent who visited the Mauritius and the Isle of 

 Bourbon, to examine their botany. Smith, in Rees's Cyclopaedia, objects to the name of Borya 

 being applied to this genus, because La Billardiere had previously given the same name to another 

 genus ; and he suggests the substitution of the name of Bigelbvw/, in commemoration of Dr. Bigclow 

 of Boston, author of the Ffornla Itostoniensis, and of the American Medical Ihitaiiy. The genus 

 B6ryd~Lab., and the genus Borya Willd., are both cited in Lindl. Natural System of Botany, and it 

 is most probable that another name will be instituted for one of them. 



Desertion, $c. Deciduous shrubs, growing to the height of from 6 ft. to 

 12ft. in common garden soil, with a dark brown or purple bark, and small, 

 deep green, opposite leaves. Propagated by cuttings, and quite hardy. 



1. B. L/GU'STRINA Willd. The Privet-like Borya. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 711. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., vol. 5. 



Synonifmes. Adelia /igustrina Michx. Fl. lior. Amcr., "2. p. 224. ; Bigelbwi /igustrina Smith in 



//, r.v'.v Cyclop. Addenda, Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 

 The Sexes.' The plants bearing this name in Loddiges's arboretum have not yet flowered. 



