THE FIG AND MULBERRY FAMILY. 



397 



Layers are also successful. The Banyan-tree is one of the 

 noblest examples of natural layering in the vegetable kingdom. 

 Many of the ornamental kinds root freely from herbaceous or 

 woody cuttings in a close heated case, or they may be multi- 

 plied by grafting cuttings on thick bits of the roots of common 

 kinds, after which pot carefully into small pots, and plunge 

 them in a close heated case. 



Fruiting branch of the Fig (Ficus Carica). a, Fig cut longitudinally to show the 

 collection of flowers inside; b, One of the staminate flowers ; c, One of the pistillate 

 flowers', d, Ripe flg crtt open to show the collection of fruits; e, One of the fruits ', 

 f, Seed with embryo. 



Ficus religiosa, F. indica, F. elastica, F. Chauvierii, and 

 others, may be propagated by inserting eyes or short pieces of 

 the stem, each having a single leaf and the bud at its base 

 attached. Dorstenias are readily propagated by herbaceous 

 cuttings or by division. Seedlings of the edible Fig vary very 

 much in size, flavour, form, and colour; and the numerous 

 forms upwards of a hundred now grown in this country 

 have been raised in French, Spanish, or Italian gardens. 

 Doubtless some are merely cultural varieties, and, as we have 



