PLANTING AND PRUNING THE FIG 3g7 



stock. After the scions are placed, wrap tightly with five or six- 

 ply cotton twine, and cover the wounds as well as the stub with 

 liquid grafting wax. Wax the top of the scion to prevent drying 

 out. If waxed cloth is used it must be removed before the warm 

 weather sets in or the bark will be smothered and will die. After 

 the scions have become well united, which takes from two to 

 three months, the strings should be cut. This method of grafting 

 can not be made successfully until the sap begins to flo\v, say 

 from the latter part of February to the first of April. The scions 

 should never be more than four inches long. 



Seedling Figs. Figs are readily grown from the imported fig 

 of commerce. Dr. Gustav Risen of San Francisco, our leading 

 writer on the fig, gives the following explicit directions for growing 

 the fig from seed : 



Cut open imported Symrna figs ; wash out the seeds in warm water, those 

 that float are empty and worthless ; those that sink are generally fertile. Sow 

 these in shallow boxes of sand and loam mixed, and place in a frame under 

 glass. In three weeks they will be up and must be very sparingly watered. 

 Set out next season in nursery row. In three years from the seed such plans 

 will be found to bear. 



The tendency of the plants grown from Smyrna figs is to 

 revert to the wild type, and there is a small chance of securing good 

 varieties. 



PLANTING AND PRUNING THE FIG 



The chief point to observe in planting the fig trees is to get 

 them far enough apart, because of the great spread of branches 

 which they attain. Of course they may be planted twenty feet 

 apart if the owner intends to remove alternate rows, but to plant 

 at forty feet, or even farther apart, with other fruit trees or vines 

 between, on the plan of alternate or double squares, described 

 in Chapter X, would be the best way to lay out a fig orchard 

 the intermediate growths to be removed as the figs require more 

 room. 



Very handsome effects are produced by planting the figs along 

 avenues to inclose orchards of other fruits. Fig trees are grand 

 for shade around buildings, and wild or Capri figs are desirable 

 to plant in this way for a purpose which will be mentioned later. 



In transplanting fig trees extra care must be taken to keep the 

 roots from drying. After planting, the stem must be diligently 

 guarded from sunburn, to which it is liable in the warmer parts 

 of the State. 



Pruning the Fig. The fig requires very little pruning after 

 its shape is outlined. There is difference of opinion and practice 

 as to the height at which the head should be formed ; some head 



