FIGS IX FRANCE. 751 



The explanation of this fact is that the plains and districts on the 

 right side of the Rhone are not sheltered by hills as on the other side. 



Situation. Sheltered hillsides are very favorable to fig culture 5 

 exposure to cold winds is not conducive to good results. 



Rain-fall. The winter rains generally give sufficient moisture to the 

 soil for tho whole year ; fig-trees that are intended to produce fruit for 

 drying ought not to be watered artificially. Too much moisture lessens 

 the quality and the richness of the fruit, and frequently renders drying 

 difficult. 



Tree planting. When planting fig trees care should be taken to select 

 a deep soil, or in any case to dig as deep as possible and mix some fer- 

 tilizer (manure, old leaves, etc.) well into the earth, on which the roots 

 will rest. During the first two years it is always advisable, in districts 

 that are subject to frosts, to cover or bind the trees with straw for the 

 winter. After the second year the young trees are generally strong 

 enough to stand the winter uncovered. The ground should be well dug 

 up at least once in winter and once in spring. 



Fertilizers. Fertilizers should be dug into the ground once a year, 

 during spring, for young trees, and once every two years for older trees. 

 Fig-trees, once well rooted and well established in a place, require very 

 little fertilizing, and this can even be dispensed with if the soil be well 

 dug occasionally. 



Pruning. Pruning should be done once a year, but only lightly, i. e., 

 one should only thin out dead and useless branches in the body and 

 crown of the tree, and cut away all young shoots that spring up at the foot 

 of the stem. The latter point is important, as the fig-tree being very vora- 

 cious young ungrafted shoots would only uselessly exhaust the soil and 

 weaken the original tree. For this reason, too, it is well to keep fig- 

 trees apart from other trees, for not only does the fig-tree weaken its 

 neighbors, but its neighbors weaken it as well. 



Maturity. The fig-tree produces fruit pretty regularly every year. 

 Some varieties give two crops, the first of which begins about the 20th 

 of June and lasts till about the 20th of July, the figs of which, called 

 "Flower" figs, are not good for drying, and the second at the end of 

 September. Several black and gray figs come under this variety. 



The other kinds, of one crop only, begin to ripen about the middle of 

 August and continue ripening successively throughout August and 

 September ; these are the best for drying, and to this class the " Mar- 

 seillaise" belongs. 



With reference to those that give two crops, it is interesting to note 

 that the figs of the first are borne by the branches of the previous year 

 only, and that those of the second crop are borne by the young branches 

 of the same year. This accounts for the latter ripening successively, 

 as each fresh leaf that opens out bears a fig in its axil. 



Picking and ctirhif/. Figs, either for immediate consumption or for 

 drying', ought not to b g.irlioivd ix-forr iln-y are quite ripe. The signs 



