No. 144.J 625 



to be fraught with great advantages. It will grow well upon the 

 poorer and drier soils, provided it is sheltered, and can be propa- 

 gated with great ease ; and such is the goodness and abundance 

 of its fruit, and the number of its varieties that in some parts of 

 Southern Europe, it goes by the name of the " Providence of the 

 poor." In Spain, it grows side by side with the carob and almond 

 trees, and lines the fields and vineyards; its deep green boughs 

 forming an agreeable shelter from the heat of the sun. 



The nature of the soil and its aspect influence considerably 

 the choice and cultivation of the different kinds of figs. The 

 white varieties, for instance, seem to prefer an elevated position 

 and a strong, light soil ; while the darker kinds succeed best 

 where the situation is sheltered and low. A very choice sort, the 

 fruit of which is of a deep rose-color, while the trunk of the tree 

 is nearly black, seems to thrive best in low shady places, provided 

 it be exposed to the rays of the rising sun. It is possible to in- 

 crease the varieties of the fig ad ivfinitum, either by seed or by the 

 more common method of cuttings, inclined and buried from two 

 to three feet in the earth. In the third year the young tree is 

 pruned, and the head is formed by leaving three branches, which 

 in due time are covered with fruit. Some cultivators graft them 

 in various ways about the time when the sap begins to move. 

 With due attention the product is greatly improved and increased, 

 although few fruit trees perhaps bear so abundantly, considering 

 the little trouble taken with them. 



In all countries, which may properly be called " fig climates," 

 two crops are produced in a year. The first is from the old wood, 

 amd corresponds with the crops of England and the middle por- 

 tions of the United States ; and the second from the wood of the 

 current year, the figs produced by which, in the last named coun- 

 tries, are never ripened except in hot-houses. In Greece, Syria, 

 and Egypt, a third crop is sometimes produced. The first crop is 

 ripened, in the south of France and in Italy, in May ; and the 

 second crop in September. Those which are to be dried, are left 

 on the tree till they are dead ripe, which is known by a drop of 

 sweet liquid that appears hanging from the eye. The figs, being 

 gathered, are placed on wicker hurdles, in a dry, airy shed ; and, 



[Assembly, No. 144.] N 2 



