288 THE FIG. 



prepared and planted is scarcely any at all, except in gathering. 

 Some of the farms in Massachusetts yield large crops, partly 

 from natural growth, and partly from cultivated plantations. 

 The " New-England Farmer " states that Mr. Hayden, of Lin- 

 coln, Mass., gathered 400 bushels from his farm in 1830. The 

 cranberry grows wild in the greatest abundance, on the sandy 

 low^ necks near Barnstable, and an annual cranberry festival is 

 made of the gathering of the fruit, which is done by the mass 

 of the population, who turn out on the day appointed by the au- 

 thorities, and make a general gathering with their cranberry 

 rakes, a certain portion of the crop belonging, and being deli- 

 vered, to the town. 



Capt. Hall, one of the most successful cranberry cultivatoi-s 

 of that neighbourhood, thus turns his sandy bogs and rush- 

 covered land to productive beds of cranberry. After draining 

 the land well, and removing all brush, he ploughs the soil where 

 it is possible to do so ; but he usually finds it sufficient to cover 

 the surface with a heavy top-dressing of beach sand, digging 

 holes four feet apart into which he plants sods, or square bunches, 

 of the cranberry roots. These soon spread on every side, over- 

 powering the rushes, and forming a thick coating to the surface. 

 A labourer will gather about thirty bushels of the fruit in a day, 

 with a cranberry rake. 



Cranberry culture would be a profitable business in this neigh- 

 bourhood, where this fruit is scarce, and, of late years, sells for 

 two or three dollars a bushel. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE FIG. 



Ficus Carica^ L. Arb. Brit. Uriicaceoe, of botanists ; Figuier^ of the 

 French ; Feigenhaum^ German ; Fico^ ItaUan ; Higuera, Spanish. 



This celebrated fruit tree, whose history is as ancient as that 

 of the world, bclong-s properly to a warm climate, though it may 

 be raised in the open air, in the middle states, with proper care. 



In its native countries, Asia and Africa, near the sea-coast it 

 forms a low tree, tw^enty feet in height, with spreading branch- 

 es, and large, deeply lobed, rough leaves. It is completely 

 naturalized in the south of Europe, where its cultivation is one 

 of the most important occupations of the fruit grower. 



Tlie fruit of the Fig tree is remarkable for making its ap- 

 pearance, growing, and ripening, without being preceded by any 

 apparent blossom. The latter, however, is concealed in the 



