FICUS, FIG TREE. 217 



to nip off the big new shoots at the beginning of June, so that during that summer each 

 one will grow several other shoots of the right kind to increase the harvest of first figs in 

 the following year. This is without a doubt a beneficial practice in warm areas & in good 

 exposures where these secondary shoots can be well lignified before the onset of winter. 

 Although fig trees subsist well in the driest of soils, nevertheless several pailfuls 

 of water emptied at their base during dry spells restores the activity of the sap & increases 

 the size of the fruit. When the figs have reached about two thirds of their size, a small 

 drop of olive oil placed onto their eye with a brush or a straw hastens their ripening & 

 makes them grow larger than those not treated this way. 



USES. 



FIGS are eaten fresh. Sun-dried figs are a commercial product in our southern 

 provinces, in Spain, in Italy, & in several countries of the Levant. Caprified figs take on 

 an unpleasant taste in the oven, where they need to be left for a while. So all, or almost 

 all, of them remain in the countries where caprification is practiced. 



Dried figs also are used medicinally as emollients, to relieve coughs, mollifiers, 

 nutriments, &c. The milky sap that exudes from their leaves & bark when they're cut or 

 broken is very caustic and leaves marks on the skin that are hard to remove. It's used to 

 get rid of warts. 



