Chap. XXIL] FIG CULTURE NEAR PARIS. 371 



siliceous, calcareous, and clayey nature, well sheltered from the 

 north and north-west winds, and open to the south and east. 

 The cultiyation of the Fig extends over a space of one hundred 

 and thirty acres, the production being somewhere about four 

 hundred thousand Figs per annum. The variety grown in this 

 locality is the Blanquette or White Courcourelle, and the method 

 of growing it is as follows : — 



Layers, raised in baskets or in the ordinary way, are planted in 

 the month of March in holes about four feet six inches in diameter 

 and one foot eight inches deep, filled with well-manured mould. 

 The planting is performed in such a way that the roots of the 



Fig-tree growing on level ground, with the branches grouped in/our sets. 



layer are buried from ten inches to one foot deep, and that the 

 stem which springs out of the earth in an oblique direction should 

 be covered with from three to four inches of earth. To form the 

 stool more quickly, two layers may be planted in the same hole 

 instead of only one. In this case the two layers are placed in 

 lines parallel to those of the plantation at eight inches' distance 

 from each other, and in such a way that the stems are opposed to 

 each other in the direction of this line. The surface of the hole 

 should be at least a foot below that of the surrounding soil. The 

 rest of the soil is arranged slantwise round the stem of the layer, 

 so that the rain-water may be easily retained round the roots of 

 the young trees. The trees are planted five or six yards apart, 



