THE FIG. 274 



It is carious tliat at Nice the\' manure Fig-trees 

 with very similar substances to those with which they 

 manure the Ohves at Bordighera. Tliey consider that 

 those substances are the best wliich decay slowh' in 

 tlie ground. Pounded bones, paper cuttings, road 

 sweepings, horn parings, woollen rags, pieces of leather 

 and even the rubbisli from old houses ma\' frequently 

 be seen buried at tlie foot of Fig-trees. 



Here and there wild Fig-trees are met with on the 

 Riviera. These are found even as far north as Bozen. 

 Who can say whether in remote places some of these 

 trees ma\' not be realh' wild? 'rhe\' generalh' grow 

 out from clefts in the rock and spread their foliage 

 gracefully over the cliff. In earh' Spring the\' are still 

 leafless and stretch lortli tlieir crooked clumsy branches 

 fantastically, like weird arms about to capture their pre^^ 



Besides the Smyrna Fig the best varieties of Date 

 Palm have been lately introduced into the United 

 States. The U. S. Department of Agriculture in Wash- 

 ington devotes special attention to work of this kind, 

 and men appointed as "^Vssistants" in the "Division of 

 Vegetable Ph^'siology and Pathology", or as "Agri- 

 c\iltural Explorers" in the "Bureau of Plant IndustrA ", 

 are entrusted with the carrying out of these experiments. 

 These are scientifically trained botanists, who have first 

 mastered the theoretical part of the subject and still 

 keep up these studies side bv side with their practical 

 v^'ork. Two of the "Assistants" now usefully employed 

 bv the U. S. Department of Agriculture studied botany 

 at Bonn, and I have the highest opinion of the indom- 



