84 RATIONAL FRUIT CULTURE. 



As the Fig is a rampant grower, it should be kept in rather 

 poor soil, and even then it may produce so many shoots that 

 some of them must be thinned out. If the roots are in a con- 

 fined space, such as a small bed enclosed by brick walls and 

 hard paths, it will grow less luxuriantly and bear larger crops. 

 Where these conditions are absent, it should be root-pruned 

 every few years. 



Propagation can be easily effected by means of layers or 

 suckers; or of cuttings of the previous year's shoots, inserted 

 in pots of sandy soil in spring, and placed in the greenhouse. 



The Fig is sometimes attacked by scale, and sometimes 

 by canker. They should be treated as advised in the chapters 

 on injurious insects and fungoid diseases. 



