1370 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



immediately covered with sap. which thickens, and forms a mass that excludes 

 the air from the interior of the fruit; and the consequence is, that it ripens, 

 or becomes ready todrop on', in half the time usually taken by nature, without 

 losing any of its si/.e or of its flavour. This process, Bosc observes, deserves 



a trial in France. 



Process of Caprifieation is described by Tournefort ; and his description 

 differs very little from that given by Pliny. It consists in inducing a certain 

 species ot' insect oi' the gnat kind, which abounds on the wild fig, to enter 

 the fruit of the cultivated fig, for the purpose of fecundating the fertile flowers 

 in the interior oi' the fruit by the farina of the barren ones near its orifice. The 

 details will be found given at length in Rees's Cyclopaedia; under the word 

 Caprifuation in Martyn's Jli/Ier; and in the Encyclopedia of Geography. 



Propagation and Culture. The fig is easily propagated by cuttings of the 

 Bhoots or roots, not one of which will fail; and also by suckers, layers, and 

 seeds. In British nurseries, it is generally propagated by layers ; though 

 these do not ripen their wood, the first season, so well as cuttings. When the 

 tig is to be planted as a standard tree, constant attention must be paid to 

 remove all suckers from its collar, and all side shoots from its stem. When 

 trained against a wall in a cold climate, the branches should proceed from a 

 single stem, and not from the collar, as is generally the case; because the 

 plant, when so treated, produces shoots which are less vigorous, and, con- 

 sequently, more likely to ripen their wood. 



Insects, Accidents, and Diseases. The fig, in hot countries, and in dry seasons, 

 especially when at a distance from the sea, is apt to have its leaves and fruit 

 scorched ami shriveled up by the sun. It is scarcely subject to any diseases; 

 but it is liable to the attacks of the cochineal, the kermes, and psylla. In 

 British gardens, it is very seldom injured by insects in the open air; but it is 

 vct\ liable to the attacks of the red spider, the coccus, and the honey-dew, 

 under glass. Abundance of water, and a moist atmosphere, like that of its 

 indigenous habitat, the sea shore, are perhaps the best preventives. 



Statistic*. The largest standard fig trees that we know of in the neighbourhood of London are at 

 Byon, (lii-wick, and in the Mile End Nursery, where they are about 15ft. high. In Sussex, at 

 Arundel Castle, there are several standard trees in the^old garden, 25,'ft. high ; at Tarring, near 

 Worthing, in the largest figgarden, there are 70 standard "trees, from 12 ft. to 15ft. high. At Black- 

 down House, near Haslemerc, there are some fine old standard fig trees, which ripen fruit every year 

 In l'rance, in the neighbourhood of Nantes, the tree, as a standard, seldom exceeds 18 ft. in height : at 

 Avignon it attains the height of 20 ft. or 25 ft. ; and, in 1819, we observed some very fine specimens in 

 the garden of the Military Hospital there. In Italy, at Monza, a tree, 60 years old, is 30 ft. high ; the 

 r of the trunk 1| ft., and of the head 60 ft. Plants, in the London nurseries, are from Is. 6d. 

 id), according to the variety ; at Bollwyller, 2 francs each ; and at New York, from 50 cents to 

 I dollar. 



Genus V. 



l',Oi;Y/ \\ . Tin; BOEI a. Lin. Syst. Direcia Di-Triandria. 



Willd. Sj>. PL, 1. p. 711. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., vol. 5. ; Lindl. Nat. Syst. of Bot, 



\&i I, a Michx. II. Hor. Antcr., 2. p. 223. ; Bigelov/V/ Smith in Kces's Cyclop., Addenda. 

 S'amed in honour of Hory tie St. Vincent who visited the Mauritius and the Isle of 



,< their botany. Smith, in Rees's Cyclopedia, objects to the name of Hory« 



• applied to this genus, because La Bilfardiere had previously given the same name to another 



titution of the name of BigelOWa, in commemoration of Dr. Bigelow 



itboroi the Florida Boitonientis, and "i the American Medical Botany. Thegenus 



/ Lab., .Hid the genus Bdryo Willd., are both cited in Lindl. Natural System qf Botany ', and it 



• Botbei name will be instituted for one of them. 



"Description, v- Deciduous shrubs, growing to the height of from 6ft. to 

 12ft. in common garden oil, with ;i dark brown or purple bark, and small, 



deep green, o pp osi t e leaves. Propagated by cuttings, and quite hardy. 

 t i. B. /./i-i'sritiNA Willd. The Privet-like Borya. 



WiM Sp PL.4 p 711. ; Ait. IJort. Kew., ed. 2., vol 5 

 •,>»<» Adtslia AguHrina Mich*. Ft. Bar. Amer., 2. p.224.j BigelOV/0 /igustrina Smith in 

 hi i ndu Lodd Cat., ed. 1888. 

 j ■ Tns plants bearing tin* name in Loddlges's arboretum have not vet dowered. 



