86 



HOCKINGS' GARDEN MANUAL. 



foliage is said to exercise a very calming and soothing 

 influence on the mind ; and some authors, while urg- 

 ing that every man should " sit under his own fig tree," 

 particularly recommend that those who have unruly 

 tongues, or hasty tempers, should have a fig tree under 

 which they could sit for a quarter of an hour when 

 they feel an unkindly impulse. 



Varieties : The sorts found most suitable to the 

 climate of Brisbane are the Turkey, Smyrna, Giant, 

 and Province. 



Propagation : All the sorts may be propagated freely 

 by cuttings, layers, and suckers ; they may also be 

 grown from seed. 



Planting, soil, &c. : The Giant fig requires twenty- 

 five feet, but the other sorts may be planted at fifteen 

 feet apart. The soil should be rich, dry, and warm. 

 In a wet soil the growth will be too luxuriant, and not 

 fruitful ; and in a poor sand the fruit is liable to crack 

 and be shed before it is mature. In Smyrna, where 

 the fig is grown to great perfection and dried for ex- 

 portation, great care is taken to keep the ground well 

 worked around the roots. 



Pruning, <kc. : After the formation of a good open 

 head, very little pruning will be required. There are 

 generally two crops in the season : one crop coming out 

 with the first leaves in spring, and the second crop 

 showing at every joint of the new shoots. 



The fruit is rich and saccharine when gathered ripe 

 from the tree, and the latter quality is much developed 

 in the process of drying. This operation is effected by 

 exposing the fruit for a certain time to a current of hot 

 air, by which it is thoroughly heated through, and the 

 vegetable principle destroyed. Before the fruit is cold 

 it is pressed down tight into drums, and the juice is 

 forced to the surface of the skin, where it candies into 

 a sugary dust, 



