60 



FIG CULTURE 



trade brands grades of fruit can be relied upon to 

 continue uniformly year after^ear. 



Natives plant trees sixty feet apart by digging 

 a good sized hole for each and placing two long 

 cuttings therein, which cross below the ground. The 

 angle of the cuttings is supposed to allow trees to 

 bend when their tops become heavy to avoid break- 

 ing. Cuttings are left one bud above the ground 

 level, and the exposed part is then covered with 

 a mound of loose earth to prevent drying by wind 

 and sun. No pruning is done and the "multiple 

 standard" which results allows the greatest free- 

 dom of air and sunshine, for, like other fruit, the 

 poorest figs grow in the shade. The fruit is not 

 used for drying until the trees are four or more 

 years of age. Large trees sometimes yield eight 

 bushels each, the average being about six. Their 

 caprification is discussed elsewhere. 



In Syria, Phoenicia and Arabia varieties reached 

 a high state of development, and many of them 

 were introduced into Europe during the inva- 

 sions of Arabs. The Faro fig, of Algarve, was 

 transplanted from Arabia in that way. East 

 of Syria and Arabia, their introduction has been 

 slow, although wild trees are apparently native in 

 India. They are described as flourishing in Chinese 

 gardens the latter part of the sixteenth century, and 

 have since extended over the entire southern part 

 of the "Celestial Empire' ' and India. 



