74 



FIG CULTURE 



fined, the principal sources of vitality are re- 

 moved to safer feeding grounds below the quickly 

 varying, rapidly changing surface strata. Here 

 soil conditions ever fluctuate from exposure to the 

 rise and fall of atmospheric temperature, the ve- 

 locity of winds, the amount of vapor above and 

 other transient influences. 



Compared with the usual cost of nursery trees, 

 the price of stock is small. The labor of setting an 

 orchard is also inconsiderable, as a mere fissure in 

 the earth, made with a spade, is usually adequate 

 for a young tree. In properly prepared ground 

 two men should plant one thousand a day, and if 

 in good condition all should live. Lands adapted 

 for fig culture are available, reasonable and ac- 

 cessible throughout the South, and these conditions, 

 and the high prices of preserves, tempt many into 

 planting too much ground. A nimble farmer with 

 the best tools and three good horses, can properly 

 till thirty to forty-five acres, using all his time. 

 From the first of the year he will be very busy until 

 frost in the fall, and the crop will needs be harvest- 

 ed by others. While thus a slave to his orchard, 

 with no opportunity for recreation and mental 

 improvement, the farm will be his master. In- 

 stead of a "lord of his manor" he will not enjoy 

 the primary results of toil, the fields will absorb 

 his brain and brawn, and assume a mastery until 

 he is finally claimed as its own. The individual, 

 family and community are uplifted by diversifica- 



